Do you gain anything by unplugging the alternator before you make a 1/4 mile pass?

 

couple things the theory says yes sorta less strain on the engine however in a full body car dont expect a second maybe not even a 1/10

but with a full electronic managed engine low voltage will certainly cut your times

so in the long run leave it hooked up.

just my 2 pennies

 

just remove the belt, you'll lose power steering, a/c, and the alternator, so dont run it too long. Its really really really easy to remove/replace. I've heard of gains around 1-2 tenths

 

I picked up .05 when removing the belt. Both on 1.68 short times, back to back runs, similiar coolant temps in between. Car had a bolt on crank pulley too.

Load on the alternator however, does NOT affect how hard it is to turn over. A higher amperage alternator will take up more HP as the rotor inside it is heavier. Alts work on the principle of induction. Spin a magnet inside a field of coils and you get AC current. There is no way that the armature knows the load on itself. After the AC current is rectified, it goes through a voltage reg which will control your output. If you need more current, it will feed more voltage into the rotor making it a stronger magnet. However, as you make the north field stonger, you also make the south equally strong. The forces are going to cancel each other out negating the fact that its producing more amperage.

Basically what i am saying is, by outputting voltage, you arent making it harder to turn over than if you had no voltage flowing from it. The gains are simply from reduction of rotating mass when you remove the belt.

 

nice post atljar