Didn't think this was drag "Technique" so I posted here.

Is there any reason I cannot race at the track w/ my t-tops removed for weight reduction reasons?? Was having thoughts right when I woke up this morning, was thinking about emptying my car before I go to the track. The !tops would prolly be worth about 7-10 lbs, I'd immagine.

Are there rules for this?

 

I know at the local track you have to have your top and windows up if you have a vert and your windows up if your a coupe. There were a few t-top LS1's at the track last night, they all had their t-tops on. Im not sure if they had to or not, i never asked them, but if they make you put your windows up, there is a good chance your not allowed to have your t-tops off. Safety reason, im sure. Also they probably dont want stuff flying out of your car and onto the track. A few years ago my brother in law had a 96 vert cobra and i remember him going down the track with the top down, but they have changed their rules a bit since then. Im not sure if this just applies to this track or its a NHRA rule or something. Maybe you could get someone with a rulebook to look it up for you.

 

your kidding right? any weight reduction you"ll gain by leavind the tops off you"ll loose in areo drag with the tops off. empting the car is a good idea (each 100 pounds =.1 in time) but in a car thats shaped like a wedge why screw with it

 

The drag will kill your HP.
Similar to my vert, I know I lose big HP when the top is down.

 

Lol

 

Yeah, for me top down at 100+mph my car is a dog.

 

ok... I never thought of the drag w/ the tops off idea.

As far as weight reduction, every little bit counts. But If it's a rule to leave the tops in, I'm not going to argue that.

Fine w/ me.

 

Unless your track is very lax on the rules, you can't race with the tops out as per the NHRA/IHRA rulebooks. I managed to find some Lexan tops out of a 92 Formula for my car. They cut a few pounds off.

The rules state that full bodied cars must have a full top and windshield. That means the convertibles must have the top up and T-tops must be in.

 

Im sure you dont "lose" hp with the top down, but your mph might suffer due to the extra drag, causeing the effect of less hp.

 

I was actually thinking of making a set of plexiglass Ttops that you could swap out for the glass. It would cost me around 5 thousand to do this, but since it would only save like 10 pounds, do you think I'd have a market there?

around 5 thousand dollars for the first set, then every other one.. I cant tell or by little idea would be screwed..

 

We've let cars run without tops as long as they have a full cage.

 

wow its my nemisis.. GhostZ..

 

Maybe you're the reason I had to use GhostZ28 on another board

 

Thats what I should have said, thanks for the clarification.