Ideas for safer, more efficient fuel cars (1 Viewer)

[Rick]

Didn't Steve Plueger and Steve Leach run a single mag/pump combo a while back with Dale Pulde driving? If I remember right the car had a huge pump that they built themselves for $500 bucks but when the rev limiter came along it killed the combo. It would have been a low cost alternative to todays systems and would have been fast. The point is limiting the cars to one mag/pump would not be enough to slow them down. Reducing the fuel will result in more blower problems as a lot of the fuel is used to cool the blower. Going to a two speed trans wouldn't work because there are so many gear combo's (ask Manzo). The only reasonable solution is Armstrong's but NHRA will never buy into it because its not NHRA's idea.

 

[davey]

Didn't Steve Plueger and Steve Leach run a single mag/pump combo a while back with Dale Pulde driving? If I remember right the car had a huge pump that they built themselves for $500 bucks but when the rev limiter came along it killed the combo. It would have been a low cost alternative to todays systems and would have been fast. The point is limiting the cars to one mag/pump would not be enough to slow them down. Reducing the fuel will result in more blower problems as a lot of the fuel is used to cool the blower. Going to a two speed trans wouldn't work because there are so many gear combo's (ask Manzo). The only reasonable solution is Armstrong's but NHRA will never buy into it because its not NHRA's idea.

They did run a single mag/pump with Pulde driving. They never made it into the "fours" with it.

 

[Mooseman]

With the stoichiometric ratio of nitro being around 1.7-1 or pretty much 1-1 what would happen if you made them run an older injector hat like say a enderle hat or something like that

 

[mike]

If I was given a buck for anytime someone posted about their views on slowing the cars down... I'd be a rich, rich man!

I don't like the 1000ft deal, but I would much prefer 1000ft, then have the cars slowed down.

Glad people like Ron Capps agree...

"We left Denver, but when we got to Seattle and that first lap in Seattle, I looked at every other driver and said, ‘Man, this is what it’s all about.’ You step on the gas and this thing makes your eyes the size of a half dollar, it’s, you know, there is nothing that replaces that. So my personal opinion is I’d rather run them like they are to 1,000 foot, than to have them slowed way down to a quarter mile."

Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - CAPPS TALKS 1,000 FEET

 

[737pilot]

I propose an additional chute that is remotely deployed by a crew member standing beyond the finish line (this crew member would have a good vantage point to see what's going on.) This chute would only be used in an emergency when the driver was having problems and couldn't stop the car safely. This chute would be easily mounted and developed and wouldn't cost much. But it would sure be nice to have that extra layer of safety available for the driver if he/she was in trouble. Knowing that there is actually someone else with the ability to help stop your car if you are in trouble would be huge for them.

I have been told by guys on my site that this idea was "insane" and that no one else should have control of the car. I say ask Kalitta about that or Worsham who went end over end in the sand or anyone else who would have liked to stopped much sooner than they did.

Again, this chute would be used only when necessary. The crew member beyond the finish line wouldn't just deploy it whenever, only when it was truely needed. I emailed Jack Beckman this idea and he said "you are on to something."

I do not want to see these cars slowed down. Or the racing be to 1000'.

 

[clwill]

I propose an additional chute...

I don't think you want to rely on anything that's on the car. Too much carnage happens to make that reliable. I really think the solution is a comprehensive set of technologies at the end of the track (see Joe, I agree ).

Some combination of walls, nets, traps, and so on will stop anything -- a car without a conscious driver, very much on fire, and with a dieseling nitro engine. They came up with the SAFER barrier for Indy/NASCAR, air bags for passenger cars, catch systems that routinely grab fighters that weigh 5x a car, and so on. Smart engineers can come up with a track-based solution that can work even on short, land-locked tracks.

Such a solution only requires the ~18 tracks to make a change, not every one of several dozen teams. They can be tested, supervised and checked easily before each event -- as opposed to having to check dozens of cars. And most importantly, they can handle anything that comes down the track too quickly, even the lowly sportsman racer with the stuck throttle who could NEVER afford things like a remote controlled chute.

 

[clwill]

Apparently they read my post

NHRA News: New top-end safety system at O'Reilly Raceway Park (8/26/2008)

 

[TJ]

Plueger/Pulde ran 5.009 @ 302 mph w/ 3 disc/old 14-71 huffer/home built crank trigger/home built barrel valve and a hydro pump modified for constant pressure and only 85 % in the tank....and never burned one piston!

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

While we're on safety, I think nhra should ban the practice of putting tape on the drivers visor. ( I'm suprised it lasted this long) Never is it a good idea to restrict vision.

 

[clwill]

While we're on safety, I think nhra should ban the practice of putting tape on the drivers visor. ( I'm suprised it lasted this long) Never is it a good idea to restrict vision.

And they just updated the rules in May to allow it. See: NHRA.com: 2008 NHRA RULES REVISIONS section 10.7

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

And they just updated the rules in May to allow it. See: NHRA.com: 2008 NHRA RULES REVISIONS section 10.7

Christopher, I read it, then read it again. I always thought it wasn't covered in the rules. BUT to go from:

Reducing peripheral vision in any way PROHIBITED
.........................TO.....................................
Taping helmet shield that reduce drivers field of vision IS ALLOWED.

I'ld like to know who's idea that was.
nhra = dedicated to safety...(my A$$)

 

[JFrechJr]

Christopher, I read it, then read it again. I always thought it wasn't covered in the rules. BUT to go from:

Reducing peripheral vision in any way PROHIBITED
.........................TO.....................................
Taping helmet shield that reduce drivers field of vision IS ALLOWED.

I'ld like to know who's idea that was.
nhra = dedicated to safety...(my A$$)

I actually think that rule has been changed twice this year... at first it wasnt addressed at all. Then they said 'no way' and everyone complained because with out their tape they couldnt cut a bulb so NHRA said ok you can have it back.