ET with and without wheelie.

[340Cuda]

Originally Posted by JGrossijr

No 2 cars are exactly the same so it's unlikely there is a "right" answer that fits every application. In my experience as long as you're not unloading the rear tires, it's not the wheelie that slows a car down, it's the landing. I have found that if I can smooth out the G-meter dip at touch down, without giving up any 60', the car goes faster. There are lots of different ways to approach that, including wheel stand height.

I agree 100%, I remember the late Ed Wright said his Firebird needed to do a wheelie to run well. Despite his representations Ed was one of the sharper knives in the drawer and I am sure that was correct for his car.

However it is apparently not true for every car.

I continue to miss Ed.

[Frank Castros]

Originally Posted by Adger Smith

Frank, I have a set of the B-1TS-8 heads done by Doug.. Good heads.
What happened to him.. Lost track of him several years ago

Doug passed away February 6, 2019.

[Frank Castros]

Originally Posted by 1320racer

Frank when did you last speak to Bill, it?s been several years since I have spoken to him. Back in the 90s and into the early 2000s Bill and I were competitors as well friendly, he joined our Saturday night dinner after racing often.

Bill and I last spoke about two years ago but my good friend and former racing partner Jimmy Lovallo spoke to Bill within the past year.

[Frank Castros]

IMHO the sixty foot ET and trap MPH are the measure of your race car.

[1320racer]

Agree, NOT wheelie height and my former Chevelle as well my Firebird are bench marks with 1.28 @ 3880 lbs. and 1.17 @ 3150 lbs. respectively and both launched off the footbrake!

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by Frank Castros

IMHO the sixty foot ET and trap MPH are the measure of your race car.

I agree to a point but imo the 60-330 is just as important. You can dead hook and get a crazy low 60 but the engine and car are not working together and your et will reflect that.

Again, my opinion only, but a short interval from 60 to the next clock point has to be there to enable a good run assuming you don't get loose downtrack.

[1320racer]

60 foot is EVERYTHING as it relates to ETs! What you lose or gain in 60 foot directly relates to the ET in the n/a S/SS type cars being discussed here.

[Stan Weiss]

What some people are having a hard time grasping, is if you hit the 60 foot light with your back wheel. Then that time is really for 60 foot plus your wheelbase.


Stan

[Dan Bennett]

This is one of the best threads I've ever seen here. I'm seeing other racers experiences and it's making me think.

I'm beginning to think the disconnect from my original post is due to the fact that I worked almost solely on 4 link stick cars. And that the rules class cars have to run under just won't allow the important parts to be tuned to top performance.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been giving a lot of thought to the people who say a big wheelstand flashes the converter better. My gut feeling is that's because the slicks are loaded more and the traction loads the converter more.

You could do the same thing and keep the nose close to the ground and use the torque to move the car forward with a four link. I'm thinking that your classes simply don't have the ability to add that extra traction other than standing the car up. Again, I'd love to find I'm on the wrong track here so please speak up if you disagree.

I ran into this while working with Steve Johnson. I looked at his graphs and saw immediately where things could be improved in a major way. But the problem was that the clutches PSBs had available at the time were not able to do the adjustment that was needed.

In short, the people who are saying different vehicles need different things have helped me get a grip and I thank every one of them.

[1320racer]

Originally Posted by Dan Bennett

This is one of the best threads I've ever seen here. .

you're welcome