Drag race ride height with or without driver

You can drag race as an individual or with a team and go to single drag race competitions or drag race on a specific circuit around the country. Apr 11, 2018 simply put, the lower the ride height, the more the difference in air pressure above and below the car bernoulli principle in a nutshell, and more downforce is generated for a more technical explanation about how this works, search for ground. All cars will see at least some change in drag and downforce with ride height and rake changes. As long as you factor ride height changes and the weight differential scaling with out the driver can work fine. Race car performance depends on elements such as the engine, tires, suspension, road, aerodynamics, and of course the driver. In this contest we see a less powerful 260 versus 291 hp, heavier 4,626 versus 4,510 pounds subaru with taller gearing by 18 percent in first gear winning the drag race andthanks to its.

Whilst performance orientated air systems have been readily available for the last five years or so, the idea itself goes back further again. Either may be removed without taking time to support the other. As long as you factor ride height changes and the weight differential scaling with. Weight transfer is a function of car weight, cg height, wheelbase, and acceleration. Drag racing disqualification of a racer a driver will be disqualified in case he leaves the starting line before the illumination of green light. Drag racing experience drag racing ride along great.

The blue urethane caps keep the control arm upright when the spring is loaded. Nov 03, 2016 according to bickel, this system of mounting offers three important advantages for a drag race car. Once installed, the coilover rear shock conversion controls ride height, compression, and rebound. Jan 30, 2019 if you dont get crossweight and frontrear distribution correct youre going to have a very trying experience on race day. Whether you are using chryler super stock springs or not, the ride height can be controlled by rearching the existing leaf springs. Check the wheelie bar height after every tire change, even if your new drag slicks have the same size designation. Mar 30, 2015 typical of a drag race car, the purp is no dyno queen. Mshs staging etiquette modern street hemi shootout. Cg height calculator automotive brake system calculator. Aug 08, 2011 before getting started, the vehicle must be 100 percent complete.

You have some room to move your tires a little foward or back without effecting the beams. During the wet race, ride height should be higher to aloud water, pushed below car. Set up your starting ride height by completely unscrewingunthreading the bottom mounting cups and separate it from the shock body. Without driver its weight totals 3,150 pounds, which is pretty decent considering we have not drilled any holes or cut anything off the. Many people like to take their everyday car to their local drag strip and make a few passes down the track. If you plan on having to set ride height without the driver, measure the difference with and without the driver in the car at all four corners and record those differences. Simply put, the lower the ride height, the more the difference in air pressure above and below the car bernoulli principle in a nutshell, and more downforce is generated for a more technical explanation about how this works, search for ground.

Nov 24, 2019 how to setup double adjustable shocks and springs for drag race suspension. Proper chassis set up requires that the weight balance is set correctly for the car, driver and track conditions. Our friends at qa1 sent over this new tech story to help racers measure their equipment for custom shocks. Lower ride height, better weight distribution, the ability to easily adjust the. Scaling your race car is arguably one the most important practices that you can do to increase your chance of visiting victory lane. Tutorial videos that explain how to set up your 4link rear suspension.

Air suspension as a method of vehicular support has been around since pretty much forever, but the idea of performance air suspension is still a relatively new concept. Naturally, youre more inclined to wheelstand with an increase in acceleration. Some build dedicated trackonly, nonstreet legal cars, and still others modify their. Before taking your measurements, it is very important to get the vehicle positioned in the ride height that it will be set at while going down the road. Race car ride height 101 with jerry bickel and chassis engineering. With the wheelie bars setup correctly, the race car will launch straight and will carry the wheels off the ground in low. Curt perry from chassis engineering has been in the shock and chassis business since 1995 with different manufacturers, and offers some insight into spring rates for drag racing shocks. This is with stock shocks of a very old age stock rear springs with air bags 35 rh and 18 lh, rear set to your ride height, eibech front springs cut way down and stock struts. To fix this with a suspension adjustment is simply to reduce acceleration. You want a spring to be as soft as you can get without coilbind so it can react quickly during hard launches. For the rear, youll see everything from 65 pound to 200 pound springs on a 12inch long shock up to a 14inch long shock. From insuring that a car goes straight to refining the perfect amount of weight transfer during a run, there are numerous reasons as to why a race car must be scaled.

Suspension basics and drag racing dynamics muscle car diy. Shock valving plays a very important role in the way your car will perform both during initial launch and throughout the quarter mile. Coilover front suspension install car craft magazine hot rod. Robs rod shop drag racing suspension episode 1 basic 4 link duration.

Your car can lose ride height during the race and you need to be at. But you dont have to have a 69 chevy with a 396, fuelie heads and a hurst on the floor. Bottom line is that the drag race torsion bars are just too small for street use on the heavy b body. Part 5 in our series of tutorial videos that explain how to set up your rear suspension takes a look at the ride height. The hex ends on the torsion bar are typically aligned with each other when the car is at a normal ride height. T spring travel used at ride height installed spring length at ride height 2. I have a friend who auto crosses a merkur, and hes actually raised his car quite a bit from the stock ride height, because he runs 27517 slicks front and back. Understanding how weight distribution affects your race car. The upper bar you want to intersect about 5055 inches in front of the center of the rear. If you dont get crossweight and frontrear distribution correct youre going to have a very trying experience on race day. Ride height varies depending on individual tastes, tire clearance and. As a general guideline, lighter springs allow the car to easily transfer weight, and settle faster down track.

Start by rethreading on the bottom mounting cups to approximately 1215 complete revolutions. Now try and run as fast as you can without falling. With racing at a nearly complete shutdown for the near future, now is a great time to take on a project like this. A drag race car should run the lightest front spring rate possible, without letting the shocks bottom out when making a pass. One item to consider when using drag race bars is to use a heavier bar as the car gets faster. Jan 04, 2017 from insuring that a car goes straight to refining the perfect amount of weight transfer during a run, there are numerous reasons as to why a race car must be scaled. The two motor plates span the chassis in critical places, improving the rigidity of the front tubing structure.

Weve got the koni universal drag racing coilovers and the ksport drag race version coilover kit. Before purchasing or attempting to install shocks that are different than the oem length, confirm that your wheel travel can be altered without causing clearance issues such as swingarmaxle to exhaust contact, as well as chainbelt guard or tire contact. Like bruce springsteen says, when summers here, the times just right for going racing. Coilovers are pricey why would i spend my money for them. They can handle any amount of torque and vibration produced by the engine. Mar 12, 2015 suspension basics and drag racing dynamics. Changing spring rate affects ride height and the rate at which weight is transferred to the rear tires. The only way a suspension adjustment can affect weight transfer is to change the acceleration. How to update an older doorslammer chris alstons chassisworks. Drag racing takes skill, experience and practice to become good at it and win races. Check your wheelie bar height often or after any change that has an effect upon the ride height of the car.

May 09, 2014 a drag race car should run the lightest front spring rate possible, without letting the shocks bottom out when making a pass. First you must determine the ride height of the vehicle. As with most race car parts, you get what you pay for. This dimension should be taken from a fixed point on the body. Measuring your race cars ride height is an important step in the overall suspension setup. Spherical bearings exist at each end, and is rated at 1,000 ftlb of torque.

Jul 19, 2016 jerry bickel has decades of experience building race cars and adds to the concept of the correct spring rate for ride height. Aftermarket drag suspension components have become an important part of the mustang performance equation. Jerry bickel has decades of experience building race cars and adds to the concept of the correct spring rate for ride height. The principle behind shock absorber design is to allow the. With every driver wanting to go faster and beat the previous best time, research and.

The staging beams are designed to line up the front tires of the cars usually within 46 inches of each other, depending on tire diameter, wheel stagger, ride height, and maybe a couple of other factors. All cars will see at least some change in drag and downforce with ride height. Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles usually specially prepared for the purpose compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. Stepbystep racecar setup guide paradigm shift driver. A drag race car should run the lightest front spring rate possible, without letting.

Update an older doorslammer with chassisworks components chassisworks aarm frames and suspension systems provide a number of advantages over stock and other aftermarket designs in race cars, trucks, street rods, and pro street vehicles. The ride height of a racecar is a key brick in the foundation that defines the car. To compensate, he has a super stiff suspension, but having race tires keeps him from breaking loose from being so stiff. Race car ride height 101 with jerry bickel and chassis. Understanding how weight distribution affects your race. Effect of vehicle pitch and ride height on its downforce and drag hf front. This photo shows maximum motorsports drag race adjustable height rlcas. Duntov motor company is the exclusive licensee for the manufacturing and distribution of the updated street version of this famous car.

Suspension tuning is a critical part of getting the ultimate performance package, it is even possible to have a more competitive car then a rival with superior upgrades by having a well balanced set up, which maximises the available grip levels. Double adjustable shocks drag racing shock adjustments. Varispring baseline spring rate and dragrace tuning guide. Preparing an lsxpowered 1995 camaro for headsup drag racing. Typical of a drag race car, the purp is no dyno queen.

The vehicle should leave in a straight line without extreme wheel. Because we are not talking about drag race, this configuration is not used very. According to bickel, this system of mounting offers three important advantages for a drag race car. Griggs racing chassis systems provide immensely increased launch and high speed stability over any other kind of system due to the design geometry. While this photo shows the thunderbird version, the only difference is the length of the control arm. But even in the theoretical case of a friction free suspension, the change in ride height front and rear, caused by the weight transfer, will not be enough to have a measurable effect on the calculated cgheight, when measured on a sports car or race car baja racers and other high centeredsoft suspension vehicles not included. Mancini racing used that race experience to grow into a parts business that sells suspension parts for chrysler race cars.

Drag race bars a fairly common question people have is if they can use the drag race bar on street driven cars. You need a spring rate that will hold the shock at the designed distance apart for the weight of your car. Find out why our drag racing experiences leave all others standing as you slide behind the wheel of real deal dragster for some electrifying runs on real drag racing track. The influence of wing span and angle of attack on racing car wingwheel interaction aerodynamics. Oct 29, 2015 thats something air suspension kits cant do. Be sure to check out the other videos on alignment, pinion angle, preload. That will make adjusting easier as well as giving you a visual of where the instant center will fall with the rear suspension at ride height. Drag racing suspension for your dodge abody hot rod. For ford mustang ii 7478 competition engineering drag.

Drag coefficient for the body without wings, varying with ride height90 table a. Scaling your race car is arguably one the most important practices that you can do. Integralspindle struts are designed for dragrace use only and are setup to provide the maximum amount of extension travel. Top 10 drag racing tips from the pros bb nova racing. I have compiled a top 10 list for you so that you can get the advantage over your competition. Coilovers installation guide and suggested settings. The most complete racing car chassis setup tutorial guide available presented by shown above is a gaming expo fair in europe that held a contest for the best gamer team in a newly released 1st shooter game competition. If you plan on having to set ride height without the driver, measure the. Drag race front shock absorber by competition engineering. Be sure to check out all of the other videos in the series. Duntov motor company is the exclusive licensee for the continued production of the authentic original corvette grand sport. Weight savings is a priority without sacrificing strength and safety and controllability.

Imagine yourself on a pair of shoes with a ridge down the sole. A stiffer spring can not react as quick and can unload the tires. In such a case, the red light will illuminate which in. Check out the full story and accompanying youtube video below. Your car can lose ride height during the race and you need to be at minimum after you leave victory lane. Drag racing can be done as a hobby or as a profession. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1. Effect of vehicle pitch and ride height on its downforce and drag hf. Drag car alignment is critical as you know for your safety and the safety of the other driver.

Go from 0100 mph in just over a second behind the wheel of state of the art dragster. Last night i went to a test and tune and ran a new best of 6. For ford mustang ii 7478 competition engineering drag race. In this video, tim mcamis shows you the basic process of how to scale a race car, why it is important and adjustments that can be made from the data discovered during the process. Strut travel t spring travel used at ride height spring free length installed spring length at ride height max. Changing spring rate affects ride height and the rate at which weight is. The right amount of chassis preload should cause the car to plant both rear tires identically, creating equal tire circumference on both sides and causing the car to launch straight. Apr 07, 2016 check your wheelie bar height often or after any change that has an effect upon the ride height of the car. It can take some people years to get the information they need. May 20, 2019 this photo shows maximum motorsports drag race adjustable height rlcas. How does ride height affect downforce, balance, drag, and. The ultimate racing car chassis setup guide and tutorial. This guide is primarily aimed at road course racing in cars, but will have some use. That is the first line in the instructions for measuring the baseline spring rate on a chris alstons drag race 2x3 aarm.

You can weigh with out the driver as long as you consider the variables that will change. So, the heavier the car, the stiffer the spring you will need to hold that shock in its designed position. Check that there is no weight on the scale pads and press the zero button. If the measurements are taken from mounting surface to mounting surface, subtract 58 for each shaftstud end. Mar 31, 2020 knowing your connection types, where to measure them, and the shock ride height measurement is all youll need. Because coilovers are designed to provide height changes at a physical point that doesnt reduce suspension travel so much, its easier to race or drive at a lowered ride height without you, your suspension components, and sensitive vehicle electronics taking a pounding. Lowering the motorcycle will reduce ground and cornering clearance. Vintage corvette suspension race parts duntov motor company. That is the first line in the instructions for measuring the baseline spring rate on a chris alston drag race aarm suspension and frame clip. Driver weight tends to vary a bit so having the driver in the car insures the most repeatable results. The ride height is the position of the chassis at rest with the driver strapped in and the car race ready.