RWYB Santa Pod, any takers?
Discussion
Having followed drag racing for a lot of years, I,ve always had the urge to have a go myself. Now I have a suitable car I am considering going to one of the RWYB (run what you brung) days, and wondered if there would be enough interest on here to get a group of us together as a sort of 'raid'.
All the details can be found here : www.rwyb.co.uk . The costs are £10 entry to Santa Pod followed by £ 20 sign on fee if you want to run your car on the strip. This allows you unlimited timed runs during the day. I was considering either the 3rd or 17th September as the weather still tends to be kind at that time of year,and its after all the shows have finished. Dates will be very much subject to weather as the slightest bit of rain and everything stops!!
So what do you all think? anyone up for it?
All the details can be found here : www.rwyb.co.uk . The costs are £10 entry to Santa Pod followed by £ 20 sign on fee if you want to run your car on the strip. This allows you unlimited timed runs during the day. I was considering either the 3rd or 17th September as the weather still tends to be kind at that time of year,and its after all the shows have finished. Dates will be very much subject to weather as the slightest bit of rain and everything stops!!
So what do you all think? anyone up for it?
Hi Ian, done 2 last year. One was an ordinary RWYB day (like you are suggesting)
The other was a performance test and tune day with Tuxman, which was by far better! Although it was a bit pricey at about £60 for the day, it kept the boy racers away!
They are aimed at genuine drag enthusiasts, who are keen to test out their home built cars. No chavs in sight and no queues for the strip!! Also some incredible motors around
I'm sure Tuxman will recommend it as well
I'd certainly join you with whatever you decide to go for. (only to watch though!)
The other was a performance test and tune day with Tuxman, which was by far better! Although it was a bit pricey at about £60 for the day, it kept the boy racers away!
They are aimed at genuine drag enthusiasts, who are keen to test out their home built cars. No chavs in sight and no queues for the strip!! Also some incredible motors around
I'm sure Tuxman will recommend it as well
I'd certainly join you with whatever you decide to go for. (only to watch though!)
Edited by gtr-gaz on Tuesday 4th July 11:14
Ian V said:
Hi Gary,
How's things going on the Ultima sale front?
How's things going on the Ultima sale front?
Had a fair bit of interest. Someone from Kent came up last Sunday (that's why I was unable to do Newmarket btw) He's owned a sports for about 4 years, so knew what to expect. We managed a respectable 77mph on the Baldock bypass
Also had a guy near Royston who e-mailed me last Friday. He seemed dead keen, so I don't think it will be too long before it's sold. In the meantime I will still be doing the shows
Ian... some of the guys on www.rebel-v8.com are going to garys picnic on saturday the 15th,you're welcome to join us
eamonn
eamonn
This has always put me off because of the extra stress standing starts put through the mechanicals. Don’t get me wrong, I have just spent 16 laps thrashing around nordschleife wearing out my tyres. However not one lap was full power in either first or second, let alone dumping the clutch at 4000 rpm.
Guys.. if you fancy doing it.. go for it..
As far as mechanical sympathy is concerned, I would wager that most will push their road car harder on the road than they will on the strip.. As anyone that has done a RWYB in their road car will probably attest, there is no way you can launch at 4k on the strip in a road car.. you simply won't have any traction..
I'll dig out my tips for an enjoyable RWYB day ..
slinky
As far as mechanical sympathy is concerned, I would wager that most will push their road car harder on the road than they will on the strip.. As anyone that has done a RWYB in their road car will probably attest, there is no way you can launch at 4k on the strip in a road car.. you simply won't have any traction..
I'll dig out my tips for an enjoyable RWYB day ..
slinky
Edited by slinky on Tuesday 4th July 22:26
Slinkys tips for an enjoyable day on the drag strip
1.) Wear long sleeves, Marshall's don't like T-Shirts
2.) If you have a helmet, take it.. You may need it
3.) Empty your car of all the crud you don't need.. Not only will the extra weight impair you run, you don't want a foot well full of crud when you launch hard!
4.) Take the first few runs easy, you don't need to nail the start the first time you get on the Christmas tree. Get used to how your car will react on the strip first, and then go for it.
5.) Pay close attention to your gauges, not only do you not want to kill you car, you don't want to lay a trail of oil/water down the strip, your fellow quarter mile junkies will not like you!
6.) If you are running against another car that you think you may have equal performance to, keep an eye out for the win light on the other side of the finish line... There is one for each lane (an amber light on the guard rail)
7.) Pay attention in the shutdown area. Know where the other car is!
The Christmas tree explained...
The lights sequence is as follows:
1st light: White : Pre Stage : 6-8 inches away from the start line
2nd light: White : Stage : The Start line
3rd light: Amber: Get ready
4th light: Amber: Get Steady!
5th light: Amber : Nearly
6th light: Green : GO!!!
7th light: Red : Bugger.. went too soon..
So.. You approach the start line and drop into pre-stage.. The choice is now yours as to whether you wait for your "opponent" to drop into stage first or whether you just dive straight on it.. (Creep into stage! it really isn't very far between the two).. If you go too far, the top light will go out.. This is called Deep Staging (and is allowed, so don't panic!)
Once you are both in stage, the chief starter will click his button and commence the countdown.
The Amber lights will count down sequentially at 0.4s intervals (unless they are running a "pro tree" which is very common on RWYB days.. in fact it's almost standard). Now here's a trick.. You can pretty much go on the last amber (in a street car) as by the time your brain has processed the information and asked your legs to do the business, the green light will have illuminated!
Dependant on grip available on the day, you need to tailor your launch procedure. With lots of power and street tyres, you will probably find it best to "granny it" off the line then give it some stick once you've got a little bit of speed up. Doing this will mean you don't fry your tyres.. or, if it's grippy, destroy a half shaft/diff (easily done!)
With these tips in mind, you should have a cracking day!
Hope that helps folks..
slinky
587racing.com
1.) Wear long sleeves, Marshall's don't like T-Shirts
2.) If you have a helmet, take it.. You may need it
3.) Empty your car of all the crud you don't need.. Not only will the extra weight impair you run, you don't want a foot well full of crud when you launch hard!
4.) Take the first few runs easy, you don't need to nail the start the first time you get on the Christmas tree. Get used to how your car will react on the strip first, and then go for it.
5.) Pay close attention to your gauges, not only do you not want to kill you car, you don't want to lay a trail of oil/water down the strip, your fellow quarter mile junkies will not like you!
6.) If you are running against another car that you think you may have equal performance to, keep an eye out for the win light on the other side of the finish line... There is one for each lane (an amber light on the guard rail)
7.) Pay attention in the shutdown area. Know where the other car is!
The Christmas tree explained...
The lights sequence is as follows:
1st light: White : Pre Stage : 6-8 inches away from the start line
2nd light: White : Stage : The Start line
3rd light: Amber: Get ready
4th light: Amber: Get Steady!
5th light: Amber : Nearly
6th light: Green : GO!!!
7th light: Red : Bugger.. went too soon..
So.. You approach the start line and drop into pre-stage.. The choice is now yours as to whether you wait for your "opponent" to drop into stage first or whether you just dive straight on it.. (Creep into stage! it really isn't very far between the two).. If you go too far, the top light will go out.. This is called Deep Staging (and is allowed, so don't panic!)
Once you are both in stage, the chief starter will click his button and commence the countdown.
The Amber lights will count down sequentially at 0.4s intervals (unless they are running a "pro tree" which is very common on RWYB days.. in fact it's almost standard). Now here's a trick.. You can pretty much go on the last amber (in a street car) as by the time your brain has processed the information and asked your legs to do the business, the green light will have illuminated!
Dependant on grip available on the day, you need to tailor your launch procedure. With lots of power and street tyres, you will probably find it best to "granny it" off the line then give it some stick once you've got a little bit of speed up. Doing this will mean you don't fry your tyres.. or, if it's grippy, destroy a half shaft/diff (easily done!)
With these tips in mind, you should have a cracking day!
Hope that helps folks..
slinky
587racing.com
eamonnschevy said:
Ian... some of the guys on www.rebel-v8.com are going to garys picnic on saturday the 15th,you're welcome to join us
eamonn
eamonn
Completely off the subject,
Eamonn,you didn't live around the Alby area a few years ago by any chance,and visit 'Calenders' at Bowthorpe on a regular basis?
Eamonn, thanks for the invite, but I shall be at the BBWF (TVR wedge meet) on that day to catch up with some old chums from my wedge days. Maybe next year.
Slinky, thanks for the advice. I,ve seen it done many times from the spectator banking, but now I,ve got the Corvette I think the time is right to give it a go!!!
Slinky, thanks for the advice. I,ve seen it done many times from the spectator banking, but now I,ve got the Corvette I think the time is right to give it a go!!!
I've enjoyed quite a few runway sprints in the Griff (4.0 and 500) at Duxford (before they insisted on a rolling start) and at Mildenhall. All were competitive with two or three cars abreast. IIRC I'd use 4,000 rpm in the 4.0, less for the 500, but get the grip and you're off like a rocket. It's then just a question of flooring it, keeping one eye on the rev counter and doing good fast changes at max torque, in this case around 5,500 rpm. On runways there's no 'finish' as such (well there is but you don't want to reach it!) so you brake at your discretion and trundle back to the start. Excellent fun and I didn't notice any signs of clutch problems or burning smells.
crisp500 said:
eamonnschevy said:
Ian... some of the guys on www.rebel-v8.com are going to garys picnic on saturday the 15th,you're welcome to join us
eamonn
eamonn
Completely off the subject,
Eamonn,you didn't live around the Alby area a few years ago by any chance,and visit 'Calenders' at Bowthorpe on a regular basis?
yea i used to own the Alby Horseshoes pub, moved out in 96,and yes used to go to calendars in a Red 2nd gen camaro, White 3rd gen,or a Green 66 step side had a few motors since then there's still a few of us who meet at the clock tower(calendars as was)2nd Friday of each month, mostly yank motors but all are welcome, how would i remember you?
eamonn
Ian V said:
Eamonn, thanks for the invite, but I shall be at the BBWF (TVR wedge meet) on that day to catch up with some old chums from my wedge days. Maybe next year.
Slinky, thanks for the advice. I,ve seen it done many times from the spectator banking, but now I,ve got the Corvette I think the time is right to give it a go!!!
Slinky, thanks for the advice. I,ve seen it done many times from the spectator banking, but now I,ve got the Corvette I think the time is right to give it a go!!!
no worries Ian we do the pod a few times a year with RWYB i'll let yer know when we have the next one
eamonn
Edited by eamonnschevy on Wednesday 5th July 13:01
eamonnschevy said:
yea i used to own the Alby Horseshoes pub, moved out in 96,and yes used to go to calendars in a Red 2nd gen camaro, White 3rd gen,or a Green 66 step side had a few motors since then there's still a few of us who meet at the clock tower(calendars as was)2nd Friday of each month, mostly yank motors but all are welcome, how would i remember you?
Hi Eamonn,I used to go passenger in my mates Morris Minor,and a few times in a red Camaro owned by someone called 'Roger' from Dereham.I was only about 17 at the time so didn't drive anything fancy myself and just kind of 'perved'from a distance.The one thing I remember as if yesterday was the time you drowned out a boy racers stereo by starting and revving your red camaro(with no silencing
) 12 years ago
I'll pop down one Friday and see if you can remember my ugly moosh
All the best,Harley
crisp500 said:
eamonnschevy said:
yea i used to own the Alby Horseshoes pub, moved out in 96,and yes used to go to calendars in a Red 2nd gen camaro, White 3rd gen,or a Green 66 step side had a few motors since then there's still a few of us who meet at the clock tower(calendars as was)2nd Friday of each month, mostly yank motors but all are welcome, how would i remember you?
Hi Eamonn,I used to go passenger in my mates Morris Minor,and a few times in a red Camaro owned by someone called 'Roger' from Dereham.I was only about 17 at the time so didn't drive anything fancy myself and just kind of 'perved'from a distance.The one thing I remember as if yesterday was the time you drowned out a boy racers stereo by starting and revving your red camaro(with no silencing
) 12 years ago
I'll pop down one Friday and see if you can remember my ugly moosh
All the best,Harley
lol yea that Camaro was loud lol, Rogers still about drives a old 40s dodge last time i saw him, good to hear yer grew up into a petrol head or should that be piston head either way yer into motors and that's got to be a good thing, if i don't recognise yer moosh make yourself known, remember I'm 12 years older too lol btw our next meet is on the 14th
laters buddy
eamonn
sorry for the hijack Ian
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