The Secret of My Survival - Competitors Share Their Tips on Prepping Your Vehicle to Survive a Drag-and-Drive
A drag-and-drive can be an amazing experience, from the racing to the drives, checkpoints to the parking lot parties, trailer burnouts and even the thrash sessions.
The way we’ve watched everyone operate time and time again to not only survive the week, but help others survive, brings a unique feel to the events.
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But, with most events bringing cars and trucks that are 8-seconds and quicker in the quarter-mile, as well as rides that are thrashed together just time to make the event, a drag-and-drive can also expose what rides are up to the challenge.
The internet and social media has helped, with the exchange of information to give competitors a better chance of enduring a drag-and-drive.
Recently, we put the call out to hear from competitors – what are the best things you’ve done to your vehicle to help survive a drag-and-drive?
There are a few that have opposing viewpoints, but we’ve listed both to provide options that might work best for your set-up. Here’s our top twenty favorites (plus a bonus):
“I set my car up to drive on the street before drag-and-drive events became popular, and before taking the opportunity to do one. There’s nothing really clever, but a lot of the work has been done upfront to make it survive the summer temperatures. 3 different cooling systems: radiator, oil cooler, and remote transmission cooler.”
“Turned down the power. Full boost is 40 psi and around 900 wheel-horse-power. The small engines have a limited life span at that power level, so our goal was to run 20 psi to keep the engine together.”
“Just keeping it simple. The first rule of everything is don't outsmart yourself. Make sure that the car is mechanically functionable, and the rest will sort itself out.”
“Using 3.55 ratio rear gears for cruising, and a 24-inch drag radial for racing. A 24-inch radial and 3.55 gears on the track, is the same as 4.14 gear ratio with a more-common 28-inch tall tire. It’s the best of both worlds.”
“I drove it almost 300 miles without a front clip. After seeing my temperature gauge go over 260 multiple times, I had to do something to keep it cool.”
“Upgrading the fuel and cooling system. I went from a Amazon special radiator to a dual pass radiator. Also I could not fill an aftermarket universal fuel tank above 3/4 of a tank without it leaking, so we sumped a stock tank and went to a inline fuel pump.”
“Hood stack for the turbo. Makes the underhood temperatures so much lower, and the fresh air pushes the heat up and out.”
“Maybe not clever, but simple. Getting to the track early, and staying as long as necessary to get the pass that is needed to be competitive.”
“I would say making the vehicle easy to work on. There is nothing like taking half of the car apart, just to replace a 50 dollar part.”
“Added a second transmission cooler, and extra cooling fans. Also the biggest item is a kneeling pad cut into a few custom shapes to add some lumbar support for myself and the co-pilot. Let’s face it; some race seats are not the most supportive thing for long drives and or bigger boys.”
“Everything is mechanical. Mechanical water pump, fan, dry sump and a cable drive fuel pump. There’s no electric powered failure points on this car.”
“The switch to E-85 fuel to keep the engine cool running down the road. When it was on race gas, I wasn't able to drive it near as long because of overheating issues.”
“Magnetic light bar for the roof on the night time drives. Dark tint and smoked headlights don’t bode well in the back country roads.”
“A simple toggle switch I turn on that shorts the thermostatic switch for the cooling fans. I can run the electric water pump and fans to cool the engine down very quickly. But also have it run off a thermostatic switch when street driving.”
“Trailer brakes, plus an awning attached to trailer helps on the hot days.”
“We have a dual fuel system that we can switch over on the fly without contaminating the race gas. We have 2 electrical ball valves on the return lines, and three fuel pumps. One pump is a dual pump, so if one goes out, we can swap to the other side to get us to the next spot. The fuel system is switched over by a simple push of a button. It flushes E-85 through the lines for a few seconds before swapping the ball valves to ensure no pump gas gets mixed into the E-85 tank.”
“Having a flex fuel sensor so we can run just about any gas! That saved us this year when we had a hard time finding E-85.”
“Better cooling. and some tall tires for the street drive. Also, being able to tune on the go with the laptop helps to refine the drive.”
“Nothing clever; I just used the best parts I could, so I had the best possible chance of making it.”
“Have a big radiator up front, with a hole cut in the bumper. Also, having multiple relays wired in for the electric fuel pump. If one fails, you don’t lose fuel pressure.”
“During the build of my car, I re-wired the entire car, front to back, and moved my fuse box and all of my electrical connections to be inside of a custom fabricated center console. I have a 3d printed insert that has cupholders, phone holders, etc. that sits in the center console, and it pulls right out with no tools, and all of my electronics are right there. No more standing on my head under the dash trying to troubleshoot electrical. I can sit comfortably in the drivers or passenger seat with my multimeter, and address any electrical problems I might run into during the week.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com