EFI in pro stock. (1 Viewer)

[HEMI6point1]

Link: http://www.competitionplus.com./drag-racing/news/21085-nhra-pro-stock-teams-agree-efi-not-in-best-interests?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150769755485418_22414059_10150769785650418

I don't get this. People complain about the lack of innovation, yet when there's a chance to innovate, people don't want it.

 

[mike]

Could someone explain what the technical obstacles are here? Why would manufacturer support for EFI be non-existent? Does that imply they are actually supporting carburetors? Is implementing EFI an issue of substantially increased cost and if so, why?

If EFI was initiated, I suspect fan interest in the class would ratchet way up. The balance of power in PS would likely see a shakeup as teams raced to sort out the new technology.

 

[jackass]

i would sya no Mfgr suport due to the fact that they are all neck deep in helping the cup teams and the INDY cars right now... Cup car are EFI now and the INDY surge in factory suport(which i dont get) is taking up all the funds....(to me drag racing has more of a factory tie than Indy cars.. but what do i know.. i'm just a consumer...lol)

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Yer right SD, P/S should make the switch to F/I. (imo)

 

[MHayes]

If EFI was initiated, I suspect fan interest in the class would ratchet way up. The balance of power in PS would likely see a shakeup as teams raced to sort out the new technology.

I highly doubt that! IMO, the same teams that are winning now are the ones that will win with EFI. The reason they win now (and will then) is because they have the budget and resources to adapt to change quickly.

See how fast the Summit boys get the new Camaro in the winner's circle once they start running it!

 

[Silly Savage]

I have never been a huge pro stock fan, but I have hated the thought of EFI in the class, ONLY because I grasp on to the nostalgia side of drag racing. EFI will happen, but with that I wonder if they'd consider going to smaller cubic inches also, as production cars aren't sporting 454, 460 or 426's as the norm....

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Another great point, lets make them more "stock" like the class name implies.

 

[Mooseman]

Why are people so hung up on the "stock" of Pro stock, that seems to be the problems I hear people talk about regarding the class they either say they arent stock or that they can't go to a dealership and buy those cars like that.

I mean seriously though pro stock hasn't been stock since 1971 or there abouts, and even back in the 70's they were unlike their production counterparts. Why were the older cars accepted yet now people complain about how far away they are from being stock?

 

[SoCal Racer]

Why are people so hung up on the "stock" of Pro stock, that seems to be the problems I hear people talk about regarding the class they either say they arent stock or that they can't go to a dealership and buy those cars like that.

I mean seriously though pro stock hasn't been stock since 1971 or there abouts, and even back in the 70's they were unlike their production counterparts. Why were the older cars accepted yet now people complain about how far away they are from being stock?

I agree. We still have Stock and Super Stock if you want production based cars, or cars without hood scoops (other than factory units). When Bill Jenkins built the first tube frame car (a Vega in the early '70s) the days of "stock" were over.

 

[mike]

Why were the older cars accepted yet now people complain about how far away they are from being stock?

have you seen a picture of older P/S cars compared to the Pro Stock cars of today? How can anybody NOT see a HUGE change away from the looks of "hot rod production cars" to virtual spec series cars that bear little or no resemblance to production cars...

IMO the older cars were more accepted because they looked like production cars, not so much because the had production engines in them...and again IMO, there was never a problem with a P/S V8 Vega, or even the Arrow or EXP because they were identified as production based cars...but in the last 10-15 years or so the cars have drifted far too far away from "stock"...

if they wana stick with carbureted engines that were never installed in a production vehicle, I guess that's OK-ish...but if they are interested in getting spectators more excited about P/S, get the cars BACK TO LOOKING LIKE PRODUCTION CARS!!!

sorry about going off on a bit of a rant...

 

[Silly Savage]

Why are people so hung up on the "stock" of Pro stock, that seems to be the problems I hear people talk about regarding the class they either say they arent stock or that they can't go to a dealership and buy those cars like that.

I mean seriously though pro stock hasn't been stock since 1971 or there abouts, and even back in the 70's they were unlike their production counterparts. Why were the older cars accepted yet now people complain about how far away they are from being stock?

I never said anything about wanting them to be more stock, but like the EFI being the factory norm, big blocks are not and with turbo cars running pretty small cubinc inches, they are even a little closer to a FACTORY HOT ROD (as the class is advertised).

 

[TSK]

First, the manufacturers say they like the hood scoops because they make the cars look like hot rods.
Yet, not one car coming out of Detroit has had a carburetor since the 1980s. Most of today’s car designers probably could not distinguish a Thermo-Quad from a Holley double pumper. So, why are they so nostalgic?
Scoops could still be utilized in pro stock with EFI. They just wouldn’t need to be as large, thus making the cars more aerodynamic.
If the manufacturers are so worried about the appearances of their cars, shouldn’t they also require the race cars to actually look somewhat like their factory counterparts?
Am I the only one who thinks the body modifications are getting way out of hand in the class?
While I can go along with using flush grilles, I hate the hoods that go about halfway up the windshields.
Trust me, I long for the old days as much as anybody. I went to my first drag race in 1967 and have been involved in one way or another ever since.
But, there is no bringing back those early days.
Realizing that, it is past time for pro stock to enter the 1990s and make the switch to EFI.

 

[d'kid]

Pro Stock was killed as a class with Grumpy's Toy and evolved into funny car: take two...

BUT.... Now that the "big three" and about everyone else have come out with viable big block V-8 and V-10.... it's time to do a wholesale overhaul on the class, and rules....

d'kid

 

[twostep]

Why no EFI?

I say, why EFI? Just a bunch more time and money, for no benefit that I can see. The arguments about 'bringing the cars into the 21st century' and 'the Pro Stock fan base would increase dramatically' aren't valid. There isn't a casual fan anywhere in the country that could see or hear the difference....or care if they did. They run 6.46@213 using Dominators. What's not to love?

And will someone please explain how an EFI-equipped Pro Stock would eliminate or reduce the size of the scoops. Here's an EFI Extreme Pro Stock/Top Sportsman engine, a Sonny's 637. Not one iota shorter than a current carbureted NHRA Pro Stock engine.

 

[Horsepower & Heels]

I'd personally prefer to see EFI, but can understand how big an undertaking revamping that entire class would be and why they'd be hesitant to change.

But, c'mon folks, the whole "Hood Scoop" excuse is about the lamest thing I've ever heard.

 

[mastertone]

another great point, lets make them more "stock" like the class name implies.

times 2x

 

[yoda]

Isn't this the same site that rags on "ricers" and the influx of altenative racing technologies and classes?

Leave P/S alone- ya want EFI and computers and representation of modern day showroom cars? There's a class for that...

More of you guys need to sit in the stands longer than just the runs of the nitro cars and see what else races already. PS is the closest representation of what happens when the weekend bracket bomber makes it into the big leagues- moreso than TF or FC. The class is the mad scientist version of the guys with a Camaro with a tunnel ram- and THAT is what Drag Racing is all about: the guys that hit their local track, week in and week out, and still go to speed shops and put cars on jackstands in their garage...

 

[Paul]

If the NHRA wants to insure that EFI never comes into Pro Stock racing they are taking the correct approach, which is to ask the racers.

The majority of racers will never be in favor of it, in the short term its just additional expense and hassle for them, and especially with today's tight budgets racers are forced to favor short term thinking.

EFI would have to be forced from the "top down", based on a decision that although it will cause some pain in the short term that it will be better for the sport in the long term.

But long term thinking isn't an approach that the current NHRA board uses to chart the future of the sport.

This is how we have gotten into our current mess with the nitro cars going too fast for the tracks and the lack of meaningful classes for import cars causing young fans to have little interest in the sport.

 

[Toyse Jr]

Looks like this Extreme Pro Stock has a Hood Scoop and it has EFI

 

[HEMI6point1]

I heard a long time ago the real reason is because racers complained that allowing people to use EFI makes it easier to cheat. Don't know exactly how true that really is....