I got a question here... I want to get some legit trap times for my Dakota. Plus, I really want to open it up... but not on a highway due to laws, obviously.

I can either do one of two things... there is a drag strip about 20 minutes away from me that has computerized radar and stuff. But I also want to go around a track a few times too.... just to get the feel of speed, lol. But if I want to have fun going around a track a few times, I'd like to, but the closest track is Watkins Glen.

How do I get into one of these?! I got their contact info... but I really want to see how well my truck does before I start doing some serious mods to it.

 

I personally started by taking my truck to the drag strip. And ran her bone stock. From there every time i added a product or made a change/mod i took it to the track to see results. Might actually go tonight myself.

 

You looking for road course driving or the 1/4 mile? I assume 1/4 mile... but you're gonna be SOL at Watkins Glen. It's all road course style, and short of attending one of their driving schools, you won't get any seat time.

Here's what I know of tracks with test & tune nights:

Safety Park Dragstrip
36mins from you.

US19 Dragway
2hrs from you

NY Int. Raceway Park
2.5hrs from you.

Lebanon Valley
2.5hrs from you.

But then there's a few in Jersy (ATCO, Englishtown) that I'd recommend... if they weren't 5+hrs away from you.

 

Don't even think about doing anything but 1/4 mile with a nearly stock Dodge Dakota, you'd just be laughed at. It'd be ridiculous anyways.

 

which one do you go to? Morroso?

I used to live about 5 miles from Orlando Speed World. I used to drag race my motorcycle and my old 350hp 1997 eclipse.

 

If you just want to run your truck to get a feel for it you can look into SCCA; Sports Car Club of America. I'm not sure about trucks but any car can go out on the weekend and run their "courses". They are cone courses set up with timed runs against vehicles in your "class". It really gives you a good idea of your car and how it would handle at the limit in realistic conditions. People race anything from ford festivas to dodge vipers. Also you could check in with some of the car clubs in your area; porsche, viper, corvette, bmw etc because they usually set up track days at road race tracks and sometimes will let you tag along and run if they have an empty spot.

 

there is nothing wrong with running a slow truck. I bet you can beat most of the crappy ricers that go out there and run 18's!

 

Agreed. My buddy has a 4 door dakota with the 4.7 and a kenny belle and ran like a mid 13. He hasn't even gotton it tuned yet lol.

 

yeah I wouldnt do anything but the 1/4 mile either. You will be laughed at trying to SCCA race a dakota or any truck for that matter.

 

screw that dakota, take the f150 on the strip, doors will be blown away like nobodys business.


































LOL.

 

I have seen the biggest pieces of crap race SCCA. Those folks are usually really good folks with a lot of good info. They may laugh, but they will help you also. It's not as much about speed as it is improvement and consistency. It is just a great idea to run a vehicle in a controlled setting and get an idea of how it will handle in turns and how to recover.

 

i dont know how much "speed" you will feel if you are trapping about 80 at the end of the 1/4

 

I guess my opinion is biased. I have been on too many 10 second motorcycles to think anything over 12 seconds or under 120mph trap speed is fast.

 

Thanks man!

Oh, I dunno what my Dakota runs... no one has the stats for a 5 speed reg cab 4x2 4.7l v8. All they talk about is the automatic, which I've driven one, and it is slowwwww. Heck, it won't even peel rubber with out gassing it a lot.

That's why I need to find out. I spent like an hour looking for the specs, and I found nearly nothing but some interesting posts on various dodge forums.

 

i was wondering about size of your engine.
my stepson's pagota has the 3.9 litre, i could bicicle the 1/4 faster