[meremortal]

Hello,

I am planning to participate in the Hyderabad drag race event on Jan 03 and 04, 2009 (posted in the moto sports thread). Need lotsa advise!

Well this is my first time drag race in a car. Have been in bike and go cart races before, all unofficial.

That said I want to get as much info as possible before I go for it. A cautious approach, you will see why soon.

My machine: Stock

Fiat Palio Stile 1.6, March 2008
Odo reads almost 9000 kms
2 services done (engine oil replaced in both)
Castrol mineral engine oil
Goodyear GPS2 tyres; run on nitrogen
Only addition: Expensive I.C.E system

Well you can see that its just another city commuter

Questions:
Roll cage
Engine tuning
Engine oil change to synthetic
Tyre change
Wheels change
Fuel change
Roll cage
5-point seat belt
Helmet
Should I be driving the car from Blr to Hyd
Have I left out any detail

Please add to my questions and answer them too!

Get ready for launch!

[Astleviz]

Questions:

Roll cage: Not mandatory

Engine tuning: Depends on what you mean by that. If you mean what performance enhancements you could do to make your car go faster, there is tons of stuff- FFE, ecu upgrade, turbo, nitrous depending on your budget. But if you mean just tuning your stock engine without any upgrades, there isn't much you can do (unlike the older carburetted cars where you could tune the carburettor for performance or efficiency). Just make sure your air/fuel filters are clean, injectors are not clogged, spark plus are in good shape.

Engine oil change to synthetic: Not sure if that would result in substantial gains in drag times.

Tyre change: Slicker drag tyres will improve drag times but I'm not sure exactly which tyres are available for your car. maybe other tbhpians can help.

Wheels change: Only if you changing your tyres.

Fuel change: Just use 91 octane fuel from shell or similar fuel from other reliable outlets. merely using higher octane fuel may not give you performance gains unless you have a lot of performance upgrades which call for higher octane fuel.

Roll cage: Not mandatory.

5-point seat belt: Not mandatory.

Helmet: I don;t think it is mandatory buy you may want to use one if you want to play it safe.

Should I be driving the car from Blr to Hyd: Don't see any issues with that.

Have I left out any detail

[condor]

Do a search for " drag" in thread titles :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor-...know-info.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ag-racing.html

also :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...drag-race.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ag-racing.html

Note from Mod : Thanks condor. Posts merged to the 1st linked thread.

[v1p3r]

Roll cage -- Useless.

Engine tuning -- Not possible in this short time as there is no ECU. You could try a GReddy emanage, not sure if it's compatible with the Fiat.

Engine oil change to synthetic -- Should help a bit, if you have done 9000 kms. If you've done 90,000 kms, stay away from a change. If you're changing, change the gearbox oil as well.

Tyre change -- Use 13 inch tyres in the front, small overall diameter, and broader width, eg 185/60 13 or something like that. Use stock 1.2 165/80 13 at the back. Lower front pressure to about 26 psi, and heighten rear to about 35 psi. Do this ONLY for the race, DO NOT DRIVE AROUND ON THIS CONFIGURATION.

Helmet -- Compulsory.

Should I be driving the car from Blr to Hyd -- No problem.

[karthik247]

If the engine is modded wont it be competing in a different class with other modded cars? I think first you gotta decide if you wanna compete in stock class, pro-stock etc right??

[drpullockaran]

Originally Posted by meremortal

Hello,


Roll cage:Waste and increased weight. Remove rear and passenger seats and carpetting. Remove all non essentials inlucing the A/C unit and peripherals. Use Maruti 800 battery. Remove the power window motors and washer wiper motors .Wax polish the car. You will be a 2 second quicker.
Engine tuning:!)Put in bigger injectors and fuel pump and tune for air fuel ratio of 12:1
2) Change the cam shaft to one with overlap as the stock cam has zero overlap. You should get about 15bhp more with this alone. A cam change is the least you should do before a drag race with the 1.6 engine of the Palio.
3) Use stock new paper air filter with the lower box of air filter box removed which would require sticking the airfilter with glue to the underside of the top half. green filters and K&N have less surface area and offer more resistance to airflow unless you are using the big guns from Green filter.
4)Change head gasket to the thinnest possible to increase compression ratio.
Engine oil change to synthetic: Use SAE30 synthetic for the race only. Gear oil to Sae70 for the race
Tyre change: Put on silica compund tires at the rear and the grippiest tires in the front( Grip has nothing to do with how much width a tire has.Look up friction on the internet) Tires should be the lightest available and need I say loose the stepney.
2) Put in -1 degree total toe in for the drag race alone. Leave the negative camber alone.
Wheels change:Stock alloys will do
Fuel change: Depending on your compression ratio use the fuel that does not ping or knock.
5-point seat belt: Is a must
Helmet: Is a must
Should I be driving the car from Blr to Hyd
Have I left out any detail: Your exhaust system needs a complete change which will be the hardest to tune. Believe me tuning a exhaust system is the hardest part of a drag race as matching it to your cam shaft stock or custom is extremely extremely difficult.

Please add to my questions and answer them too! There are too many suggestions to type and the above are for starters.

Get ready for launch!

There are too many suggestions to type and the above are for starters.

[madan80]

the drag is in 15 days(approx) so i dont think you have time to do everything that is listed. however, things you could look at for the drag would be easily done weight reduction like seats etc.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by drpullockaran

Wax polish the car. You will be a 2 second quicker.

Good one,doc. Now why didn't I think of this!

[drpullockaran]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Good one,doc. Now why didn't I think of this!

Wax polishing the car is part of the 2 second gain which includes weight reduction. Do not discount the effect of a good wax polish of the car.It may be a miniscule gain but it does help.

I forgot to mention underbody stream lining.

[iceman91]

Also run with minimal fuel. (weight saving)
throw the spare wheel and seats out.

[vinayvtec]

Originally Posted by Psycho

4) You might misshift if you are not familiar with flat shifting (shifting without lifting off the accelerator)

nJoy

This is a very useful tip, I can go this in bike but have never tried on car. Please can someone help me to know how to do this? I don’t like to try on my VTEC, but I have a Santro and an 800 where I can practice this.