CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post - starting line reaction tools/methods for stockers

George Mirza · 10-08-2008, 08:57 AM

This is an interesting topic, and so far most of the discussion has been on driver reaction time (DRT), but I think the author was looking for tips on vehicle reaction times (VRT). As most of you know DRT is very difficult to change, you can sharpen it but making it consistant is the thing. I agree 100% with getting rest, staying hydrated, eating right and physically fit as very important factors.

One thing most of the older racers face are meds for many different kinds of health issues. Many of these can affect ones natural reaction time, this is something the average person would never notice, but as a drag racer you will when thousands of a second count.

As I mentioned earlier being consistant is the most important, yet most difficult factor to achieve. Thats where practice and natural abilitly come in. Face it some racers have it and some don't and never will, some people are just better at certain things in life than others. The difference between the great drivers and the good drivers is DRT consistancy. A great driver will have a RT variation of say (these are just random numbers) .020 average of 50 RT's where the average racer may be .040. So the racer with the .020 RT variation can set his car up to react closer to .000 than the racer with .040 RT variation.

Once you reach this point you can start to adjust the car to work with you. When the car is working right and the driver has a comfortable spot on the tree and the VRT is right you'll start going rounds. Often you'll see a racer change a converter, gear ratio, or tire size and all of a sudden he starts winning rounds. It can go the other way also, being class racers we are always trying to go faster and sometimes a change may pick the car up .1 but hurt the VRT by .05 and now you have a faster car to lose in the early rounds with. Now it's time to make more adjustments and it just keeps on going.

Let's hear about some things that can help VRT's. I'll start with converters, if your late put a tighter one in and if your red a looser one may help. Thats if adjusting the launch RPM doesn't help, some times it will sometimes you won't see enough change. So lets hear some others.

10-08-2008, 08:57 AM	#30
George Mirza Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: North Attleborough Ma. Posts: 522 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: starting line reaction tools/methods for stockers This is an interesting topic, and so far most of the discussion has been on driver reaction time (DRT), but I think the author was looking for tips on vehicle reaction times (VRT). As most of you know DRT is very difficult to change, you can sharpen it but making it consistant is the thing. I agree 100% with getting rest, staying hydrated, eating right and physically fit as very important factors. One thing most of the older racers face are meds for many different kinds of health issues. Many of these can affect ones natural reaction time, this is something the average person would never notice, but as a drag racer you will when thousands of a second count. As I mentioned earlier being consistant is the most important, yet most difficult factor to achieve. Thats where practice and natural abilitly come in. Face it some racers have it and some don't and never will, some people are just better at certain things in life than others. The difference between the great drivers and the good drivers is DRT consistancy. A great driver will have a RT variation of say (these are just random numbers) .020 average of 50 RT's where the average racer may be .040. So the racer with the .020 RT variation can set his car up to react closer to .000 than the racer with .040 RT variation. Once you reach this point you can start to adjust the car to work with you. When the car is working right and the driver has a comfortable spot on the tree and the VRT is right you'll start going rounds. Often you'll see a racer change a converter, gear ratio, or tire size and all of a sudden he starts winning rounds. It can go the other way also, being class racers we are always trying to go faster and sometimes a change may pick the car up .1 but hurt the VRT by .05 and now you have a faster car to lose in the early rounds with. Now it's time to make more adjustments and it just keeps on going. Let's hear about some things that can help VRT's. I'll start with converters, if your late put a tighter one in and if your red a looser one may help. Thats if adjusting the launch RPM doesn't help, some times it will sometimes you won't see enough change. So lets hear some others.