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Oh, so now drag racing is for the under-skilled racer (car show enthusiast)? Put Michael Schumacher and John Force pitted against each other in identical cars and see who wins at the drag strip. Bottom line, each form of racing requires it's own unique skills.
Personally, I love them all. (except NASCAR - Rules suck. It's all about the show) Chuck |
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chuckmynatt - You got it right ALL the way, including nascar.
Guys don't realize just how damned hard it is to hit a 1.3- 60ft. time(.02 react) and still only do 110mph. Guess all of those high dollars drag driver schools are a total waste of money and those guys don't know nothing. Crankster- Whether you like it or not, (and I know you don't) the real reality is that the quarter mile talk will always be more popular than any other racing format because it is most like how most folks drive their cars every day, regardless of make. That's why hot rodding continues to thrive. That, and it's easy to get into it, esp. at a young age. It's not that I'm saying that it's all right either btw. Like it or not there is a place for some of the street stuff that goes on. Mind you I don't approve of it either all together, but I'd also be lying if I said I didn't pull a blast or two on the street. Looking at it as most do I think, it not about WHAT you do out there so much as HOW you do it. It's been my experience in dealing with Judges that this is usially the overriding factor that weighs in too. I have no use for the I know better than thou crowd, and the I'm more quilified than thou crowd because I took X crowd. Because in the final analysis they are are not neither. cobrashock |
NASCAR is the "Velveeta Cheese" of motorsports. :rolleyes:
(I had to say it!) Ed |
Hey, you're all right, it's all good, if it's fun. I certainly didn't mean to be critical of anyone who is primarily interested in 1/4mi. ETs.
I was simply scratching my head at some of the comparisons and the heavy emphasis always placed upon straight line stuff as the primary measure of all cars. Certain cars are built for certain purposes. That's all. Some like it straight, some like it twisty. |
Flash from retirement village: while Shelby's primary focus in building the Cobras was road racing, the big news on the street was how damn fast they were in a straight line. Re-read road tests of the day and see which aspect of the cars' performance got the headlines.
I bought mine in 1969 because it was could out-accelerate just about anything on wheels AND, by the way, it had sports car handling. |
Clay - I agree. Though I would add from a participates point of view, that MOST like it straight, with SOME that like it in circles, and a FEW that like it in twistys.
Solid statistics back that up, with spectator numbers being quite different from participats numbers. cobrashock :) :) |
I guess the rules for being a car guy have changed, when I got involved in the 60's it was the guys who got their hands dirty and built his own stuff were the car guys. Now the guy who can just buy the fastest and most expensive wants to be know as a car guy.
Cobrashock, I actually like to watch the pros drag race and yes they do have a certain level of skill but that skill is mastered a lot easier than other forms of racing.Remenber the high school girl a few years ago that stole the Top fuel championship away from the real drivers. The point being if you gonna brag about it than do. Way too many talkers than walkers. Bandit comes to mind, brags all the time about his street kills, what an A-hole. Seems to me I can get along just fine with the real guys, it's the phonys that have an issue with me. |
Lets face it, most people drive their Cobras 99% of the time on the street. Even the "racers" still spend most of the time on the street. So, where does that leave us?
On the street, a quick blast from a stoplight up to 50, 60, 70 or so is pretty safe and can be done very often and in many places. And if you don't spin the tires, and back off at 50 -60, you're not even breaking the law. On the other hand, sliding thru turns, doing four wheel drifts on the street has the following drawbacks. 1) Can loose control 2) Get hurt (or worse) 3) Against the law 4) Can damage (or wreck) the car 5) Not many places to do this on the street 6) Almost impossible to do against another car on the street So, Accelleration and stoplight launches are far more popular and readily doable that "running thru the turns". Thus, the universal preoccupation with acceleration. You'll all get my bill in the mail! Ed |
Crankster - I agree that the level of skill is a learned thing and it is different for the various racing formats. But in drag racing as in other racing you NEVER master it. You just learn to sorta control it. As for little girls being successful at the drags, it's PHYSICS. With youth and light weight come reacton speeds, endurance and so on. For that reason I gave up road racing stuff years ago. For that reason they would beat you in twistys too I'd bet. It's hell to get old.
As for the rules changing lately, in my eyes there never was any rules in the first place. What you are talking about there is nostalga. cobrashock :CRY: :CRY: :CRY: |
All forms of racing are fun to watch, and even more enjoyable to participate in. I've always loved road racing, but I spent a lot more time on the 1/4 mile tracks. Straight line acceleration is, and always will be, the "tuff talk" on the street. It's all about HP and TQ and less about how your car handles and how good of an "overall" driver one is.
Oh, I don't know.............perhaps it's an ego thing. Or, just a "thing" for speed. I ran Track all through High School and College so I equate it to a Track meet. The 100 meters will always be the highlight of the meet..............not the Mile run. Nobody cares who can pace themselves the best and run around in a circle and cross the finish line 1st. But get a line of guys in the starting blocks, fire a gun and see who can shoot themselves down a straight away at top speed and break the tape before anyone else.....................ah, now THAT'S racing! BTW, I ran the 100 meters in the low 10's.........and I owned a blown BB Chevelle that ran 9's in the quarter. But, becoming as physically fit as one can, and pouring as much money into your can as you can muster............there will always be people out there who are faster. That's the beauty of racing. |
.........BTW, I found my pic's of the Z06 from the car show. I'll try and remember how to load them into my gallery (they're on CD form) and bring them up on this thread. I only took a couple shots because there was always a croud around it and it was hard to take pictures without anyone in them. I also found the sales brochure they were handing out, which describes the car a little: The engine is bored / stroked to 427 cubes (they are calling it a 7.0 liter LS7) and pumps out 500hp / 475 lb.-ft. It has a dry sump oil system and revs to 7000rpm. A 100% aluminum frame with magnesium front cradle and carbon fiber fenders (takes it down to 3100 lbs). 6-Piston front and 4-piston rear calipers with crossed-drilled rotors. 3-inch diameter exhaust with bi-modal mufflers that varies the exhaust note and volume according to engine load. Performance numbers are sub-4 second 0-60 times and low to mid 11's in the 1/4 mile.
That will be hard to catch. .......And that's without after market goodies.:D |
Crankster - Most guys that buy Cobras are looking for the same thing they could get from a Harley. They want something cool and load so they can cruize around and forget about their troubles on a Saturday afternoon. At the Harley store they sell all kinds of Go Fast parts so that the accountant riding the bike can tell his buddies how fast it is. In the Cobra world guys buy $20K 427SO motors and tell their buddies how fast it is. It is the same thing. It is funny as hell when you think about it but as long as they are cool who cares!
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Cranky,
I can look at your gallery and tell you are serious about what you do. Thats cool! You can look at my gallery and tell I am serious about what I do now and what I did before this. The thing is.....people that lie or hide behind someone else have to go to bed each night knowing they are full of *&%@ All is good. Brent |
For those interested, I now have 2 pic's of the Z06 in my gallery. The pic's are bad because I tried to get just "the car" in the lens without any people. Oh well.
It really was a nice looking car. Great rims too..........which goes against what Chevy has done in the past on other "1st of" Vette's. |
Mr. Racer X:
I think even in the 60's there were many "car guy's" that bought a factory hot rod, I don't think the masses built their own cars from scratch. I and many others on this forum have done plenty of building and modifing of their Cobra's and don't think we have to build our car from scratch or race on a track to belong or post on this forum. I have never started a street race. If some sucker wants to lose in front of his girlfriend, wife, or friends I will be happy to show that the Cobra can send his slow ass Vette back to the shop for some more modifications. I know that you would want me to yell "Sorry, I don't race on the street so let's meet at the track", but if it looks safe then i'm going to smoke his ass. |
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Ed, you got that right. I, as a kid, would never even think of trying to go around a corner at the limit. I valued living, my body, too much. 1/4 mile times are an easy test that everybody (masses) can relate to, comparing performance potential (lbs/hp) between cars. What times a car runs at Watkin's Glen, Limerock, Nelson Ledges, Mid-Ohio would not be significant to the vast number of people who enjoy motorsports. Also, the driver has more of an impact on influencing times on a road course than I think with drag racing, which I believe is more dependent upon the car set-up. So comparing 1/4 mile times , to me, is a better test of the cars acceleration potential, that can be reproduced more easily. I've been to run and gun twice, had a blast, while my car lasted that is. Autocross is a blast as well, with little fear of seriously damaging yourself or your car, as opposed to road racing. Doing 150 mph down a straight that is 8 car lanes wide is still scary. |
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We cant be "Top-speed Bonneville Salt Flats" racers, because there isnt enough space to see whose car has the highest MPH. We cant be "Formula One Road racers" because there arent very many road courses to race on, in Anytown USA. But at any stoplight, or at any two-lane road across this great nation, it has the chance to be the place where "MY car can beat YOUR car to that signpost, telephone pole, bridge, etc etc etc!" ;) |
I been racing oval track (dirt) and road race for many many years. I just never got the 1/4 mile "bug" I guess.
Then last year I tried it, WOW, what an eye opener. It's a LOT more complicated than I had given it credit for, I had a ball. Wouldn't say I'm "hooked" by any means, but do look forward to giving it another shot with my new motor! :D |
Hi Edley...........no question you are correct. But I was talking about car comparisons in the quote you posted. The erroneous conclusion drawn by the vast majority of US car enthusiasts is that the 1/4 mi ET is an indication of the "best" or "fastest" car.
For example, my Cobra 427SO with toploader and 3.31 gearing will hit red line at about 140 mph, which is very good, because a Cobra with ancient aerodynamics is very scary, by all accounts, at that speed. Conversely my C6, with 6sp. is capable of 186 mph (according to GM) and with modern aero and a body shaped for downforce would be quite a bit more stable than the Cobra at 140. That's just one example. Another is the .98G skidpad performance of a bone stock C6. That's what I was scratching my head about. I love them both, and don't think of one as superior to the other. They're just different. |
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