NitroMustang65
Nitro Member
They get the revs up before the tree goes green, where as the Nitro cars just stomp the throttle from an idle. It sounds awesome though!
Ron... you're pretty close on the 'oils' rising to the surface. but it's actually a sort of traction compound in the rubber. it is the compound that causes most of the smoking on the burn out. when it rises to the top it makes the tire tacky. a goodyear tech told me once that burn outs only need to be long enough to get the first whisps of smoke... meaning the tire temp is sufficent to get the compound to the surface.
as for running a motor on all alcohol to do the burn out... not sure how feasible that would really be. i warm mine on alcohol in the pits before letting the motor pick up the nitro to check out tune up. that transition from alcohol to nitro can be a pretty touchy. i know i wouldn't want to attempt it from the seat. i would think it would require two tanks... mutiple fuel shut-offs and/or another pump?
as for the purpose of the burn out... the biggest benefit is getting the engine/oil/trans/moving parts gently up to operating temps. most the clearances in a fuel motor are very dependent upon proper temps. and on a modern fueler... the clutch is very reactive to and affected by starting temps.
btw... really like the quote about more than one way to skin a cat. hahaha!! how freakin' true is that!? and it definitely applies to a nitro car. i know on 10 or 15% i was pretty brave about 'playin' with the tune up... but now that we're running nearly 90% i'm just happy to not be on fire when we get to the end. a little mistake goes a lllloooonnnnggg ways. and it doesn't go boom... it's more like KKAA-F-ING-BOOOM!