Advanced Engineering Tech - effect of race weight?




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FL Junkie
09-17-2010, 09:10 AM
i had my car weighed the other day. without me in it and a half tank of gas it weighs 3340. the front was 1880 and the rear 1460. so i have more weight to move to the back.
its a 1sc car with no power options. also i have a sound system in the back. so i calculate without all that stuff and little gas i would have been 32xx. ive done some weight reduction, i took out heat shields and other crap i dont need. ive done what i can without sacrificing creature comforts. there are other things i can take out still.

anyway my question is how much does weight reduction affect your 1/4 mile and road course time? i was once told every 100 lbs is a tenth of a second. if you lose the weight doesnt that totally change the power to weight ratio?


1320
09-17-2010, 09:26 AM
Its just a rule of experience.......F=MA force=mass x acceleration.........

It does does change because its the percentage of weight you remove not the actual weight. 100 lbs from a 2000 lb car is twice the percentage of 100 lbs from a 4000lb car.

In the 3000 to 4000 lb area, experience has shown us time and time again that 100 lbs is "about" .10 in et.

ZMX
10-06-2010, 12:37 PM
Does this really belong in advanced engineering?

How can we even know what else you could remove when we don't know what you've removed yet?

If you're not wanting to take out any "creature comforts," then you aren't going to make the car too light. They come that heavy for a reason.

Anyway, also consider that weight removed from the front will help drag times more than weight removed from the back. Since, for all weight removed from the back, grip is also reduced.

Also, don't forget rotational mass. Wheels, tires, driveshaft, flywheel, crank. Weight there is worth a lot.