And you think your car gets bad mileage?
- Thread starter superman22x
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I must admit I'm not a huge fan of just trying to make things go faster and faster in a straight line all the time. Sure, if you pump that much fuel into something that'll take it it's going to beat a normal car - I don't find that very surprising!
I'm much more fascinated by how computers these days in supercars can adjust various parameters hundreds of times a second to stop a car spinning out in corners on a track, and how they can help off road vehicles gain the most traction possible by very carefully regulating the power going to each wheel. Sure, it may not be as record-breaking in the books of getting something up to ridiculous speeds - but it takes much more skill, research and intellect to figure out than pumping more fuel into a bigger engine!
I'm much more fascinated by how computers these days in supercars can adjust various parameters hundreds of times a second to stop a car spinning out in corners on a track, and how they can help off road vehicles gain the most traction possible by very carefully regulating the power going to each wheel. Sure, it may not be as record-breaking in the books of getting something up to ridiculous speeds - but it takes much more skill, research and intellect to figure out than pumping more fuel into a bigger engine!
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superman22x
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No, it's not about just pumping more fuel in, lmao. That's why I like drag racing, it's about the car you build. Drag racing is the only racing where it's really car vs car, not driver vs driver. Sure there is some skill to control a car when you are experiencing 8Gs, but most of it is in the build. And it's not simply more fuel. If that were the case I could put 40lb/hr injectors on my mustang and jump from 270hp to 500hp. But that's not how it works. Much more too it.
I said a bigger engine as well 
Of course, that is simplifying things somewhat - I'm aware of that. It just seems a bit "brutal" (for want of a better word) to just try and build bigger engines that take more fuel in and go faster as a result (and might cross the finish line if they don't blow up or melt all their parts together into a solid lump of metal!)
In my mind it's far cleverer and more useful to look at clever ways in lowering fuel consumption, improving non-invasive traction control with cleverer algorithms and that sort of thing. To me that just seems far more elegant, clever and useful than spending ridiculous amounts building something that uses insane amounts of fuel and costs stupid amounts to run for half a mile or so.
Of course, that is simplifying things somewhat - I'm aware of that. It just seems a bit "brutal" (for want of a better word) to just try and build bigger engines that take more fuel in and go faster as a result (and might cross the finish line if they don't blow up or melt all their parts together into a solid lump of metal!)
In my mind it's far cleverer and more useful to look at clever ways in lowering fuel consumption, improving non-invasive traction control with cleverer algorithms and that sort of thing. To me that just seems far more elegant, clever and useful than spending ridiculous amounts building something that uses insane amounts of fuel and costs stupid amounts to run for half a mile or so.
alvino
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Underestimating the amount of engineering and work that goes into a Top Fuel engine would be a very big mistake. Sure, the ultimate goal is to shave off those precious milliseconds on a quarter mile, but how it achieves that is nothing short of amazing.
That said, I'm not a big fan of all those computers in supercars nowadays (*ahem* Nissan GT-R *ahem), I believe in solid suspension tuning and no driver aids. Only way to go.
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superman22x
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Amen to that...Underestimating the amount of engineering and work that goes into a Top Fuel engine would be a very big mistake. Sure, the ultimate goal is to shave off those precious milliseconds on a quarter mile, but how it achieves that is nothing short of amazing.
That said, I'm not a big fan of all those computers in supercars nowadays (*ahem* Nissan GT-R *ahem), I believe in solid suspension tuning and no driver aids. Only way to go.
My idea of a super car is not one that I bought for $300,000, but one that I built for $2000, that keeps up with the ferraris and lambos.
For $2000, the car I would build would be a Miata, powered by a sbf GT40 5.0
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superman22x
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Check out the Grassroots $2009 competition.
alvino
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I'd just do a 13B-REW swap. Something light and quick. I'd rather not upset the weight distribution with a heavy V8 in the front.
