CHAT about the Main table of 1/4 mile times etc.

[scooby_si]

Tim\'s really does take the pea i mean he\'s bound to get pulled for the dodgy font use on his plate
Si

[bnaellis]

You better watchout Tim I been practising I just got a 10.44 sec 1/4 mile :bandit
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/dragrace3.html

[jay]

Brian you have PM.
 Cheers Jay...:wave

[Cycaduk]

Would a supercharger be a better bet than aturbo-charger over 1/4 mile?  Shouldn\'t have any turbolag etc.

[Glenn Butcher]

There have only been a few people who have really got to grips with the supercharger and a rotary.

It WILL work - for sure, you are right there won\'t be much lag but like all these things they have to be set-up correctly.  I know of a guy who is building a properly supercharged RX-7 which should run 8 second 1/4 miles.

[Archbish]

Because here we are struggling to get any cars under 12 secs, yet they appear to be able to whizz cars up the strip in under 11 secs, and some in single figures!

Do they accept regular rebuilds as par for the course?  or do they simply throw loads more money at these things?  if so, what components are so different?  And what about drivetrain??  

Are the oz cars purely for the strip, and completely undrivable on the road?  This seems very bizarre that we destroy engines as they head toward 500hp, and they don\'t...

[Glenn Butcher]

Hi OJ!

Many cars are just dedicated drag cars, and some are driven on the street.  

Drag Racing is BIG in OZ, and getting bigger all the time.  In Sydney there is now a dedicated drag strip that runs EVERY Wednesday night (weather permitting) for street cars.  Melbourne (Victoria) has been ahead of Sydney (NSW) for quite some time, but I think they are now pretty even (they had proper 1/4 tracks long ago).  A Guy called Wayne Dyson (Victorian) had run a 9.7 @ 146mph (not sure on exact mph) in the early 1990\'s!

I think it comes down to the fact that Oz is still around 5 years ahead on the rotary scene compared to the UK.

We have 15+ rotary specialists around the country, some good and some not so good, but probably all with a car that runs either in the single figures on the 1/4 or very close.

One example I used to try and explain to someone over there (think it was at a pub meet) was that when you went to school as a lad in OZ, you knew exactly what a rotary was (and I\'m going back to when I was in school) way back around 1986.  This is probably the case even more so with rotaries very close to running 6 second 1/4\'s.

Don\'t forget many of the street cars running quick Quarter mile times are old/light 20+year old cars, with proper drivetrains etc.  Most of the FD\'s running at the drags are all half chassis cars with bullet proof drivelines etc.  This is a new area that the UK will have to move into on the rotary front to start running single figure quarter mile times.

UK will get there - no doubt, things like ROTORSTOCK will certainly help it, and mazdarotaryclub.com etc. etc.  will take time.

It\'s in the blood in OZ!  

[Archbish]

Glenn - thanks for the reply, but missed a couple of points...

these street cars - are they getting reliable engines with that power, that last for a significant time, or are they rebuilt every 10k?  What kinda times are these street cars running - are we 1 - 2 seconds behind, or 5 - 6 (I know the 1 or 2 secs are still a huge mountain to climb...).  Are they nitrousing, or huge singles, or clever hybrids?  what is being done over there that is so different here, or is it simply a case of map development?

[Glenn Butcher]

Hi mate,

Generally speaking, I would say they are getting big reliable hp.  But don\'t forget the cars are light, which makes a big difference to times run.  I have read quite a bit on //www.ausrotary.com about this particular subject and many of them are getting 2 years out of an engine.  I\'m also sure that there would be a number of cars that do go through engines quite a bit.  But all the larger hp cars now would have dowelled engines, very good maps with large turbos running low-ish boost.

Not that many using NOS, hardly any using Water Injection (just large front mounts) - mind you they wouldn\'t be doing a lot of circuit racing!, yes - generally big single turbos TA45\'s, and hybrid\'s that match the engine nicely (many T04\'s are used - with large compressor and exhaust housings).

Mapping would obviously very important, good mapping would be something that has been done for a 5 years plus here - so maybe a little more knowledge there also.

As for times, there are loads of street cars in the 9\'s, 10\'s, 11\'s etc.  these range from the Old School RX-2\'s, RX-3\'s, RX-4\'s, 1st generation RX-7\'s, there are a few 2nd gen. RX-7\'s running 11\'s (everyday drivers that I know of), and a few 10, 11 second 3rd gens. which are also everyday drivers.  Then the 6,7,8 second cars that are really full-on drag cars.

Videos on these sites will give you are great idea as to what the scene is like here:
//www.realper4mance.com
//www.mazdarotary.net
//www.hioctane.com.au/videos/

Nice example vid. of an RX-3: http://www.realper4mance.com/video/wsid_10032004/realper4mance_wsid10032004_Hektyk.mpg  check out the burnout!!

[Glenn Butcher]

BTW... most are running Auto\'s!

[20B_boy]

Like u say, it seems half the RX2\'s and 3\'s etc are 10 or faster cars. But then an RX3 weighs what, 800kg? BIG difference that...Nothing from the aussies (and yanks) though, they know their stuff and have done the development work for a lot of others around the world. Dyson is a great example, thats 15 years ago nearly! That thread you posted about on ausR a while back - reminiscing about the 80s and 90s - its frightening how quick they were running back then - a lot of them N/A and carb\'d of course.

Its such a shame the UK is so comparably uninterested in the drags. Man, can u imagine hooking up with yer mates every wednesday night for a few runs? Awesome You can imagine how quick things would develop that way...

[sadgoth]

Thing is Rich, the love of drag racing came from the US love with street racing and hogh power big block muscle cars with no handling ability. The Aussies have a similar thought process, look at the Falcons & Holdens, big block high power! In Europe we have always been into handling so drag racing isn\'t that big. Shame as u say, we are catching up though, more and more drag strips are opening so we\'ll get there. What we are realising is that drag and circuit racing are very different but equally fun! Dare I say it, but films like the Fast & the Furious do help raise the profile of drag racing street cars!

Anyway lecture over, I\'ll climb back into my cave now!

[sadgoth]

Originally posted by BNA_ELLIS
You better watchout Tim I been practising I just got a 10.44 sec 1/4 mile :bandit
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/dragrace3.html

Brian, u just wait till I can spec the Gen II to the same level as the one I have just done a 9.54 in! :rollin

[J4P RX]

As much as I enjoy seeing the times and the competition getting better, I really couldnt care less for drag racing.  Especially when it gets to a stage where the car cant be run in the same spec on the street, even if it is technically legal.

I tend to look more at the speeds these days than the 1/4 time itself.

Lee

[Glenn Butcher]

Hi all,

Rich, yep - you mean this thread: http://ausrotary.dntinternet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13713  there are still a number of rotors here running na engines in the 12\'s, 13\'s and a couple in the 11\'s.  The older cars are light though, and we have more of them here (early RX\'s).

Lee - I started off with drag racing, absolutely loved it, still do. Nothing like going out to a meeting with 5000, 10000 people all watching you go down the strip.  Move through the staging lanes, do the big burnout, go for it on the run.

Some people say there isn\'t any skill to it, but believe me there is!

I do prefer circuit racing now - hence the build of my //www.4rotor.com - but I will still be getting down the strip, you just can\'t beat that buzz.

Legality on cars doesn\'t even come into it after a while, you want to see cars running faster and faster.  In Oz around 10 years ago everyone was saying, oh that isn\'t a street car etc.  I don\'t think anyone cares about that now.  It just evolved.