Thoughts on lightened ring gears?

[Dissident]

If more folks studied rotational INERTIA more than reading the hype of suppliers of lightweight parts, they would save lots more money. IF one spent more time on reducing the rotational inertia of the flywheel /clutch/converter AND the wheels/tires then there would be a more effective approach. Looking under the streetlight for low hanging performance fruit is cheaper and involves more common sense.Out in the shadows gets more expensive and much more questionable in results.
Regards to All that like this kind of stuff,
HB2
Dissident

[Ed Wright]

Yes, nothing in the trans, or rear end, is large enough diameter to have a measurable effect on inertia to show up on your time slip. Hard to imagine how low the hp would be required to see anything on the time slip. Wish I had the time & money back I wasted on parts & track rentals testing, because “there HAS to be something there!”

[Jim Caughlin]

Originally Posted by Dissident

If more folks studied rotational INERTIA more than reading the hype of suppliers of lightweight parts, they would save lots more money. IF one spent more time on reducing the rotational inertia of the flywheel /clutch/converter AND the wheels/tires then there would be a more effective approach. Looking under the streetlight for low hanging performance fruit is cheaper and involves more common sense.Out in the shadows gets more expensive and much more questionable in results.
Regards to All that like this kind of stuff,
HB2
Dissident

You are correct, no observable performance improvement from lightweight rearend parts. On the other hand, reduction in weight and diameter of flywheel and clutch made huge performance improvements.

[Bob Mulry]

Just remember that the only things turning engine RPM (more or less) is the driveshaft, companion flange and pinion gear.

Anything that turns engine speed has to be deaccelerated and accelerated numinous times depending on how many forward gears you have, which will result in a much greater benifit

If your finish line RPM is 8500 and you use a 5.86 rear gear everything to the rear of the pinion gear is turning 1450 RPM.

Whatever your tach says just divide by 5.86 to get rotational speeds all the way down the track and best of all it only has to be accelerated once.

Might be very hard to establish a base line.

Just my 2 cents and something to think about.

[Dan Fahey]

Originally Posted by Jeff Stout

Aluminum driveshaft, rifle drilled axles, light ring gear 14 lbs lighter and zero gain in ET on a 3500 lb BBC

Opportunity to place that weight above the suspension.
Benefitting traction or making car lighter for class.

[Tom Goldman]

Originally Posted by Dan Fahey

Opportunity to place that weight above the suspension.
Benefitting traction or making car lighter for class.

Wow ! Dan posted something that almost everyone can agree on !!

[nhramnl]

OK, so lightweight driveline components don't provide any performance gain. But they still look really cool, all shiny and machined and lightweight and different. And we spend a ton of money on them, which automatically makes them cooler than regular stuff. And we get the excitement of ordering with the credit card, and then the anticipation of waiting for UPS to bring them in colorful boxes. And everybody else has them, so we have to have them too, just to keep up. And it's really fun to name-drop the names of the manufacturers, in conversation in the staging lanes or at the trailer. They still make our wife mad (which is good), because they represent race car expense (not kitchen remodeling expense). And finally, we just somehow FEEL faster with an aluminum spool, bolt-through differential carrier and 40-spline, gun-drilled axles, don't we? Just lookin' for a silver lining here...

[Bob Mulry]

I've always used this math equation..

$$$$ SPENT = E.T. IMPROVEMENT

What is the E.T. IMPROVEMENT for each dollar spent....

[bykr]

Originally Posted by nhramnl

OK, so lightweight driveline components don't provide any performance gain. But they still look really cool, all shiny and machined and lightweight and different. And we spend a ton of money on them, which automatically makes them cooler than regular stuff. And we get the excitement of ordering with the credit card, and then the anticipation of waiting for UPS to bring them in colorful boxes. And everybody else has them, so we have to have them too, just to keep up. And it's really fun to name-drop the names of the manufacturers, in conversation in the staging lanes or at the trailer. They still make our wife mad (which is good), because they represent race car expense (not kitchen remodeling expense). And finally, we just somehow FEEL faster with an aluminum spool, bolt-through differential carrier and 40-spline, gun-drilled axles, don't we? Just lookin' for a silver lining here...

lol

[427FE]

Stick cars usually run pro or standard gears?