Why NOT to drag race

[JD@af]

I'd really like people who have actually waited for the "christmas tree" lights to drop at the starting line and done quarter mile passes to speak here, and those who haven't to reserve themselves from making comments that will make themselves look uninformed and ignorant. Because ANYONE who has ever drag raced (with the exception of those running with sophisticated automatic trannies that have preset launch rpms - these obviously remove some of the challenge) knows that it is in fact very involved (particularly since drag races are over so quickly that you have just about zero margin for error) and very difficult to do well. There is a lot of skill involved in a good quarter mile run. Launch rpm, accurate, quick gear changes at the optimal shift rpms, keeping a high horsepower beast on the narrow track, and let's not forget about reaction times. As dicktenor pointed out above, top fuel dragsters with peak horsepower numbers in the 7,000 range are very difficult to keep in a straight line. You ever notice how long they are? One reason for that is so that miniscule steering changes will produce very little change in direction of the car, as the wheel base is so long.

The large variation in times an expert driver will have on any given day in one car should demonstrate that there is a lot going on in drag racing for the driver, and the difficulty in achieving consistently good runs. That just glances over the non-engineering aspects.

[Trigger351]

I dont know if you are having a go at me or not

But the 90% engineering 10% skill means the overall job of Drag Racing. I built my own car and engine and constantly work on it to lower my times by a 1/10th here or a 1/10th there. I spend 90% of my time on the car in this way.

I have been Drag Racing in super street for 10 years here in Aus.
A perfect light in Australia is a 0.4 with Compulink computer system and tree, I very rarely cut a light above 0.5, probably once in a meeting, hopefully in the time trials :smoka:

here is a link to my clubs site: http://sunsetstrip.8m.com/

[T4 Primera]

Originally posted by VR6ERS
Yo Anybody can drive fast in a straight line, shows no driving ability. I want to see one of the drag driver hoop in a F1 or Indy car and do a couple of hundred laps and show there driving ability!!!!!!wusses

Lets see ... you got several thousand horsepower at the back and it's all trying to get to the front.....all the traction is at the back and........ the front tends to lift so your pram sized wheels are hardly touching the track anyway.... you're eyeballs roll around in the back of your helmet due to the Gs you're pulling and it's all you can do to keep your hands on the wheel and your foot controlling the gas.......tunnel vision sets in as you shift, steer, clutch and throttle your way to 300mph in under 6 seconds..............sounds like a real walk in the park.......NOT!!!

[primera man]

Originally posted by T4 Primera
Lets see ... you got several thousand horsepower at the back and it's all trying to get to the front.....all the traction is at the back and........ the front tends to lift so your pram sized wheels are hardly touching the track anyway.... you're eyeballs roll around in the back of your helmet due to the Gs you're pulling and it's all you can do to keep your hands on the wheel and your foot controlling the gas.......tunnel vision sets in as you shift, steer, clutch and throttle your way to 300mph in under 6 seconds..............sounds like a real walk in the park.......NOT!!!

..very nicely put T4...10/10

[mitchfrmwpg]

The guy hit the wall at 307 MPH, if you can somehow use whatever program you might have to view that clip in SLOW MOTION, you can see that in the oh i dunno maybe 25 times that car flipped around in about 4 seconds that the drivers arms are outside the vehicle flailing around getting banged against the roll bars. He came out of the crash alive with one severely smashed arm that was broken in about every imaginable spot. And two broken legs. But the important thing is he's alive and expected to make a FULL recovery with no lasting disabilities. Now, I agree with every person here who understand the skill and effort and precisness needed to become a good drag driver. In order to go as fast as you can possibly go on a regular basis(not just one fluke time because that can happen to anybody) it takes a huge amount of knowledge of your car, your driving style, the setup of your suspension and drive train. Plus you have to shift faster than fast in order to go the fastest it has to almost be instantanious. Yes your cars setup is a huge factor but theres no way you can put either as more important to the other. IMHO id put driving/car setup at a 50/50 percentage. You cant perfect one without perfecting the other or you'll never know how fast you and your vehicle is capable of.
P.S.
In my signature, those are to be taken as seperate events not one after the other dont EVER drink and drive theres no point in ending yours, or someone elses, or yours and someone else's lives because of a few drinks.

[JD@af]

Wow. Thanks for the info. That's truly amazing. I slowed it down and tried to get a better look, and the video is of pretty good quality, but there's really only so much you can make out from the footage. Startling reality check.

[mitchfrmwpg]

yeah, its really unfortunate and I wish the best of luck to the driver and his team its a shame to see all that hard work and effort go down the drain because of a mechanical failure. Oh yeah and for everybody who doesnt know what happened it had NOTHING to do with the driver. I dont remember what but some part of the balancing system or something like that fell off one side of the vehicle cause the weight to be unballanced(i think by about 4 - 5 pounds). This caused the car to carreen to one side and smack the wall. To all those who dont know, in such high performance vehicles like that even a 4 pound difference to one side of the vehicle can cause the car to violently launch to one side and leave the driver with nothing to do but pray to stay alive.

[GTS-4 Ben]

In a Rail, the driver after they launch is just pretty much in for the ride...

He could not help if he crashes... normally something breaks.

[flylwsi]

whoever said you cant get as hurt b/c its a street car is fucking crazy
we are using a loose 3 pt belt, no cage, and lots of glass and easily ripped metal that fucks up your exposed skin and unhelmeted head.
that guy is in a full cage, w/a helmet, and fire retardant suit.
this means that at a fraction, less than a third of his speed, say 80, if you smash into a wall like that and flip, which you will, you will get just as fucked up as him. so whoever said it isnt the same...
damn...

and to clarify, ive been down the 1320 legally, and it is hard as balls to get that down right... so i give those guys lotsa props...

[GTS-4 Ben]

Yeah it dosnt take much to kill a person in a stock road car..

Rail drivers are damn skilled, you have to have a reaction like a cat and alot of balls!

[LjasonL]

anyone who has been down a real dragstrip knows it takes skill, reaction time, shift points, shift method, thats just in a slow car. i bet most people wouldnt make it down half the track in a funny car without crashing. those things are hard to go stright. the fastest thing i have driven is my cousins 10 sec camaro, and its a pain to make that thing go straight, scared the crap outta me!

[Blackbird01]

I agree with you that a Funny Car would be EXTREMELY difficult to drive.
Slide the clutch out too much and the car spins.
Not enough and you've just lost the race.

They work off a completely different system then normal cars.

[primera man]

Originally posted by Blackbird01
I agree with you that a Funny Car would be EXTREMELY difficult to drive.
Slide the clutch out too much and the car spins.
Not enough and you've just lost the race.

They work off a completely different system then normal cars.

You also have a 5000bhp monster sitting in front of you that is like a ticking time bomb

[bluez28guy]

Originally posted by VR6ERS
Yo Anybody can drive fast in a straight line, shows no driving ability. I want to see one of the drag driver hoop in a F1 or Indy car and do a couple of hundred laps and show there driving ability!!!!!!wusses

You either are not a race fan or are ignorent about raceing. You probaly think NASCAR drivers can't drive cart races because they make left and right turns in a race. You are trying to compare apples to oranges, they are not the same and they don't pose the same difficultis when compaired to each other. But all do respect drag raceing is just as hard as just about any other type of auto raceing.

[tazdev]

I would probably say that it is 45% driver and 55% the set up but do agree that with one you can never expect to perfect the other.

the diver and car have to be just as in tune with each other as a Nascar driver and their car or an F1 driver and their car.

Driving in a straight line at saw 100 can be hard imagine drying to keep a car in a straight line at 300+

Now I will admit that my quickest et in my car was an 18.4 but it did show me how difficult it can be. the hardest part would have to be the launch, trying not to beat the tree but still keep a decent reaction time, trying not to get too much wheel spin off the line.

There is only a fine line between a sucessful run and a complete disaster.