Ford and Pro Stock

[Wayne Kerr]

Mr. Carman, wink wink,
I couldn't agree more. I have heard the same message from more than one of the big three "higher ups".
No hood scoops, no carburetors, and bodies that you can identify with.


See you at the races,
Wayne Kerr

[blkjack]

Let's get real here. The Pontiac body is still the one to beat in the wind tunnel. I don't think the new Camaro is as good as the old GXP.Legally, I think you can run that body to 2015.

[BlueOval Ralph]

No Hood Scoops! Just look at SS Mustangs bubble hood, DP Dodges hood scoop, COOP at SEMA. Most Pro Stocks have problems with valve covers clearing hood. Beside you still have to put a intake manifold and throttle bodies on engine. Doesn't mater carbs or efi intake runner will be close to same length. = No Flat hoods

Originally Posted by Wayne Kerr

Mr. Carman, wink wink,
I couldn't agree more. I have heard the same message from more than one of the big three "higher ups".
No hood scoops, no carburetors, and bodies that you can identify with.


See you at the races,
Wayne Kerr

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by BlueOval Ralph

No Hood Scoops! Just look at SS Mustangs bubble hood, DP Dodges hood scoop, COOP at SEMA. Most Pro Stocks have problems with valve covers clearing hood. Beside you still have to put a intake manifold and throttle bodies on engine. Doesn't mater carbs or efi intake runner will be close to same length. = No Flat hoods

Great point! Look at any of the current PS cars and check the area where the hood meets the windshield. As Ralph says, the hood is raised probably close to a foot and makes all the cars look chunky and strange. Check the difference in thickness (top to bottom dimension) between the cowl area and the very front of the car. Lots of stretching going on.

And no, it doesn't have anything to do with carburetors.

The first cars I saw that carried this bogus design were the Neons, and that's to be expected from stuffing a 500 inch engine into a shell that was engineered to carry a low profile four banger. There must have been some unexpected aero gains to be made, as all the other brands followed suit as new cars were built.

The horse got let out of the barn when it was no longer required to use stock body panels on the quarters and roof. Of course, the chassis builders brought the current spec "funny car" body on themselves as they expertly tweaked around the templates and rules.

I have no doubt that was a serious headache for tech, but I thought that was their job in the first place. To me, finding all the tweaks was one of the cool parts of PS racing. WJ's Cutlasses were always worth a long, long, look.

Crew-based aero got so serious back then that at least one top level team experimented with stacking decals on the quarter panel, leaving a ragged edge on each decal which was slightly offset from the one below it. They were attempting to create a vortex generator, which would keep the air from wrapping around the back of the car and creating turbulence.

[Tom keedle]

Originally Posted by Detroit Bob

Lets face it the best you can say about the bodies on funny cars and pro stocks are, they look cartoonish. The beauty of pro stock in the early days, and funny car to an extent, were the bodies were recognizable . You didn't have to slap the name on the front of the thing to tell me what make it was.
Nhra needs to start over again with a rules package that makes sense for the manufacturers as well as the spectating public. That means in pro stock, stock bodies and production style engines. Funny car needs to adopt rules closer to the nostalgia funny cars.

ON THE OTHER HAND, take a look at nascars' COT
pretty much the same thing as funny cars,i haven't been able to tell 1 brand from another for years...

[Jeff Teuton]

Tom, a keen observation. At several meetings with Mopar Performance, and Dodge Motorsports (which controls the Nascar effort), I casually observed that in my 44 years as a dealer, I have never had a Car of Tomorrow on my showroom floor. Greatest measurements of Nascar not playing to their fans, I have noticed while going to the races this year absolutely no conversation on the CB radio about Nascar, and the truck stops have deep discounts on the Nascar clothes etc. Only the trained eye and ear coulb observe that.

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by Tom keedle

ON THE OTHER HAND, take a look at nascars' COT
pretty much the same thing as funny cars,i haven't been able to tell 1 brand from another for years...

Thats always the problem when rules remain the same for decades. Physics of the specific rules will cause the engines to become more and more the same. The teams will lobby for equal aerodynamics. Eventually we have current P/S and 'cup cars. The difference is the grill and headlight decals. It becomes boring when they get to this point.
I'm just glad there is stock and super stock. I've lost interest in the cookie-cutter classes.