I did :yesnod: but I didn't go anywhere :)

 

 

ET numbers are important but not as important as the big s-eating :D on my face when I turn the key! :yesnod:

Nick

 

John,

rwhp - nice peak number, but by itself means nothing

rwt - better indicator of daily driving "feel"

e.t. - nice measure of rwhp, rwt, traction, cars weight, drivers skill (in other words, way too many variables to be consistent).

1/4 mph. best indicator of what is all means as a total package with minimal driver skill variance.

I voted for 1/4 mph. This assumes you are talking about the car, independent of the driver associated with the car.

 

1/4 mile trap speed :yesnod:

 

Sure glad you clarified that. :p: ;)

 

E.T. :yesnod:

 

I would have to say trap speed! :cheers:

 

I'd say trap speed as well since the rest is more of a measure of how well your car is set up for drag racing not truly how fast it is. If you know the trap speed and weight you know a lot and can estimate the others pretty easily.

 

The problem with all of this is that comparing any of the Drag Racing numbers is like comparing "Uncorrected" dyno numbers.

A fast trap speed in Canada in crisp 40 degree weather with a well prepared track means nothing compared to a trap speed in Texas with 80% humidity and 90 degrees. It is like comparing uncorrected numbers.

Or a northern track at or below sea level on a cool crisp spring day can also produce good numbers.

So unless you are willing to put your faith in uncorrected numbers, either on the track or on the dyno then you can only compare cars on the same day at the same track, within a short time frame. Plus keep in mind that a better 60' time means a better 1/8 mile mph, and that means a better 1/4 mph, so driver and tires do figure into the mph at the end of the 1/4 mile.

Two weeks ago at Ennis, the times all day were steady, until about 5 o'clock
when times and mph got better because the weather changed.

So what does it all mean??

It means that if you have a C5 with over 430 rwhp and over 420 rwtq and you drive it on the street with a Borla XR Stinger, with the windows down, you can be happy, and beat 99% of the cars on the highway in a car that feels great!!!

Plus, in 100 years, who is going to care.

Lou Gigliotti http://www.lgmotorsports.com

And for the road racers in the crowd, You have to use all three pedals. Plus After every corner, it is a drag race!!
LG

 

Lou is absolutely right about the weather. We have had it change 4000 fett AA during a day at some of the NMCA races. Really if you have your dynojet data and know your weight you are also fairly informed of how fast your car can be.

Drag racing is all about traction and keeping the motor in the powerband so your converter or clutch as well as tires and gearing play a huge role. Your trap speed mph corrected or uncorrected is a function of power to weight if all else is held equal but as Lou said some of the readers are in areas with bad tracks and adjusted elevation and humidity as compared to others.

 

With all due respect to Lou, and everyone else, we do have a need to measure something. I have been reading car magazines since 1965 (I still have every one of them - thousands). On every road test, I go immediately to the 0 - 60 and 1/4 times. Sure, the variables can be different, but it's better than nothing.

 

As a few have pointed out already, they all say different things.
Prime example,
MPH is a good indicator of HP
ET is a good indicator of how good a driver and how well the car is set up.

Trace nailed it with the area under the curve though. That is what makes a car accelerate. :yesnod:

 

"It means that if you have a C5 with over 430 rwhp and over 420 rwtq and you drive it on the street with a Borla XR Stinger, with the windows down, you can be happy, and beat 99% of the cars on the highway in a car that feels great!!!"

:cheers: