Quote:
Originally Posted by maxwedge
My pictured race car went 122 in the 1/4 at 3600# with driver it dynoed at 505 hp. Every hundred lbs weight reduction or addition cost/reduced .10 sec and 2 mph. up or down
|
Good point, Max Wedge! My car weighed 3750 without driver. At the time, I was a svelte 170#,
so total weight was 3920#. With the frontal area (aerodynamics / coefficient of drag) factor probably being similar for our cars, the extra 320 pounds on my ride likely ate up about 100 additional HP to reach the same MPH. To further demonstrate your point regarding weight, I once made a pass in my mild/stock BBC Chevelle by myself, went 13.74 @ 93 MPH. It was a Friday night/play night at the track, so 2 buddies hopped in, and we went down the track about 30 minutes after my solo pass. The car slowed a bunch, to 13.98 @ 88 MPH. Darn near made me think something was wrong with it! A short while later, (with a cooled-down car and slightly cooler air temps), I went 13.72 @ 94 MPH.
So yes, your calculations are very accurate! (And it proves that removing weight is often the cheapest way to "gain" HP!!).
