Ok guys i want to know what i can do to get the most out of my Stock G8 GT at the Dragway, any tips hints ideas would be great

so far my best time is a 13.9@102 So any ideas would help! unfortually im not looking to take my interior apart just yet...

Thanks guys!

If it's stock, don't power break. Traction control off, regular drive mode, switch to sport then manuel to hold 3rd n thats about it.

take the paper filter out for your track runs.. it will make a difference

I see people are saying to start in regular drive mode ... then switch to sport mode ... then to manual to hold in 3rd gear for the trap ...

BUT ...

When is the optimal time to switch from regular to sport mode ??? ...

To get your best runs this is what you have to do:

1) Take it to the track on a cool and dry day. Look at the weather reports and pay attention to temp, humidity, and baro pressure. The car will make the most power when the temps and humidity are lowest and barometric pressure is highest.

2) Run the car with only 1/4 tank of gas or just a touch more. Weight savings...

3) Make sure that your front tires are at least fully inflated to minimize drag. Drop the pressure in the rear tires by a bit which will allow a better contact patch which will give better traction. Only drop pressure in the rear until the point where you get decent traction. Any more than that and you are needlessly creating more drag but without any additional traction benefits.

4) Cool the car down for at least an hour if not a little more. I dropped almost .2 seconds from ET by just proper cooling versus hotlapping. Hotlapping is good to allow a person to get their technique down though; but not for best runs.

5) Do a small burnout to clean the tires. Nothing huge, just a few seconds. DO NOT drive straight through the water box. Drive around and back in. When you do the burnout make sure that you burnout and come out of the water box with the tire still spinning fast. If you burnout just in place, then stop the burnout and roll forward out of the box from there you will likely get your tires wet again which will lead to traction issues.

6) Stall to about 1,000rpms... Nothing high, just enough to take the slack out of the drivetrain but nothing more.

7) Operate it as blackdevil said in his post with regards to TC and drive mode/manual mode.

8) Don't hesitate to try different launch techniques to get the best 60'. Different tracks prep better or worse than others. What launch techniques may work at one track may cause a car to spin badly at another track.

9) If it starts spinning or wheel-hopping then just get out of the gas and abort the run. No need to beat the rear suspension up. At that point the run is botched already.

10) DO NOT take the filter out. Frankly that is a dumb idea. That filter is there to protect your engine and also the MAFS from getting debris into it. There are much more intelligent ways to get better ET's without taking large chances of harming your car.

Practice makes perfect. Go out and see what works the best.

I personally think launching from 1k works best and rolling into the throttle or feathering it as you put it down will keep the tires from spinning.

As you mod, your technique will change a bit.

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To each their own rock, but were talking about a stock G8. There have been many occurences with other makes and models of stock cars where an individual may remove the paper filter for TRACKING PURPOSES ONLY as i stated.Now, If you were driving around 24/7 without a filter then I agree with you, you might have some probs. But the topic of this thread is "what to do to get the most out of my stock G8" at the strip. Taking the filter out is a suggestion and will most likely net better times as proven by my friend 09 sport red with 4 consistent 13.5 runs in mid 70 degree outside temps on a "stock" G8. So to end, I wouldnt necessarily call it a "dumb" idea just because that is your opinion. Like I said man to each their own.

To each their own rock, but were talking about a stock G8. There have been many occurences with other makes and models of stock cars where an individual may remove the paper filter for TRACKING PURPOSES ONLY as i stated.Now, If you were driving around 24/7 without a filter then I agree with you, you might have some probs. But the topic of this thread is "what to do to get the most out of my stock G8" at the strip. Taking the filter out is a suggestion and will most likely net better times as proven by my friend 09 sport red with 4 consistent 13.5 runs in mid 70 degree outside temps on a "stock" G8. So to end, I wouldnt necessarily call it a "dumb" idea just because that is your opinion. Like I said man to each their own.


The gain is not worth it at all. I have built many engines and race quite often, as well as being a custom tuner too so I know my way around engines and what the do's and dont's are. It would be SO easy to suck a leaf that has been laying inside the engine bay or front fender area right into the MAFS electronics. That little honeycomb piece will not stop much. The MAFS wires are pretty delicate and will not respond well to having debris hit them. Running absolutely no filter even for a few track runs is just plain stupid if you actually want the thing to last without screwing something up. After all, you aren't exactly going to run fast if the car doesn't run from sucking debris through the MAFS possibly breaking the wire element. Some items are opinion and/or preference based when it comes to better performance with cars. This idea though is just not a logical thing to do, especially for the gains given. The risk is not worth the reward. There are more intelligent ways to run good times. After all, is a 1/10th really worth the chance you take??? I bet that 90% of people would agree it is not. If you are that desperate to run another 1/10th faster than just unbolt all the seats. At least then you aren't taking a chance of permanently damaging the MAFS.

Even most people running big single turbo's in their track only cars will run at least a screen to keep out debris. They are also usually running SD so there is less chance of delicate electronics getting messed up by a little piece of debris flying through anything like a MAFS.

That little honeycomb piece is about 1" thick. It took a lot of pressure to push out of the housing.

Every weekend, there are untold numbers of $15K to $30K engines run with no filter.

Took the 09 G8 GT in today for the first oil change, and asked them to check for any new updates. I figured the car would have all the current updates since it's an 09 model, but I was wrong. They installed an update for the transmission shift, which in my opinion made a big difference. The car seems to be more responsive with the starts, and WOT at a mid range speed. Just thought I would throw that out there for anyone who thought theirs would be up to date if it was an 09.

That little honeycomb piece is about 1" thick. It took a lot of pressure to push out of the housing.

Every weekend, there are untold numbers of $15K to $30K engines run with no filter.



And there are still pieces of debris that can make it past that honeycomb. A leaf hitting that honeycomb can easily be broken up due to the volume of air pulling at it. Honeycomb or not, debris can does have a chance of finding its way through to the wire element.

I assume you are referring to the pro-street, real-street and so on turbo cars pushing large numbers and really only track driven. Well there is a large difference between those cars and their intended use and these. Not street driven, need every last bit of horsepower due to real competition...and I could go on. I could also go on to use the example that there are plenty of expensive vehicles that run fully locked spark timing advance tables. Does that mean that you should in your daily driven street car? Of course not. Recognizing those differences and the reasoning behind them is key.

If you want to run your car on the 1/4 mile strip without any filter then be my guest. Chances are likely that you will probably be alright the first time or so. Or you might find that your luck doesn't hold up and your vehicle will not fare that well. Go ahead and take that chance but it is foolish to do so. I am ALL for taking risks when the benefits will offset them but what was suggested by last resort isn't one of them.

Took the 09 G8 GT in today for the first oil change, and asked them to check for any new updates. I figured the car would have all the current updates since it's an 09 model, but I was wrong. They installed an update for the transmission shift, which in my opinion made a big difference. The car seems to be more responsive with the starts, and WOT at a mid range speed. Just thought I would throw that out there for anyone who thought theirs would be up to date if it was an 09.



Good info Galleon. :)