Back to the 1/4 Mile???

[TooTall999]

Just a thought, drop percentage to 80% and create a spec fuel pump? Not sure if they have an overdrive limit, but put one in place. Leave all the other systems alone

When they cut it to 80 or 85% before there was a definite difference in the sound and fury. Also quite a few broken cranks and other parts.I say leave well enough alone. The independent teams are steadily gaining ground on the mega teams thanks to the reduced track prep.

 

[TooTall999]

Good read here: https://www.dragzine.com/news/nhra-indeed-mulling-return-to-1-4-mile-nitro-racing/

 

[Porkchop]

who came up with the size of the chutes vs the speed and track length ?
has anyone tried bigger chutes ? how bout adding another caliper to the rear to go along with bigger chutes?
going slower is not gonna pack the stands imo

They used to have bigger ones. They hit to hard and killed drivers necks and backs so they made smaller parachutes, and thats what we have today.

 

[DixonFan]

@Alan Reinhart What if there were an index on how fast of mph you could go per track. Evaluate what speed each track could take while ensuring a safe stopping distance. Would the teams only have to rework there clutch setup? It would seem simple enough to just slip the clutch a bit more to ensure a safe speed while maintaining the 1/4 mile experience. Just my thoughts....

 

[ANDY]

They used to have bigger ones. They hit to hard and killed drivers necks and backs so they made smaller parachutes, and thats what we have today.

well maybe a few drivers should at least try a bigger chute and see if their eyes stay in their head
nobody will know if it will help if they dont try and thats pretty cheap for any team to absorb
dual calipers on the rear should gain a little too i think its worth a shot anyway

 

[Bob]

well maybe a few drivers should at least try a bigger chute and see if their eyes stay in their head
nobody will know if it will help if they dont try and thats pretty cheap for any team to absorb
dual calipers on the rear should gain a little too i think its worth a shot anyway

Don Garlits got a detached retina from the negative G forces experienced in stopping a TF dragster in 1992. A retina tear also caused by negative G forces was at least part of the reason Joe Amato retired from drag racing. Dual calipers would do what? Lock up the slicks? Not good...

 

[ironpony]

generally when the chutes open there is not an issue stopping, it is a problem when systems fail. The current brakes are capable of locking up the rear wheels so bigger/more braking is null, determined by the friction of slicks to track.
longer shut downs and nothing in the shut down area is critical.

 

[Muddy]

Us old guys will remember when they first started using chutes they were military surplus. Ocassionally someone would come up with a cargo chute that was way too large, It would, when deployed darn near jerk the car in half and the driver would suffer from physically merging with the seat belts.

 

[ANDY]

well i was thinking maybe somewhat bigger but not big enough to pull the car in half and as far as the brakes go
One of the benefits of the dual rear brake system is to help slow down heavy race cars without brake fade since the
braking force is split between two calipers on each side of the vehicle. ... The system can take more abuse because of
twice the amount of pads handling the braking. its twice the surface area and yes locking up a tire is not gonna help
so maybe ABS brakes should be tested as well. these are just ideas nothing more

 

[TD5023]

well i was thinking maybe somewhat bigger but not big enough to pull the car in half and as far as the brakes go
One of the benefits of the dual rear brake system is to help slow down heavy race cars without brake fade since the
braking force is split between two calipers on each side of the vehicle. ... The system can take more abuse because of
twice the amount of pads handling the braking. its twice the surface area and yes locking up a tire is not gonna help
so maybe ABS brakes should be tested as well. these are just ideas nothing more

Again, though, there is no problem with the size of the chutes as long as they work properly. As it is, one is more than enough to stop as long as it opens without tangling (happens all the time that only one deploys when the other gets caught in the wheelie bar). It's situations of failure that bring safety into question, and a bigger chute will make no difference if it doesn't open.

 

[Tybamf]

Again, though, there is no problem with the size of the chutes as long as they work properly. As it is, one is more than enough to stop as long as it opens without tangling (happens all the time that only one deploys when the other gets caught in the wheelie bar). It's situations of failure that bring safety into question, and a bigger chute will make no difference if it doesn't open.

Seems like they should mandate a pair of backup chutes that work on an entirely different system than the primaries. Redundancy has abated a lot of safety issues throughout history.

 

[Reese]

Where's the "beating the dead horse picture" No way we will ever see 1/4 mile NHRA funny car or top fuel drag racing.

 

[none]

@Alan Reinhart What if there were an index on how fast of mph you could go per track. Evaluate what speed each track could take while ensuring a safe stopping distance. Would the teams only have to rework there clutch setup? It would seem simple enough to just slip the clutch a bit more to ensure a safe speed while maintaining the 1/4 mile experience. Just my thoughts....

And what would the penalty be for exceeding the speed limit?

The law of unintended circumstances would then have the driver or CC shutting off early to avoid the "Breakout"

Alan

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Seems like they should mandate a pair of backup chutes that work on an entirely different system than the primaries. Redundancy has abated a lot of safety issues throughout history.

Not saying your idea is bad, but with the amount of ground these cars cover as quickly as they do, I'm not sure the reaction time, whether it be the driver or someone operating them remotely would be near quick enough by the time it's realized the primaries didn't open. I might be wrong, but I think the car would still be tough to get stopped in time.

Sean D

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Now that I think about it, that may not necessarily be true. At the very least a secondary set of chutes, even if deployed late would scrub off at least SOME speed.

To further overcomplicate stuff, maybe a system of backup chutes that are triggered by a g-force meter. Chute button is depressed, and if a predetermined negative g-force isn't registered within a second or some other predetermined elapsed time deemed appropriate, the backup chutes are automatically deployed?

Sean D

 

[ANDY]

heres one more thing to remember the longer a nitro motor is WFO the more chance it has to break something.

 

[mick]

i'm not so sure some of the deaths incurred while racing at 1/4mile would have been prevented if only racing to 1000'. the fact is racers were in trouble and they encountered barriers at
the end of the strip that caused fatal incidents. they were in trouble and could have easily perished racing at either length. improvement at the end of the strip IMO is every bit as important
as the length of the actual race ....... to race to 1/4mile again? how fast would they go? could tires handle it? would parts be obsolete and cost a fortune to change? or would the cost not be
that much enabling all teams to adjust to varying lengths? ..... IMO rite now the lesser funded teams have a combination that gets them to 1000'. to change that and race another 320' could
be difficult and could be very expensive in damaged parts. IMO leave the length at 1000', and make sure the end of the strip is as safe as possible.

 

[Cliff]

So, from what I'm reading, there would be a few things to consider IF there is a return to 1/4 mile. Speed would be limited to 353 MPH according to tire engineers. Stopping would be limited to length of shut off area. Technology can be developed to stop the cars. If power is taken away from the engines to where the cars would run (as example) 320 in 1/4 mile then that would benefit stopping. No "breakout", just limit the power. What is interesting to me about all this is that when I first started going to the drags, the "barriers" were 7 seconds & 200 MPH. No one really thought that there would eventually be a time when the cars just couldn't run any quicker or faster. It's like now there is a "final" speed limit & it's tires & track length. I am quite sure that if the technology could be developed, you'd see 3 seconds & 400 in the 1/4 mile. That would include stopping these monsters.

 

[TooTall999]

A lot of this discussion on how to stop the cars is missing the point entirely. The systems in place work fine, it's when there's a problem and the system fails. You can carry as many chutes as you can fit on the car, but if they tangle or get ripped from their anchor points compounded with brake failure that you need additional stopping area. If you read the article I posted, you'll see it was PRO that pushed for the change to 1000' not just the NHRA.

 

[onfire]

Keep it where it’s at.