Forget gasoline or ethanol. Your car doesn’t run on petrochemicals; it runs on electricity. And for the most part, the power source in that car is a battery (or two). Over the years, battery technology has advanced rapidly. Because of this, we figured the time was ripe to take a closer look at the world
Just how important is engine mounting in a drag car? Very. Consider the case of a common rear-wheel drive production line car: Typically, mounts are laid out in a three-point arrangement — two mounts on the side of the cylinder block and one at the very end of the transmission (usually on the tail shaft).
Go to a dragstrip and you’ll see cars with beadlocks, tire screws, and what appears to be nothing holding the tire bead to the wheel rim. Some cars will run tubeless. Others will have tubes. Ponder all of the combinations, and the big picture starts to get a wee bit confusing So what tire setup
[portfolio_slideshow id=56479] When it comes to pistons, the most common arrangement you’ll encounter makes use of three piston rings — compression, second, and oil. Today, we’re turning our focus to the areas of the piston most associated with the rings: the ring lands and grooves. Piston ring lands are the areas of the piston between the piston rings.
All things being equal, a lightweight race car will always be quicker and faster than a heavy one. But even if you can’t take pounds out of the car, it’s a really good idea to think carefully about how weight is distributed. Weight distribution is extremely important, and mostly misunderstood. Chassis builder Jerry Bickel says weight distribution
In the last issue, we wrote about how to stuff larger tires inside your ride. While that article focused on filling up existing wheel wells with larger rubber, it also brought this question to the table: How big is too big when it comes to tires? Decades ago, in a conversation with the late Bill Jenkins,
Big back tires have always been the telltale sign of a true ground pounder. In some cars, it’s easy to stuff the back-end full of rubber without resorting to reconstructive surgery (tubs, moving springs, moving frame rails and so on). In others, not so. A good example of a wheel well-restricted car is the 1970 Chevy Nova shown
When your race car is staged and the last yellow light blinks off, the car experiences a number of forces — all of which you must control for at least 1,320 feet. These forces include: Engine Torque Rear-End Wrap Up Rear-End Torque Rotation Chassis Sway Track Irregularities Aerodynamic Loading Engine Torque According to well-respected chassis
[portfolio_slideshow id=52846] Nosebleed wheel stands are the poster children of drag racing. Everyone likes to see them, but for the most part, they’re not all that conducive to running a low ET or even making a straight lap down the quarter mile. The solution is, of course, the wheelie bar. Wheelie bars have been around
[portfolio_slideshow id=51924] Anyone who has ever drag raced knows that weather and track conditions can pretty much change by the minute. We also know that days at the track can be long, so the weather and the track you started out with in the morning can turn into a completely different beast by midday and evening. We’ve
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