T1 Trap Speeds at Road America
 

Interesting.

Think trap speeds are less then when ppl would think, given the lap times.

very cool.

In another site one of the SCCA CRB members said the timing was done from the S/F line to 120' beyond. It was taken for every lap in every race. He also mentioned that they have timing lines in 5 places around Road America. You have to consider that torque plays a role in the trap speeds posted as you have just come off a medium speed corner and up a steep hill. It would be more interesting to see trap speeds at the end of one of the long straights on the back side of the course.

But the S/F line at Road America is only half way up the main straight.:eek: I believe the in car video from ST car indicated almost 160 going into Canada corner. Max speed entering T1 or T5 or Canada is about the same from my experience.

Did not JB mention we was low 150s on three places ?

I was just out at RA in October with our C5 T1 car and I was hitting 148 into 1, 145 coming into 5 and 140 coming into canada (I'm a wus going through the kink, only 100 mph at the apex)
Buttermore was hitting 153 coming into 1, I would think close to 150 into 5 and since he passed ST into canada I'm sure he was close to 150 there as well.

What is interesting in the trap speeds is how much slower the C5's are. Tom Sloe was the fastest C5 at 136 with Jerry Onks right behind him at 135 so at the start finish they are giving away 5 mph compaired to the fast guys.
Also so much for the LS3 having a ton of grunt McGinley was in a LS2 car, so it appears that the LS3 - LS2 packages are pretty close speed wise.
Maybe the C5 needs a little extra grunt for next year. :o
But I don't want to start that pissing match! :leaving:

No actually McGinley was in his LS3. The LS3 is fast...in a straight line...for a lap or two with the current rules. Unfortunately, and what I've been preaching about for the past 2 years, is that these races are NOT just 2 or 3 laps long and the LS3 is just not competitive at its current state. Brakes should help...but who knows how much.

http://www.scca.org/eventresults.aspx?event=13506&hub=1

It's kind of interesting looking at all of the trap speeds in all of the differant classes. Most are pretty close like T1 and some are really close like FF the top 12 cars are within .008 sec or 1.3 mph!
There are a few classes where the fastest car really stands out Tom Sloe's AS car has .011 sec or 2.4 mph on the field and there is a GTI in T3 that had a car that was .027 sec or 4.6 mph on the field and he still took 3rd!
Some guys are just really good at driving strait! :D

Just thinking but if a car is 5 mph faster in a trap that is 120 feet long that's an advantage of roughly .5 seconds on all three straits! Hard to outdrive that kind of advantage, which is pretty much where the C5 is right now in T1 :leaving:

FYI a C5 T1 car has about 8-10 MPH (at Mid Ohio, back straight) over an ST2(with aero) car like mine or James. Katrina (My stock Z06) gets to 145 (T1= lighter & more power) Rita (my ST2) is at 138 at the same spot.

My experience racing with you last year is why I stay away from the aero packages right now (not that it is legal in T1, but I have other things on my plate), my MPH was noticably better than yours at the end of the backstraight.

Look at the MPH numbers:

55 Scott Tucker 0.580 141.066 (Ferrari)
50 Mike McGinley 0.581 140.823 (LS3)
52 John Buttermore 0.584 140.100 (LS3)
37 Lance Knupp 0.589 138.910 (Viper)
64 Johnny Miller 0.591 138.440 (LS2)
98 Jim Lynch 0.597 137.049 (Viper)
99 Tom Sloe 0.600 136.364 (C5)
96 Jerry Onks 0.607 134.791 (C5)
73 David Sanders 0.609 134.348 (C5)
09 Brian Kleeman 0.614 133.254 (LS2 I think)
97 John Stracensky 0.617 132.606 (C5)
41 Michael Pettiford 0.620 131.965 (C5)
82 Norman Betts 0.629 130.077 (C5 and a U of M guy, so no wonder!) :lol:
40 David Pintaric 0.738 110.865 (Viper) gotta do something about this! :lol:

The best Viper is 1.913 MPH slower than the fastest LS3, and the best C5 is 2.546 MPH slower than that Viper, and the LS3 guys are the ones doing the most complaining over the last 2 years...go figure.

Hell if you were at 110 I would only be around 102.:leaving:

I will be happy if my trap speed at T1 is 75 mph tomorrow.:lol:

Rain and mid 40's in the morning.

Remember ---- The lightest weight cars (C5) had better be the slowest on the straightaway, because they are going to be the best under braking (among Vettes) and in the corners.

The Solstice that won in T2 was way slow on the straights, but awesome in the corners.

F'n Ferrari

John,

You bring up a good point. Trying to balance 5 cars (3 Vettes, the Ferrari & the Viper) is tough enough; but adding the complication of different tracks makes it nearly impossible. At other tracks the C5/C6/Vipers are pretty even, but at Road America (aka The 4-mile dyno test) if you don't have HP you are dead.

point taken...but when you're using cars with brakes that aren't suitable for even the lighter cars it changes that a bit. I don't think it matters what weight the corvettes are at, our brakes are that bad

A top fuel dragster would also be the fastest in a straight line...and would probably lead a lap, but he's not going to win because the rest of the car is not as balanced (or as strong). You know just as well as I that straight line speed is just a small part of it. And if the fastest Viper was 1.8 off the leader and 1.5 off the fastest Vette, you'd be complaining too (and rightfully so). :yesnod: ;)

If lap times are = or close, it's easier to win in the car with the fastest straight line speed.

Of course it is, but do you consider 1.8 seconds close (or 1.5 to the Viper)? If so, I want to race you all the time. You'll end up 32 seconds off the lead too. This has been my point all year. Straight line speed is fine, but only 1 part of the total package. The runoffs proved it!

We'll see what effect the big brakes (hopefully) have for next year. I drove thru Missouri once, so you gotta "show me" before I believe the hype.

2010 ls3 = 2009 f430

I don't have a dog in this fight at all but I have to disagree. I still think the Ferrari's are factory built racecars and should not be competing with stock converted racecars.