We put my race car on the dyno yesterday to get a baseline in preparation for making some changes. It was interesting in a number of respects. A comparison of ET/MPH with the Camaro:

27T: ~2,100lbs, 32x14.5" tire, 'glide, ~475rwhp, ~4.4lbs/hp, like a brick
Z28: ~4,100lbs, 27x10.5" tire, TH400, ~800rwhp, ~5.1lb/hp, pretty streamlined

Both cars trap in the low 140's. Advantage Z28 - even with the lower P/W, the aerodynamics start to have an effect as speeds rise. The 27 runs ~9.3 while the Z28 is right about 10 flat. Shows what a big effect traction has. The Z's 60' is typically ~1.55-1.60 while the 27's is ~1.30sec.

In general, the importance of weight for a race car is clearly illustrated. The Camaro has a $25,000 drivetrain while the 27's could be reproduced for ~1/3 that much. The 27 runs a lot quicker and is far more reliable (as a race car) than the Z.

Rich

 

yup, light weight is king. makes everything last longer!

 

Are you implying I am fat? "Dr. Bennett: My patients love this product. They lose weight without having to significantly change their lifestyles and I know it is healthy for them!" hat isn't news, you know? It all started when I was a kid. Here, you can see me and Mom looking at the Batmobile. She's a porker as well, it's just bad genes.



And here's my brother. He was in the movies until he collapsed under his own weight.

 

I could not believe the difference I felt after taking about 400 lbs out of my car. I need to dial in the suspension again cause it won,t hook worth a damn now, and all I can do is open the door to the garage and look longingly at it and wish winter would hurry up and get over with cause it don,t have any heat.
Would I do it all again? Hell yes. Weight reduction has been one of the best mods I,ve done.

 

I'm a proponent of weight reduction and distribution. So don't get me wrong.

Both of your cars are flying and will run low nines with traction, considering the similar MPH. The Camaro's performance is hindered by the lack of traction as evidenced by the 60' time. It's traction not weight that limits the Camaro's ET.

 

Well, yes you're quite right to a point. For a 4,100lb car to hook as well as a 2,100lb combo, you would need a HUGE tire. A tire that big would not fit without tubbing and back-halfing a Camaro. And as you also point out, weight distribution plays a role. The Camaro, as it sits, is 56% static front weight bias with driver. The 27 is 49% front and transfers weight very well under hard acceleration unlike the Camaro.

So, I agree that the times and speeds have a lot to do with traction and may have not really titled the trhead correctly. What I am trying to get at is how difficult it is to make a car never intended for that purpose into a really efficient drag racer. Weight is only one of the factors.

Rich

 

The guy who schooled me in fast cars ran a 4200 pound 67 Impala to 8.90s @ 150 mph on a 29 x 10.5 inch tire. Not a big tire. I've gone 9.60 @ 145 with a 28 x 9 inch tire in a 3450 pound Camaro. Not a big tire at all.

Static weight on the rear tire is one of the many criteria that determines "hook". Overall weight of the car dictates how much hp is required to acheive a particular speed at the end of the dragstrip.

A heavy car can hook just as hard as a light weight car. It's all in the setup.

And speaking of that, making a modern day Camaro into a good drag car is a challenge. They certainly never intended it to do what your making it do.

 

At higher speeds...I feel that aerodynamics are almost as important as weight.

For your Camaro to go the same mph with the same aerodynamics as the 27T, you would have to make around 100 rwhp more @ 4100 lbs.

If you had the aerodynamics of your Camaro for the 27T, you could go just as fast with around 50 rwhp less @ 2100 lbs.

Now think what you could run in something weighing 2100 lbs with your Camaro aerodynamics....around 7.9's@175?

 

I want a 1500 pound altered. As much as a long wheelbase dragster would be fun, I have no place to put it or a pit crew to help maintain it.

 

I find the RED to be about the most boring, least interesting car of those commonly found at the drag strip. Watching those things, unless they are fuel cars, is just plain boring. Watching a nice street/strip car running 10's is far more entertaining than seeing a BBC RED run eights. Those cars just do NOTHING for me. I really like the short wheel base/front engine cars. Mine has a 110" WB and it is blast. Far more "personality" to them for sure. My buddy's 125" Altered with a blown alcohol Hemi runs high sixes, and THAT is a real show. A 200+" RED running those speeds is a bore.

Here's my buds car launching:


Rich

 

OK. I guess I should have said medium wheelbase dragster. I don't care for the RED either. I'd want something FED style. More nostagia where the driver sits over the diff housing.

You don't need a dragster/altered that goes fast to have fun. A mild SBC in an altered that can run 10's is a cheap race car. You don't need all the safety stuff since you're not in the 9's. You don't need a competition license or chassis certification. The mild SBC would be easy on parts and probably only needs oil changes to keep running for many years. Can't say that about too many door cars that run in the 10's.

Something that can fit in a garage and fit on a 16' open trailer is cheap racing.