Drifting vs. Track vs. Drag

  • Thread starter mr2dude'91
  • 129 comments
  • 11,585 views
Dude you guys chill ok...seriously everyone knows that they like all of the types of racing but to a certain amount.

For example you can do drag any where but it takes hardly any skill but is still fun.

Track is awesome but most of the time you have to have time on the weekends to go with your friends. Don't even think you can make a course out of it on the street.

Drifting you can do on the track but in Japan you can do it in the mountains but seriously how many of us live in Japan.

All the types take different types of skill, some take more than others but it just matters how much time you have on your hands and what type of car you have.;)
 
Now, I'm not the biggest fan of drag racing in the world. Any old fool can drive a car in a straight line for 440yd - but that's NOT drag racing.

I refer all to Der Alta's topic on drag racing.


Originally posted by Der Alta
A few interesting factoids I found out today.

Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.

One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Daytona 500.

Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster supercharger.

With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After ½ way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.

Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph. (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).


The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00 per second.

Putting all of this into perspective: You are driving the average $240,000 NASCAR Winston Cup racecar. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the stock car hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.

The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course. Try not to take it personal.

That folks, is acceleration.
 
But seriously drag racing is just who ever has more money it is not exactly a skill contest. I mean if you had a Tureno and the other person had an RX-7 FD in drag racing there is no chance for the Tureno but in drifting it depends on the skill of the driver and maybe a little luck.:D
 
Originally posted by mr2dude'91
But seriously drag racing is just who ever has more money it is not exactly a skill contest. I mean if you had a Tureno and the other person had an RX-7 FD in drag racing there is no chance for the Tureno but in drifting it depends on the skill of the driver and maybe a little luck.:D

That's not drag racing. That's two people driving in a straight line for 440yd.

Drag racing is those big-ass, flame-spitting, 8G-pulling things.

Could YOU remain conscious under an 8G acceleration? I doubt I could.
 
Drag racing isn't about who has more money into their car.

And there are more places in the world other than Japan that have mountain's for touge/drifting. :odd:
 
You guys are missing the point that drag racing requires skill. All racing requires a lot of skill and money.

As for compact pick-ups VB. GM has talked about continuing the Xtreme badge on the Colorado and the Canyon. But it might just become a SS vechile. Not sure. The Toyota Tacoma is a nice truck and I did test drive one, the price wasn't right though. Hell I got the Blazer for a little of 15k after taxes and with rebates and GM discounts. But hey if the price would have been right I would have gladly gone for some power.
 
I agree with you M2D'91. Balance, skill, and precision are the most important things to learn in Drifting.
 
But name one other racing sport that requires less skill then drag racing, I am not dissing it or anything because you can do drag any where.

I know you can do drifting in more place then Japan but it is harder to find places to do it.
 
Originally posted by mr2dude'91
But name one other racing sport that requires less skill then drag racing, I am not dissing it or anything because you can do drag any where.

I know you can do drifting in more place then Japan but it is harder to find places to do it.

You can drift in a car park!

In the UK there are far, far more car parks than straight, uninterrupted 440yd pieces of road.

But racing people off traffic lights is NOT drag-racing. I say again - do you reckon you could survive an 8G launch, conscious? That's a skill in itself - one I don't believe I possess.


I am in no way a drag-racing fan - I find it mostly dull. But to say it requires little or no skill is missing the mark by a few miles.
 
Yup, the streets are narrow and short back there, and almost all the roads are graded (uphill or downhill). The only place for you to drag race are in abandoned airports.
 
Well honestly I believe draggin takes just as much skill as trackin. It's just of matter what your skills are good at.
 
Its got a lot to do with it reaction time, but I've seen guys catch up mid way donw the strip. Its all about how you shift and did you build everything right.
 
Skill requires hands-eye coordination with the gas-steering wheel-shift knob, especially on negostiating a corner (no matter if it Drift, Track, Autocross, and Rally), you also have to callculate the dimentions of the car that you are driving, wheather if its a small Lotus Elise or a big Ford Excursion, you have to know the car before you push it to the limit.
 
No mainly it is all about the money.

More money=Fast car

Also it just matters about launch time. Besides the thrill of drag is over in 10-12 seconds any way why not do something that takes more skill and the adrenaline rush lasts longer.

Sure drag is good for if you have no time on your hands but if I were going to spend my time I would do something that lasts more the 10 seconds and requires you to turn the wheel but that is just me:cool:
 
What about track racing, more moneu faster better turning car. So whats your point?

Not to mention there are classes in drag racing. A stock Civic wouldn't race a modded Corvette. Thats insane. They have classes so cars are similar.
 
Doesn't going in a straight line bore you after a while, I mean drag all it is is who has more money put into there car in drifting you can win with an under powered car because it requires skill.

I just find only doing straights boring, no challenge, and it just is a waste of money. I mean track and drifting your car is really well balanced usually but in drag I would like to see some of your V8's take a ture. "OH MY GOD, A TURN" body roll eeek...BOOM

A little over kill but you get my point.:P
 
Ha I've seen a Trans Am own the track. And what about the La Mans Series C5 Vette? Its a V8 and it does good on the track.

Never been bored with draggin, I love to see how fast I can get down the track know next time if I just did this I'd be a tenth lower. Its fun for me.

And like I said the classes keep the cars even at the track. I could go out with a Geo Metro and race other FWD 90hp cars and be even.

As for drifting not sure what it is but I'm sure theres some sort of classes.
 
Well when I was talking about V8's I ment old school muscle cars but still has a V-8 ever won Le Man's. (Domestic America)

Seriously you should really try track or at least ask some friends what drifting is all about I mean your not taking your car or you to the limit unless if it is an old school muscle car that can only go in a straight line:lol:
 
Wait a second you guys. I read something in this thread that really confused me....drifting requires little money? Huh? Just WTF is that all about. And dont start quoting initial D like it's fact, because it's not.
 
And MR2 dude, there are quite a few 'old school' muscle cars that do a damn fine job in corners. Specifically the GT40, the Shelby 350, Boss 302, and Z28. The ones that only had 500 produced so they could meet homoligation to race...
 
No I was just saying that a car doesn't need only money to be able to win a race it actually requires skill unlike drag racing. Sorry for the confusion like I said before I am not dissing drag or anything but it just doesn't take as much skill. Seriously how much fun is it to go in a straight line over and over again.:rolleyes:
 
Yes infact the Ford GT40 won Le Mans 3 times. Thats the most famous I believe. And hasn't the Viper teams won? With a V-10 and i know they won Dayton a few years back.

I have a SUV so I don't have old school muscle as you put it. And I have buds that race older (70's 80's) Trans Am's at a local track here. They do really good, not to mention the amout of Cobras, mustangs and Mopar products that go good to.

StheB were debating Drag racing and track racing.
 
You said the GT 40 and I thought you also said the
Shelby AC Cobra my fault. Except for the GT 40 thing. But remember we were just saying it doesn't require as much skill to drag as it does to drift or track you have to be able to agree with that.
 
No I'm not agreeing with that, I can hold my truck sideways on the slick streets...am I a drifter...hell no! Do I has skills as a drifter...hell no.

Have you ever drag raced?
 
Actually, no I don't. I would definitely say so for track, but I dont know aobut drifting. I would have to try it, but I dont really want to, because I dont think I would find it very fun. It's not the fastest, so why should I be doing it? Im not a very flashy person when it comes to cars. Id rather have 10k on the engine and suspension than on looks.
 
Ok dude one why don't you have a car if you drag race, two I highly doubt you drifted in a truck three if you have a truck why don't you do of roading or something or is it a lowrider?:confused:
 

Latest Posts

Back