Interesting ideas Bill. Can't say you haven't been thinking about this, because obviously you have. Creative stuff, I must say.
Thanks for the kind words; My ideas don't usually generate much in the way of complimentary comments... lol!
>>>>>>You asked for reasons why this wouldn't work. Well, in a perfect world, it probably WOULD work. I'll admit that right here and now.
BUT!!!!
This isn't a perfect world. I'm going to offer a couple of things to think about.
If you were made emperor of Glendora and decreed that all of these changes you talked about were the new rules, you can go into every top fuel shop across the nation, back up semi-trailers load up all parts. All of them. Chassis, motors, blowers, heads, body parts, pretty much everything and haul it all to the smelter. All teams would be starting from scratch. Period.
When I suggested an engine for this turkey (a 4,000 hp, 750 cubic inch, twin-turbocharged Hemi, or "Rat motor"-derived, all aluminum "Chevy") I thought about the possibility of re-using some of the current parts, and in that vein, I think it might be possible to use existing Hemi cylinder heads on the MOPAR alcohol motor, along with the entire ignition system, possibly, the connecting rods, and the flywheel and clutch setup in its entirity. The rear end would work nicely, and the chassis, itself, might be shortened to save weight, but would otherwise, be okay. Don't know about the wing... It would certainly not need to be as overt in its function, as the amount of horsepower to control (with regard to tire spin) would be virtually cut in half.
The kicker would be, can we get 500 pounds off this car?????
It HAS to be that light, or, it won't work.
RE: Cost factors....
>>>>>>>They wouldn't be "high" Bill, they'd be insane. You even mentioned different tires. About the only things you could hang onto would be the steering wheel, and the loud pedal. everything else would be new. And yes, new. They'd essentially be starting with empty parts bins. If you stretched it out over several years of implementation, you're just giving the crew cheifs more time to figure out the new combo. See below.
Another thing you mentioned:
Bill, I really have to respectfully disagree with you here. I think you're really underestimating the abilities of the modern top fuel crew chief. I think they'd be pushing the limits VERY quickly. Turbos aren't the rocket science some imagine them to be. They've been around since GE came out with the first American versions in the mid thirties. They've been tweaked to death, both in aviation, and modern car racing. I'll bet you dollars to donuts it wouldn't take someone with the abilities of Allen Johnson or Austin Coil long at all to start maxing out this combo. Withing several weeks of the rev-limiter rule in '06, Allen Johnson tuned Tony to a new unheard of speed in Brainerd, using NHRA's own rules against them. I know, because I was there and saw that run. Heck, toward the end of the the 1000ft season this year, they were starting to bang 'em up pretty good. I was seeing quite a bit more carnage then I did at the first of the 1000ft era. One more thing. Did anyone here ever see the Mallicote Brothers' Twin turbo Barracuda run? I did, at Fremont Raceway in the summer of '71.
It was eerily silent. It was so quiet, you could hear the slicks squalling away when they did the burnout, and launched on their runs. We'd be going from one end of the spectrum to the other. But, playing devil's advocate, noise rules at many strips may take us there anyway.
It's always been like that. Throw a challenge at them, and the car builders take it and run. The only problem is, that with modern computers, what used to take months, and yes, sometimes years, through run after run, reading the plugs, looking at parts, and figuring out what went on, now can all be done in weeks.
Well, you could be right about the crew chiefs' ability to get this bear in line in a short amount of time, but consider this, please:
ALL the information in their database has to do with a 2,300-pound car that runs high gear only, has 8,000 horsepower to deal with, has a 3.2:1 final drive ratio, X-amount of aerodynamic drag, a fuel program that is totally alien to what they'll be running (alky), the vagaries of a Roots blower, low compression ratios, restricted air intake parameters (55 sq. inches) and a virtual 7,200 rpm limit. PLus, all of that information was derived from a 500 cid engine, and a Hemi., at that.
How much of that is going to be worth ANYTHING in the face of a high compression 750 cubic inch Rat motor (which some would surely be), with two turbos, a different fuel, with a 2-speed transmission (maybe), any rear axle ratio they want, different valve events and spark advance requirements, unlimited air intake specs, a decidedly smaller wing, and lots of stuff I'm too ignorant to mention.
Witness the failure of alky-fed turbocharged engines to dominate Pro Mod in recent months (years?) Those guys who tune those cars for drivers like Jeggie aren't exactly idiots... yet, they have a lot of trouble matching the positive-displacement blower guys' performance.
That can't be because they're not trying.
I don't think that tuning one of these chassis/engine combinations will be in any way, a piece of cake. I think they would eventually "get it," and this car could be virtually as quick as a 2008 Top Fuel car.... but, we'll never know.
I appreciate that the participants here didn't laugh my idea off the board... I know it's radical, but I think that Top Fuel could be made just as fast and a whole lot cheaper, using these ideas.
Of course, it wouldn't be "Top Fuel" any more.... lol!
You could leave TAD alone, and let the A/F cars that want to, still run their combinations... no reason to change anything there; they volunteer not to run alky and a blower... it's their choice.
>>>>>>Interesting ideas though, I'll certainly give you that, and completely in step with Lee Beard's "If you have a complaint, bring a solution with it." philosophy.
I'll tell you one thing, if they banned nitro completely, overnight, we'd see an entirely different landscape at NHRA races. And that just might be a really good thing. Or, it could turn out to be the biggest disaster ever. Once you make the rules changes, there'd be no turning back.
That's one thing for certain.
Good posts Bill!!
