driving question

Ok I know this is going to sound silly but Ill get the beating over with quickly.

How imperative is it when learning to drive a tad/tafc that you are able to drive a manual clutch vehicle?

What I mean is my parents had manual transmission vehicles before i got my license and long after they quit letting me drive their vehicles ( I am 33 ) so I never had much experience in driving a manual trans car or truck. In a life or death situation I can drive one. With everyday practic I could pick it up fairly easy. Im just wondering how similar letting out the clutch during a burnout, backing up and leaving the line are in relation to a street car.

Given the opportutnity to make some hits in a TAD/TAFC Id hate like hell to stall one =) any insight gang?

Thanks

 

Frankie,

I know there are probably a lot of racers that don't, or didn't have any experience with a pedal clutch in a regular car but me personally I found that it helped a lot.

It's just one less thing that you have to learn when you jump in for the first time. I'm still relatively new to driving (drove TAD 2002, 2003 and TAFC in 2004 and now in 2005) but I can't see how it would hurt. I started driving TAD when I was 16 and only a few months before I did my NHRA license I got my regular drivers license. I did all my "in-car" driving lessons in a manual trans car. I’m now 19 driving a TAFC.

I think it would definitely help, although not exactly the same feel, the principle and the way it works are the same.

 

Geez, I didnt even have my "regular" license when I was 16, much less driving an A/FC, LOL

Are your parents looking to adopt??,

Happy Easter to everyone, hope we all have a safe season

Michael

 

hahaha,

Yeah, it was quite the jump- went from a Jr. Dragster that went 11 seconds in the 1/8th to a TAD going 5.90's and 6.0's in the 1/4, then to a TAFC.

I was basically told- if you wanna drive, you have to get your license, so I did lol. I actually didn't know how to drive a manual trans car until I got a job at a car dealership as a prep guy- then on my first day one of the salesmen said "let's go outside, you're learning how to drive a standard." So we picked out the most beat on car (just incase) and took it for a drive, actually it came to me surprisingly quickly after grinding one or two or three gears lol.

 

Frankie, YOU have the BEST teacher in town.

 

KJC,

Who might that be?

 

Hi Frankie,

Just fooling around. Remember it is only a car. Good Luck. Kevin.

 

Kevin,

What in the hell are you talking about?

Dan Lynch,

Seeing as how you are lurking and responding to this post on other boards, I read the article in this weeks ND ( it just came in the mail ) and I still have a question. If Ashley learned how to drive a stick just recently, how in the hell has she been driving an A/Fuel car now for over a year? Does it have a Lenco drive in it or is it setup in such away that it wont stall when she lets out the clutch? Enquiring minds want to know

 

Direct drive Frankie. All she does is stab and steer.

 

woodchip,

I understand it is direct drive but it still has a clutch in it. She might not have to shift a couple of times but there is still a clutch to let out off the line. Nitor funny cars and dragsters are direct dirve too but still have a clutch

 

But they are a Glide type,not pedal.The pedal is to overcome the counter arms for starting and reverse engagment and can be used to stage if u want to bring up the rpms a little. It has stall speed springs holding the p/p out till counter weight overcomes em.

 

On an A-fuel car the clutch is centrifical. There is a neutral position when fully depressed against the stop. However this is only depressed when the car is stopped. When staging the car you release the clutch and stop in the prestage light with the brake and depress the clutch. When both prstage lights are on you put the fuel lever all the way on and remove your foot from the clutch and stage the car into the second light with the brake. All you have to do then is open the throttle. There is no coordanation betwee the clutch and throttle.