What's 100lbs worth?

[erlrich]

Earl, get a respected top dog from your area to take your car for a ride. He/she may feel things differently than you do & point them out for you to feel/learn THEN make a change that you know you will feel. Some people need to make their changes bigger than the itty bitty change so that you do FEEL the change. It the change is over done, back er down some. BUT with the itty bitty change sometimes a person never feels the change therefore don't have a clue positive or negative about the change.
Even tho I like a friendly argue with Greg & Andy either of them could get the job done. [/b]

David, I've actually considered that very thing on more than one occasion. I've also spoken with a buddy (w/multiple runoffs appearances) who happens to instruct at our local FATT events about doing some ride-alongs to give me some pointers. The only problem with the first idea is that most of the really talented drivers whose opinions I trust are about 4" - 6" shorter and 40 - 80lbs lighter than I am (hmmm, do I see a pattern here?), and would require that I re-mount the seat & harnesses to get them in the car.

And then there's the whole thing about how I would react when they get in the car and immediately run 2 seconds faster than I ever have

[Chris Wire]

Golly, I just think that unless you test the same day, the results are moot. I was fortunate enough to grab the track record at LRP last fall and came across the scales 40lbs over min (was a long race and didn't want to get bounced so I made dang sure we would be over). I was also 7hp down from what I am this year with the new ECU. This year I have not gotten real close to that time - even 20lbs lighter. Same amount of heat cycles in tires, etc.

There are SO many variables (track condidtion, track temp, air conditions, etc) that unless we are bolting in and out between sessions, I just can't see how we can get something real.

It's definately worth SOMETHING - would love to see a sim on it.
[/b]

Agreed.

Two of my favorite features of Speed's coverage of F1 are the g-meter (eye opening to say the least), and the "projected best lap", which takes the fastest time from all three sectors, regardless of driver, and then compares it to the top time on the scoring sheet. Usually the projected ideal lap is less than .3 secs under the top time posted.

Which leads to the point that I quoted from Andy above. It's very difficult to draw any conclusions in an IT-type situation because there are soooooo many things that differ between cars, setup, prep level, driver talent, etc. I think AIM has that feature in some of their higher-priced dash systems, maybe some of you are already using it. I think it's a great item and would love to have a chance to use it. But alas, $$$$......

[Wreckerboy]

The only problem with the first idea is that most of the really talented drivers whose opinions I trust are about 4" - 6" shorter and 40 - 80lbs lighter than I am (hmmm, do I see a pattern here?), and would require that I re-mount the seat & harnesses to get them in the car.
[/b]

Earl, it requires commitment to run at the front. If you're not ready to consider some minor personal surgery to run at the front, then the next thing you'll be looking for is DCs.

And then there's the whole thing about how I would react when they get in the car and immediately run 2 seconds faster than I ever have
[/b]

If you're a cheap bastard like me, my reaction was "Yippee, I don't have to spend any more money on the car for a while!"

[ddewhurst]

***And then there's the whole thing about how I would react when they get in the car and immediately run 2 seconds faster than I ever have ***

No matter how good one person is there is always someone better.

Short storry about a friend who had quite successfuly race within the SCCA open wheel cars & Production cars with may Runoffs appearances. He bought a Pro built Spec Miata & may be during his 10 race weekend in the car at Grattan at a Pro Spec Miata race he asked another Spec Miata competitior to take his car out for an am session. WHAM-O, 3 seconds FASTER by only changing the driver. Including the guest driver was 6 inches shorter than the guy who owned the car. Man, the guest driver had to be dam near flopping around in the car. It's called part of the learning process.

[erlrich]

Earl, it requires commitment to run at the front. If you're not ready to consider some minor personal surgery to run at the front,[/b]

Sure, easy for you (who needs extra padding for his 14" Kirkey seat) to say.

then the next thing you'll be looking for is DCs. [/b]

How did you you know? I've already started my letter - "I would like to race my 240SX in ITC, at 3500lbs". Maybe then I would have to add a few lbs

If you're a cheap bastard like me, my reaction was "Yippee, I don't have to spend any more money on the car for a while!"[/b]

I am a cheap bastard - they teach that at bean counting school - but until you've had that happen to you....oh wait, you have had that happen to you, haven't you Btw Rob, are you still lending out your ride to fellow competitors? I may need a car for the double in November.

[Wreckerboy]

I am a cheap bastard - they teach that at bean counting school - but until you've had that happen to you....oh wait, you have had that happen to you, haven't you Btw Rob, are you still lending out your ride to fellow competitors? I may need a car for the double in November.
[/b]

Ouch!

The truth is not pretty..... but the car is newly caged (and thanks to the efforts of Bill Etherington of NNJR, now log booked. Thanks!) and if it's the 11/17-18 weekend you are talking about, I'll be driving both ends of that weekend myself, thank you very much. Besides, it's got a 15" seat in it now, so surgery might still be on the table....

[drftndakota]

whether u are road racing, drag racing, or any motorsport weight can make a difference. on a drag strip 100lbs is tenth of a second. but the true key to weight is not how much but where it is. for instance in my 70 camaro i have leaf springs which are way to stiff (they are the softest you can buy) to really squat and give the proper amount of weight transfer. so i added 45 lbs of lead in the back of the trunk and we picked up .05 of a second in the sixty foot time. which equates to around two tenths at the end of the quarter mile. next example we replaced the stock disk brakes in the from with a set of super light aerospace components drag racing brakes. this dropped around 36 pounds off the front end but it was also SPRUNG weight which allowed a much greater pick up at around 3 tenths of a second. now this is just pure straight line acceleration. But it still gives you an idea of how critical weight can be in the performance of a car. more weight = more grip in a perfect world, but it also takes more power to move it as well as stop it. which is harder on your tires and brakes.

Just thought id share some past experience


T.J.