my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
Registered member said:
Why wouldn't this work? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Sandman
- Start date
Dave
Nitro Member
You have to remember downforce and drag work hand in hand with each other. By taking away downforce you're also taking away drag, and if the car sticks, you're actually speeding it up. You mentioned cutting down the rear wings on a funny car. Here's an example of when that was tried. Flash back 11 years (wow where does the time go?) to Route 66 Raceway on a particularly cool June day. Last session of funny car qualifying and these cars are sticking hard. The Alan Johnson Racing team and the late Bruce Sarver come to the line. They figured they didn't need the extra downforce, so they cut the rear wing down. What happened was the car got light near the finish line and ran over the foam blocks. If you look it up on Drag Race Central it comes up as No Time/No Speed. I was in attendance and the scoreboards lit up 4.71. That was the quickest run to that point by A LOT! How true it was with the cones getting hit we'll never know. What we can do is compare the incrimentals to today.
These two launch hard and are hauling the mail here and then Sarver started to drift toward the center line. He then collected start mph cone and disqualified his pass and disallowed Wilkerson's pass. Sarver was running 3.206 seconds at 259.81 mph while Wilkerson was running 3.264 seconds at 256.99 mph. Those were some stout passes.
Compare that to John Force a few pairs later, who set the record at 4.76. He also lowered his wing, just not as much as the e-moola.com team and it stuck.
Force with a great looking pass here with a National record pass here. Force was running 3.245 seconds at 256.60 mph and 4.064 seconds at 1000 feet.
And this was 11 years ago mind you.
To compare:
Matt Hagans 4.009 at pomona:
Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.897 sec., 330ft-2.298, 660ft-3.240/272.61 mph.
Matt Hagans 3.995 at charlotte:
Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.886 sec., 330ft-2.281, 660ft-3.224/273.55 mph.
Tony Pedregon 2007 quarter mile 4.65
Tony Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.868 sec., 330ft-2.251, 660ft-3.200/270.48mph, 1,000ft-3.980
Robert Hight 2007 quarter mile 4.63
Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.878 sec., 330ft-2.243, 660ft-3.175/273.16mph, 1,000ft-3.955
I know the car was lighter then by a few 100lbs but it supposedly should have less horsepower than todays cars too. That should be evidenced by the almost 12mph half track speed gain.
That's what they achieved by shortening the wing. On a marginal track it may work, but when the track is tight and the conditions are there, they will fly!
These two launch hard and are hauling the mail here and then Sarver started to drift toward the center line. He then collected start mph cone and disqualified his pass and disallowed Wilkerson's pass. Sarver was running 3.206 seconds at 259.81 mph while Wilkerson was running 3.264 seconds at 256.99 mph. Those were some stout passes.
Compare that to John Force a few pairs later, who set the record at 4.76. He also lowered his wing, just not as much as the e-moola.com team and it stuck.
Force with a great looking pass here with a National record pass here. Force was running 3.245 seconds at 256.60 mph and 4.064 seconds at 1000 feet.
And this was 11 years ago mind you.
To compare:
Matt Hagans 4.009 at pomona:
Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.897 sec., 330ft-2.298, 660ft-3.240/272.61 mph.
Matt Hagans 3.995 at charlotte:
Matt Hagan's incremental times: 60ft-0.886 sec., 330ft-2.281, 660ft-3.224/273.55 mph.
Tony Pedregon 2007 quarter mile 4.65
Tony Pedregon's incremental times: 60ft-0.868 sec., 330ft-2.251, 660ft-3.200/270.48mph, 1,000ft-3.980
Robert Hight 2007 quarter mile 4.63
Robert Hight's incremental times: 60ft-0.878 sec., 330ft-2.243, 660ft-3.175/273.16mph, 1,000ft-3.955
I know the car was lighter then by a few 100lbs but it supposedly should have less horsepower than todays cars too. That should be evidenced by the almost 12mph half track speed gain.
That's what they achieved by shortening the wing. On a marginal track it may work, but when the track is tight and the conditions are there, they will fly!
