Can we talk about drag racing please?

In reply to bobzilla :

You have my permission!  Think we need to tell anyone else?   

maschinenbau (I live here) said:

For most cars at the Challenge, drag racing is as simple as stomp the go pedal. The overwhelming majority of Challenge cars are 14's or slower, where there is simply not much room for improvement. The quicker your car, the more skilled needed to achieve its theoretical max performance, mostly due to traction, launching, etc. SVreX touched on these theoretical performance limits, which are easy to calculate. One of my Challenge cars ran a 15.4 +- 0.1 no matter who drove it or how they launched it. 

Nitrous can be as simple or as difficult as you want it to be. With a carbed engine, you are looking for a "plate" system, which is simply a spacer between carb and intake manifold with built-in ports for fuel and nitrous. "Dry" system is nitrous only via 1 solenoid. Okay for small hp shots, cheaper, but danger of running lean, especially with a carb. Most EFI systems can compensate for the lean conditions via the injectors, but only up to a limit. "Wet" system is nitrous on one solenoid, fuel on another, both lines fed into a mixing nozzle, then plumbed into an intake. Wet systems are the way to go. Higher power potential and no need to change the tune (or carb jets) for reasonable power levels. I like a simple button to turn on both solenoids. A 100hp wet shot got my Challenge car from low 14's to 12.9. Iit friggin' works, and it's fun as hell 

I'll have some work cut out.  I have 4 barrels. Er carbs. Each with a 2 inch butterfly  that's bigger than the biggest Holley Dominator. But they are spread apart. About 22 inches by 12 inches.  Plus I'll be using E85. And Nitrous!    whoopee! 

frenchyd said:

maschinenbau (I live here) said:

For most cars at the Challenge, drag racing is as simple as stomp the go pedal. The overwhelming majority of Challenge cars are 14's or slower, where there is simply not much room for improvement. The quicker your car, the more skilled needed to achieve its theoretical max performance, mostly due to traction, launching, etc. SVreX touched on these theoretical performance limits, which are easy to calculate. One of my Challenge cars ran a 15.4 +- 0.1 no matter who drove it or how they launched it. 

Nitrous can be as simple or as difficult as you want it to be. With a carbed engine, you are looking for a "plate" system, which is simply a spacer between carb and intake manifold with built-in ports for fuel and nitrous. "Dry" system is nitrous only via 1 solenoid. Okay for small hp shots, cheaper, but danger of running lean, especially with a carb. Most EFI systems can compensate for the lean conditions via the injectors, but only up to a limit. "Wet" system is nitrous on one solenoid, fuel on another, both lines fed into a mixing nozzle, then plumbed into an intake. Wet systems are the way to go. Higher power potential and no need to change the tune (or carb jets) for reasonable power levels. I like a simple button to turn on both solenoids. A 100hp wet shot got my Challenge car from low 14's to 12.9. Iit friggin' works, and it's fun as hell 

I'll have some work cut out.  I have 4 barrels. Er carbs. Each with a 2 inch butterfly  that's bigger than the biggest Holley Dominator. But they are spread apart. About 22 inches by 12 inches.  Plus I'll be using E85. And Nitrous!    whoopee! 

You just skip the plate and run small lines from the solenoid outputs to each intake. 

On a different topic, track rental is one of the major cost efficiencies of doing one single local event. I bet it is the largest single line item expense of the challenge. Now, multiply that by however many regional events you try and host. Ouch. 

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I don't think we'd need to " rent" a track. I was planning on piggybacking on someone else's event. A Test and tune night for drag racing and maybe the BMW autocross event?  
 

Yeh,  that's what I planned when I saw how cheap used nitrous kits were selling for.  So if I shoot X amount of nitrous into an engine then the  extra gasoline amount needed is already calculated? I don't need to tune for that too do I?   I mean one solenoid   for nitrous. One for supplemental gasoline regardless of what the basic engine calls for?  If I'm running E85 there is a chart for that too?  

frenchyd said:

In reply to bobzilla :

You have my permission!  Think we need to tell anyone else?   

they'll figure it out when I submit times, pictures and a (poorly) written article!

In reply to bobzilla :

I'm sure that's all that's required isn't it?  Submit your time sheet, Story, photos, and mileage expenses?  

frenchyd said:

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I don't think we'd need to " rent" a track. I was planning on piggybacking on someone else's event. A Test and tune night for drag racing and maybe the BMW autocross event?  
 

Yeh,  that's what I planned when I saw how cheap used nitrous kits were selling for.  So if I shoot X amount of nitrous into an engine then the  extra gasoline amount needed is already calculated? I don't need to tune for that too do I?   I mean one solenoid   for nitrous. One for supplemental gasoline regardless of what the basic engine calls for?  If I'm running E85 there is a chart for that too?  

Lots of charts out there like this one:

You can probably find e85 specific ones too. 

http://www.wallaceracing.com/Calculators.htm

For all your bench drag racing needs