[turbodaniel]

Hi everyone
I am new to the Hellcat scene but not the drag strip, currently have 9 sec. 87 GN, I just purchased a 2016 Charger Hellcat that is completely stock for now. From what I can gather it is wise to purchase a 1 piece drive shaft and diff. brace once drag radials are used.

 

[dragrcr]

Hi everyone
I am new to the Hellcat scene but not the drag strip, currently have 9 sec. 87 GN, I just purchased a 2016 Charger Hellcat that is completely stock for now. From what I can gather it is wise to purchase a 1 piece drive shaft and diff. brace once drag radials are used.

Neither are mandatory. Especially if you keep near stock power. I made hundreds of passes without either and I had no issues in my 2016 Hellcat Challenger. I personally would never do the driveshaft.

 

[turbodaniel]

Neither are mandatory. Especially if you keep near stock power. I made hundreds of passes without either and I had no issues in my 2016 Hellcat Challenger. I personally would never do the driveshaft.
[/QUOT

Neither are mandatory. Especially if you keep near stock power. I made hundreds of passes without either and I had no issues in my 2016 Hellcat Challenger. I personally would never do the driveshaft.

Thanks for the reply...what kinda times were you running?

 

[dragrcr]

Thanks for the reply...what kinda times were you running?

With 3.09 gears and a tire it was 10.85 to 11.30 at Fontana where the DA was typically not that good

 

[turbodaniel]

With 3.09 gears and a tire it was 10.85 to 11.30 at Fontana where the DA was typically not that good

Nice I am looking forward to run 10s and drive her home...Are 3.09 gears are standard?

 

[fumanchu182]

Nice I am looking forward to run 10s and drive her home...Are 3.09 gears are standard?

Depends on model and trim. 2.62 is the bare bones standard.

 

[turbodaniel]

Depends on model and trim. 2.62 is the bare bones standard.

Thanks what kind of data logger do you use? Bad ass Challenger BTW!

 

[fumanchu182]

Thanks what kind of data logger do you use? Bad ass Challenger BTW!

Thank you. I use HP Tuners VCM Scanner coupled with their MPVI2 hardware.

 

[Linda's Hell Cat]

Hi everyone
I am new to the Hellcat scene but not the drag strip, currently have 9 sec. 87 GN, I just purchased a 2016 Charger Hellcat that is completely stock for now. From what I can gather it is wise to purchase a 1 piece drive shaft and diff. brace once drag radials are used.

Hi @turbodaniel if you are going to modify your Hellcat it is Wise to start modifying with upgrading the Driveshaft and also add a diff brace.
There is a lot of Torque when launching a Hellcat The Diff Brace is what I like to call the "Best Peace of mind" Mod. If the diff breaks the driveshaft or a halfshaft could be taken out with it.

Linda

 

[turbodaniel]

Hi @turbodaniel if you are going to modify your Hellcat it is Wise to start modifying with upgrading the Driveshaft and also add a diff brace.
There is a lot of Torque when launching a Hellcat The Diff Brace is what I like to call the "Best Peace of mind" Mod. If the diff breaks the driveshaft or a halfshaft could be taken out with it.

Linda

Thanks Linda I am going to keep it stock for the time being, but plan on running drag radials I am sure the Perellis are worthless at the track.

 

[Linda's Hell Cat]

Thanks Linda I am going to keep it stock for the time being, but plan on running drag radials I am sure the Perellis are worthless at the track.

Exactly, Do not use Pirellis for Drag racing to much HP and Torque.
My daughter races a 2010 SRT8 Challenger with a D1 Procharger build. My husband forgot her Dr's so when he changed my Stock Pirelli's he installed them on her car. Kate went around the water box and just chirped the tires to clean ff the stone. She did OK, but missed her MT's. She likes to Bracket Race the 11.50 class and is pretty competitive.

Linda

 

[turbodaniel]

Exactly, Do not use Pirellis for Drag racing to my HP and Torque.
My daughter races a 2010 SRT8 Challenger with a D1 Procharger build. My husband forgot her Dr's so when he changed my Stock Pirelli's he installed them on her car. Kate went around the water box and just chirped the tires to clean ff the stone. She did OK, but missed her MT's. She likes to Bracket Race the 11.50 class and is pretty competitive.

Linda

Nice a drag racing family... I thinking a set MTs and Tazer line lock to save the rears for now

 

[Dennis H]

You already leave on the last yellow. Any other staging advice?

 

[HC5120]

I use a tazer. 2nd gear for my burnout. Gotta let off the line lock pretty quick after hitting the throttle, then slowly back off the throttle or you will disappear in a cloud of tire smoke.

What I do is before I roll into the beams, I set my rpms and then just let off the brake to move the car forward. A lot of times I let the other car pre stage first, and then I just roll through both yellows so I am fully staged. That gives me a little extra time to settle in. I actually have my rpms as low as they can be while still having the drivetrain loaded. That way you can roll forward just using the brakes.You need to have your rpms steady when you roll in. Also, you can't time the lights, gotta just watch that last yellow bulb. (Or at least I've never been able to do it in the last thousand runs I've made, lol)

Like Linda said, with street tires you go around the water box. This is true if you have a standard street tire on the front, too, and a drag tire on the back. For street tires, you just want to get them cleaned off so just a quick little burnout is sufficient.

As for gearing, typically you'd want to be right near max power when you hit the finish line, so you would set up your gearing and tire height to be right near the end of whatever gear you are in at the end of the 1/4. So, if say you were running a 2.62 diff and a 28" tire and you were at 6400 at the end of the track, but then you were having traction issues and had to switch to a 29.5 tire, you'd want to run a deeper rear gear.

Also, should remember that the first gear in these cars is like 4.71. 2.62x4.71=12.34. So if you were running a TH400 with a 2.48 first gear, that would be like a 4.98 rear gear. A 3.09 rear gear would be like, for a TH400, a 5.87.

I always have to do conversions like this because I think old school in terms of trans gearing, TH400, Muncie M20/2.52 first gear, etc.

A lot of this gearing stuff is pretty exacting, and is about optimizing the combo, and making the best use of the power you have available. There's a vid on youtube where a guy is running 10.50s in his 66 mustang with a 289 motor, launching at 8K and running through the traps at 8800 rpms. He's running a 6.80 rear end or something ridiculous like that.

 

[turbodaniel]

You already leave on the last yellow. Any other staging advice?

I always thought green means go..lol

 

[Linda's Hell Cat]

@Dennis H will you be going to the Drag strip with your Hellcat?
Are you keeping your HC stock or are you having some mods installed.

Launching a Hellcat takes Finesse

Linda

 

[Dennis H]

@Dennis H will you be going to the Drag strip with your Hellcat?
Are you keeping your HC stock or are you having some mods installed.

Launching a Hellcat takes Finesse

Linda

No mods yet. Considering tires only. Just don’t want to look foolish at the starting line. I did that once, didn't know what “deep staging meant. That was with the old car, slow by comparison.
opportunity may come up and want to be ready. Sacramento has a real tree and Willow Springs a hokey flag drop. Finesse...

 

[baabootoo]

Watch Lucky and Tony on Hot Rod Garage, "How to Drag Race", or many other Roadkill ones. After watching these, I feel like a pro even though it's been .........12 years! I'm getting some drag radials and nothing else.

 

[turbodaniel]

@Dennis H will you be going to the Drag strip with your Hellcat?
Are you keeping your HC stock or are you having some mods installed.

Launching a Hellcat takes Finesse

Linda

Going to keep it stock for now however will be taking it to the strip. Any advice on launching would be great

I use a tazer. 2nd gear for my burnout. Gotta let off the line lock pretty quick after hitting the throttle, then slowly back off the throttle or you will disappear in a cloud of tire smoke.

What I do is before I roll into the beams, I set my rpms and then just let off the brake to move the car forward. A lot of times I let the other car pre stage first, and then I just roll through both yellows so I am fully staged. That gives me a little extra time to settle in. I actually have my rpms as low as they can be while still having the drivetrain loaded. That way you can roll forward just using the brakes.You need to have your rpms steady when you roll in. Also, you can't time the lights, gotta just watch that last yellow bulb. (Or at least I've never been able to do it in the last thousand runs I've made, lol)

Like Linda said, with street tires you go around the water box. This is true if you have a standard street tire on the front, too, and a drag tire on the back. For street tires, you just want to get them cleaned off so just a quick little burnout is sufficient.

As for gearing, typically you'd want to be right near max power when you hit the finish line, so you would set up your gearing and tire height to be right near the end of whatever gear you are in at the end of the 1/4. So, if say you were running a 2.62 diff and a 28" tire and you were at 6400 at the end of the track, but then you were having traction issues and had to switch to a 29.5 tire, you'd want to run a deeper rear gear.

Also, should remember that the first gear in these cars is like 4.71. 2.62x4.71=12.34. So if you were running a TH400 with a 2.48 first gear, that would be like a 4.98 rear gear. A 3.09 rear gear would be like, for a TH400, a 5.87.

I always have to do conversions like this because I think old school in terms of trans gearing, TH400, Muncie M20/2.52 first gear, etc.

A lot of this gearing stuff is pretty exacting, and is about optimizing the combo, and making the best use of the power you have available. There's a vid on youtube where a guy is running 10.50s in his 66 mustang with a 289 motor, launching at 8K and running through the traps at 8800 rpms. He's running a 6.80 rear end or something ridiculous like that.

Thank you for the great info, I dont know what the gearing is I am assuming 2.62 The track I go to you back into the water box so I assume running stock fronts would be ok. I was going to go a with 275 MT but the 305 MT I think is closer in diameter to the Perelli. You have a hell of alot more seat time than I do
Sounds like I have alot to learn to learn about these Hellcats

 

[HC5120]

Even though I have raced a lot, it took some time to get used to the hellcat. They are just insane with the low end torque and the super low first gear.

I ran the 305-40-18 MT SS tire on 18" bravados two years ago when I first started racing the car. They are very good tires, imo, and a great street/strip tire that you can drive to the track. On a good track, they will work great. No reason to go 275s since the 305s fit just fine and are an inch wider. The 275s are 27.8" tall and the 305s are 28" so pretty much the same.

I think it's good to just keep it stock and see how the car does and get used to it. My car stock with the MT SS in the 1/8 mile, around 5000 DA or so, ran like 7.42. Then I got a tune and it ran like 7.21 on the 93 tune and trans tune. Then I put a 2.85 upper on it and spacer plates and blanket, and 315 R tires (and the other stuff listed in sig), and I've run a 6.80 at 4300 DA, but I think I can get a 6.75 or maybe a little better now that I am getting the traction figured out.

But if it's a really well-prepped track, I don't think you need all the suspension work I've done. It's just if you want to be consistent and the track is challenging that you need that stuff.