All,
I see that diiaa36 posted his first time great experience running at a drag strip and probably should just tag on to his OP, but I asked for forum advice and wanted those who kindly responded to see my forum name of Finface in the OP.
I also had my first drag strip experience at Edgewater Motor Sports Park near Cincinnati week ago! The car had a fresh oil change with SRT oil filter that morning at 900 miles. For $25 track fee and $150 for a full face Snell approved helmet I was able to make 7 runs myself, and let my experienced 2016 Hellcat owner neighbor, who tail chased with me to the track, make one run, in my 2019 Hellcat Red Eye Wide Body with the A8 and stock all season tires. We got there early to start runs right at 1800 and almost rolled right into run after run for the first hour we were there! Didn't start getting crowded with motorcycles and junior rail racers until about 1930. In another thread I asked for and got lots of great advice about this, and I may get some dedicated rear tires in the future, but for this virgin strip experience I just went fully stock. As an aside, and comparison to what my car did, my neighbor's 2016 NB Hellcat with the A8, stock except for 305 Nitro street/drag radials, has run an 11.1 on this track and this evening consistently he consistently ran 11.5's in his Hellcat.
It was a 90 degree sunny evening - hot! No AC allowed - don't want water dripping from under the car. Neither the car, nor I, have suffered any visible damage. However, I write this post from the local mental hospital where I’ve been confined after being arrested for “excessive public display of wild exuberance after legally driving insanely fast”. I didn’t even know you could be temporarily committed for that. They say I’ll likely be released tomorrow.
My first run was a throwaway - I'd never seen any drag strip track length, or runout, from a car so a cruising run. Still got above 90 mph - pretty cool!
On every subsequent run RDEYE's all season Pirellis, at 32 psi, hopelessly lost traction (even with driving around the water - no burnouts), then regained traction by virtue of the Street Mode traction control. Invariably on launch, invariably when the automatic 8 speed shifted through 3rd, 4th and maybe even 5th gear a couple of times. By about 80 mph I could usually floor it without losing any traction. Each run was an exercise in sharp, short jerks accompanied by RPM increases - and slight steering corrections - as the tires failed to put the car’s power to the ground through those early gears. But it never felt like I was going to lose it and swap ends - not even close. No doubt if I could have feathered the throttle and not spun the tires early in my runs I could have broken 12 seconds. I've seen a video where a 2019 RE WB in perfect conditions with stock summer Pirelli's broke 11 seconds.
Five of these were all + or - .3 second low 13 second quarter mile times, with end speeds between 115 and 120 mph. 13.1 to 13.6 runs.
On my last run I let the rear tire psi down to 28 psi and cracked 13 seconds with a 12.742 time at 119 mph. All I can say is every run felt and looked really fast! And…it was a blast!
My neighbor took the last run in my RE and he clocked a 12.45. I asked him how the car felt compared to his and he said it felt the same, except my car's tires spun too much. I've read that the RE's extra 80-90 HP (depending on which Hellcat year you're comparing it to) really only matters pulling from 150-200 mph. And I only need that power when I'm late for work!
If you can do what I did - go on a low key, non-competitive fun night - to a drag strip do it as a "life experience". I could care less that the announcer would say, "And here's a Challenger Red Eye!" and then I'd make runs a couple of seconds slower than advertised. Traction control in Street Mode made this a relatively safe, low stress outing.
I'm going back in September for another night. It was also really cool to see all the other fast cars and meet other enthusiasts.
Best,
Finface
I see that diiaa36 posted his first time great experience running at a drag strip and probably should just tag on to his OP, but I asked for forum advice and wanted those who kindly responded to see my forum name of Finface in the OP.
I also had my first drag strip experience at Edgewater Motor Sports Park near Cincinnati week ago! The car had a fresh oil change with SRT oil filter that morning at 900 miles. For $25 track fee and $150 for a full face Snell approved helmet I was able to make 7 runs myself, and let my experienced 2016 Hellcat owner neighbor, who tail chased with me to the track, make one run, in my 2019 Hellcat Red Eye Wide Body with the A8 and stock all season tires. We got there early to start runs right at 1800 and almost rolled right into run after run for the first hour we were there! Didn't start getting crowded with motorcycles and junior rail racers until about 1930. In another thread I asked for and got lots of great advice about this, and I may get some dedicated rear tires in the future, but for this virgin strip experience I just went fully stock. As an aside, and comparison to what my car did, my neighbor's 2016 NB Hellcat with the A8, stock except for 305 Nitro street/drag radials, has run an 11.1 on this track and this evening consistently he consistently ran 11.5's in his Hellcat.
It was a 90 degree sunny evening - hot! No AC allowed - don't want water dripping from under the car. Neither the car, nor I, have suffered any visible damage. However, I write this post from the local mental hospital where I’ve been confined after being arrested for “excessive public display of wild exuberance after legally driving insanely fast”. I didn’t even know you could be temporarily committed for that. They say I’ll likely be released tomorrow.
My first run was a throwaway - I'd never seen any drag strip track length, or runout, from a car so a cruising run. Still got above 90 mph - pretty cool!
On every subsequent run RDEYE's all season Pirellis, at 32 psi, hopelessly lost traction (even with driving around the water - no burnouts), then regained traction by virtue of the Street Mode traction control. Invariably on launch, invariably when the automatic 8 speed shifted through 3rd, 4th and maybe even 5th gear a couple of times. By about 80 mph I could usually floor it without losing any traction. Each run was an exercise in sharp, short jerks accompanied by RPM increases - and slight steering corrections - as the tires failed to put the car’s power to the ground through those early gears. But it never felt like I was going to lose it and swap ends - not even close. No doubt if I could have feathered the throttle and not spun the tires early in my runs I could have broken 12 seconds. I've seen a video where a 2019 RE WB in perfect conditions with stock summer Pirelli's broke 11 seconds.
Five of these were all + or - .3 second low 13 second quarter mile times, with end speeds between 115 and 120 mph. 13.1 to 13.6 runs.
On my last run I let the rear tire psi down to 28 psi and cracked 13 seconds with a 12.742 time at 119 mph. All I can say is every run felt and looked really fast! And…it was a blast!
My neighbor took the last run in my RE and he clocked a 12.45. I asked him how the car felt compared to his and he said it felt the same, except my car's tires spun too much. I've read that the RE's extra 80-90 HP (depending on which Hellcat year you're comparing it to) really only matters pulling from 150-200 mph. And I only need that power when I'm late for work!
If you can do what I did - go on a low key, non-competitive fun night - to a drag strip do it as a "life experience". I could care less that the announcer would say, "And here's a Challenger Red Eye!" and then I'd make runs a couple of seconds slower than advertised. Traction control in Street Mode made this a relatively safe, low stress outing.
I'm going back in September for another night. It was also really cool to see all the other fast cars and meet other enthusiasts.
Best,
Finface
