Kingman99

Hi

Question, if l am going to drag race an identical auto vette both having the same amount of gas in their tanks with one driver weighing 210 lbs and the other driver weighing 160lbs does the 50 lbs lighter driver have an edge?

Alan

Big ol 68

Real question is who is the better driver? 50lbs isn't that much. For every roughly 100 lbs lighter equals .1 in the quarter. But all really depends on the driver.

I'd say get sticky tires. Practice launches.

Boomer111

True and hopefully not break your axles.l

timd38

All things equal, the lighter car wins, but things are never equal....

dennis50nj

yes weight is always an edge

Bill Dearborn

In theory a lighter car is easier to accelerate. However, given the driver's position in the car most of that extra weight will be riding on the rear wheels. 50 more pounds on the rear end helps with traction.

Bill

juanvaldez

A 50 lb advantage equal 6 - 7 hp. Do you think a car with a 6 hp advantage will win?

Boomer111

Nope, drivers race.

JaimeVrod

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but it could be beneficial to know if there is any excess and non functional weight that can be removed from the car to improve his odds.

dennis50nj

yes! swaybar lighter rims and tires, light weight battery , take out seats 10 lb race seat, lighter brake rotors, all that would give him a 5/10 advantage

HOXXOH

Some items I've removed have made some really big differences for me. Cigarette lighter, ashtray, chicklets, door handles, and the nose emblem are just a few. Not only did they reduce my 1/4 mile times, but the top speed and fuel economy improved due to less aerodynamic drag.

timd38

You guys are starting to get ugly!

juanvaldez

Drag racing is a hp/weight thing. You can come pretty close to predicting outcome by knowing the hp/weight of the cars. A Corvette weighing 3,400 lbs w/driver and having around 430 hp comes out to 10.3 lbs/hp. Add 5 hp = drop 50 lbs. I read that non-runflat tires weigh about 12 lbs less each. There is a reason Corvettes don't come with spare tire and it ain't because GM is cheap. Ten gallons of fuel weighs about 65 lbs = 6.5 hp.

JaimeVrod

I'd put money that those mods will have negligible affect on ET, trap speed or mpg. Maybe the nose emblem and door handles might show a marginal top end increase at the salt flats.

dennis50nj

you would lose, how do you think he got the top spot on the list
External Engine Modifications LS3 (Bolt-Ons)
10.820 @ 125.82 - HOXXOH - 08 A6 F55 - CAI, conv, ptb, Z06 Exhaust, tune, & more, DR - (4804)
10.888 @ 125.25 - 8850 - 08 A6 NPP 2.73 - CAI, conv, gto skinnies, hdr, udp, tune, DR - (6178)
10.987 @ 124.66 - Theofel - 08 A6 - CAI, cb, conv, 3.15, hdr, tune, & more DR - (4739)
11.252 @ 125.07 - Jbsblownc5 - 08 M6 Z51 - CAI, cb, 3.73, hdr, pi, torco & meth inj, tune, DR - (3739)
11.266 @ 123.52 - JohnDaMan - 08 A6 - CAI, cb, conv, hdr, ptb, udp, tune, DR - (6785)
11.468 @ 123.52 - Shane Fap - 08 A6 - CAI, hdr, tune, Z06 muff, Nittos - (6354)
11.468 @ 119.14 - HPAvette - 08

Gearhead Jim

I'd put money that HOXXOH has a sense of humor.

HOXXOH

Exactly! It's why my post started with "Some" and included "just a few" and ended with a (that I thought I had put on)

When in full racing mode, I remove the front swaybar, the OEM seats, and any unattached items. I change the stock wheels/tires to skinnies on GTO spares up front and C4 A-molds with Hoosier DR's on the rear. I plan to arrive at the track with about 4 gallons of gas in the tank and nothing in the washer tank. I do add a rollbar, a racing seat, a trailer hitch, and a datalogging computer. On a couple occasions I have swapped out the Z06 mufflers for straight pipes, but haven't been able to confirm if the 35# savings made a difference on a timeslip or just on my eardrums.

When in normal street mode, the weight savings from stock are base rotors drilled to match the OEM F55 ones, catless headers, and non-runflats. With the low fuel DIC message active and normal stuff in the glovebox/console/cubbies the car weighs 3210#.

Using the GVW of 3775 from my door sticker and reducing it by the 423 passenger/cargo limits and the 110 for 18 gal of gas, I get 3242, which was probably pretty accurate at the time of original manufacturing.