I'm planning on hitting sonoma raceway for the wednesday night drags one of these upcoming weeks with the R. anyone done this with their R and what tips do you have for laying down the best times?

i'm assuming i should leave the traction controls on to help with the launch and reduce the wheel spin. will it automatically shift at the redline in sport mode, or will i run thru the gears manually?

road and track had the rwd '15 R at 11.8 @ 122.3 mph. assume that is the absolute bar, as they prob had a very skilled driver and maybe even used different tires. i certainly won't get very close to that...

i have tracked many times, but never done the drag strip.

any/all experienced tips appreciated...

 

#1 small burnout to clean up tires, stay out of the waterbox
#2 brake torque ...start somewhere around 2500 rpm
#3 leave on the last amber

I'm going to wait till its cooler out, Florida heat and humidity doesn't make for great times.

 

The search feature is your friend.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...-strip-143348/
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...advice-141701/

 

I ran my R last year at Sonoma. Here's the video:


Just made it into the 11.7x (but realistically it was 11.8). I think I lifted a little early at the end, think I could have got 1mph more out of it at 121mph. The magazine times are often "corrected" for temp and atmosphere, so don't be surprised if u don't run those times. My corrected time would have been the same as the magazine time.

Some tips/what I did

- drive around the water, our stock tires don't need the water and we don't need a burnout. so just drive around the water box as you stage up.

- try with 1/4 or 3/8 tank of gas to keep weight done

- run with a little lower tire pressure, maybe 31-32 PSI cold

- I ran it with dynamic mode but left suspension in "normal" since my theory is I want softer suspension to get off the line better

- I just ran it in sport mode, no need to manually shift

- the real key is gradual power delivery, otherwise you'll just spin the tires and go no where. this is captain obvious, but it's trickier than I imagine (see below)

- I got a great launch my 1st attempt. Very lucky. After that it was very difficult to get a good launch again and I think I crept into the 12.0x range because my tires kept spinning.

- don't worry too much about timing the green light...unless u are actually trying to compete...if u just want to see your car's time, the green light is not really relevant since the time you separately from your reaction time. So no need to try to time the green light and gun it, which might make a good launch more difficult.

Have fun.

 

Ok, it was my first time and I certainly have a lot more learning to do, but that is sure a lot of fun for $25!

My learnings/observations:
- a wide variety of cars, which was really fun to see (including a minivan that ran 14's and beat many unsuspecting cars)
- casual atmosphere and all I met were very willing to help out a rookie
- all the tips from pdc'ers were spot on (not that I necessarily nailed them)
- traffic on 37 was brutal, so I only had time for 2 runs before elimination rounds started. (I could have used more runs & experimenting with technique)


My performance:
- first run: I red lighted by 2/10'ths. I was a little too anxious/nervous, but felt OK with the launch for my first time ever.
- second: ended up being my best. 11.77 @ 118.7 mph. Reaction time was 'ok', but I left some speed on the table somewhere along the way.
- last run (elimination round), I learned something (I think) about my car. I wanted to gain a little more on the launch so I stood on the brake a bit to get the rpm's up for launch...well, the car did not like that for some reason, as it really hesitated then at launch (~1/2 sec before power came back. Weird). I'm thinking because I had traction control on, it did not like the little brake stand??? That's all I can think of, as I had not tried that before. Ended up With a 12.01 sec run, which was well off my target (opponent had a smaller delta to his target...he wins).

Lots to continue to experiment with, but what a fun event. I'll certainly go back to learn more about my car and certainly technique.

I'll eventually want to try this without the traction control on, once I get a little better feel of the process.

Any ideas why I lost power with that last start (applying the brake under partial throttle)??

 

yea, I'm guessing it might have to do with traction control, because w/o traction control you can definitely get the wheels spinning and not lose power.

 

I'll happily let you tear me up off the line in Sonoma... I'm in a manual 6 speed base model convertible. =)

How much are the 20" tires, each?

 

About 380 rear 280 front.

 

The drag strip is not hard on the tires at all (assuming you are not doing burnouts). Now track days, which are an absolute blast, will definitely put some wear on the tires and brakes.

If someone has not done a track day before, there is often a misunderstanding. It is not racing and it is very safe (with basic common sense). It is only as hard on your car as you want it to be & there is no better way to get to know your vehicle (balance, power, braking, etch).

I personally think it is a shame to not drive/experience cars that were built with performance in mind, in environments where you can safely learn (not the street).

The drag strip was new to me and will now be on a regular rotation, along with track days... so much fun.

 

100% Totally agreed....

If you don't know the limits of your car, you can't really know how to safely handle in every day situations. I guess you *can*, but it helps so much to know when the tail will slide out, etc. I really want to have some track time simply to be able to learn the car and become part of it, more.

The 20 years in the Wrangler didn't help me understand performance, very well. I love that truck, but man I need some track time.

Wed... they are drag strip *&* track days, or those are diff. I guess I can look on the Sonoma schedule.

 

Not hard on the tires, but real hard on the clutch. The Jag clutch is just not strong enough to hook up on a full throttle launch.

 

Clutch? What's a clutch? Is that the thing that makes you slow?

 

LOL . . . yep, the days of going to the drag strip with a manual are over. These days, they're just for fun, not performance. As much as I love the ZF automatic, I have to admit that I felt the F-Type manual I tested recently was definitely more fun to drive.