What have we learned from the 4 cars that have just gone 400?

[SPARKY]

Roger  welcome aboard!!!!!  we would love to hear more---thanks for posting

[Richard 2]

This is some really good healthy info Thanks

[Richard 2]

I'd like to hear more from Roger too.

[Mr411Fan]

Here's traction control: 341mph in the quarter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CPSoQ3r4yk&feature=related

[jl222]

OK. I'm caught. I never skinned any cats or fish. Don't think I want to. I do think aero neutral makes sense.

  Bulldozer operators were the original Cat Skinners

              JL222

[jl222]

Here's traction control: 341mph in the quarter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CPSoQ3r4yk&feature=related

  Yea seat of the pants traction control
  That video is almost as good as my all time favorite the '' holy Sh..t ''

                      JL222

[jimmy six]

I'm not a wind tunnel guy but going by what "looks" to have the least resistance to me. Spectra is 1st, Nearburg is 2nd, Main is 3rd, and the Nish car 4th. The Nish car looks "busy" lots of moving lines. The spectra style looks "smooth"

Did Nearburg change the nose? I know Wooden lengthenedthe car from original but I didn't remember the sloping nose from over at the airplane hanger.

Anyways ALL are to be congratulated. amazing accomplishments in one week especially Rocky...............JD

[Richard 2]

I was thinking that Speed Demon must have plenty of down force to get enough traction to destroy the rear ends and driveshafts. So I'm surprised that you guys think Speed Demons aerodynamics is less efficient. And the 4 cylinder went 353 mph with 1300 hp.  Just observation.

[robfrey]

I think BBarns and Rob Frey are about to lose there LSR virginity. Stick it to em Kent!!!

And you guys wondered why we didn't wan to start a build thread?

[interested bystander]

And Record Rick went 352 on gas with about 500 hp. G/BGS.

Oh yeah, shorter course. Oh, and Costella shape.

[Blue]

I think BBarns and Rob Frey are about to lose there LSR virginity. Stick it to em Kent!!!

Kent will have to do a lot more math before he sticks it to anyone.  This is rocket science, not rocket art.  And I'm the rocket scientist that put 30, 45, and 50 mph on 3 jets this year at Reno.  When a jet that everyone knows is only good for 360 finishes at 407 in rough air with our mods and without a power change it's science, not luck.

The real fun was the biplane that went from 182 in a straight line to 206 with just some foam and tape.  The guys that did it asked good questions and I gave them the best help I could.  By percentage, it may have been the largest drag-based speed increase during a race week in the history of the air races.  Every mph gained was from reducing separation and stagnation.

What have we learned from all of the 400 mph cars? Not enough.  Detailed data on power levels and wheel spin percentages are needed for any meaningful comparison.  As Rex pointed out, there are a wide variety of designs over 400 now.  Rob and Brandon's design is merely a combination of Al Teague's and Craig Breelove's original streamliners with modern airfoils.  All of us appreciate any safety or operational suggestions.  Only time, not posts, will tell us which design is faster.

[SPARKY]

The jets I don't know hardly anything about; --the bi plane----CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

[Dean Los Angeles]

Comparing Goldenrod to Al Teague era vs this week.

Anybody attempting to run 400 has to have the ego to think that the guy that holds the record wasn't as good.

I would guess that the amount of money that Al Teague spent in his career might be close to what the Speed Demon team spends in a year.

We are smarter about aero. That doesn't mean any of these designs are perfect. In the internet age there is a vast amount of information out there. Prior to the 90's the only way you had wind tunnel time was if you hooked up with one of the auto manufacturer's. And if you want advice you just post it here. And duck!

I doubt if there is any significant difference in mechanical drag. Ceramic bearings are the only area I see that is better.

Traction control is far superior than in the past. Computers are cheap.

Flow maps are far more sophisticated. The days of licking your finger to see what the humidity might be and screwing in a different jet are long done. Teams show up with a variety of maps preconfigured and ready to poke some numbers into the computer to make adjustments.

Computers and software. The ability to data log large amounts of information. All racers look at what the NHRA teams and F1 get for data and spend as much as there budget will allow them to get close.

The fact that so many runs were over 400 wasn't some big leap in technology, but small hereditary steps from what has gone on for a lot of years. We cheerfully steal from others.

[bak189]

Well said, Dean..........................

[Darin Morgan]

I must chime in and give my personal views and accounts of the car that set the record. I hear so much about the use of composites, aero space alloys, C.A.D design and Computational Fluid dynamics in order to produce better stream liners. Non of this was needed to set this record or the original one. Non of this has been needed up to this point and I dont see it being a major factor in performance in the near future. Experience, ingenuity hard work and a good team dynamic is all that is needed and that goes double for experience! The "Spirit of Rett" was built in a garage by a man who had never built a stream Liner before. He used his intuition, ingenuity and paid attention to those who came before him. You can build a stream liner using unlimited funds, the best engineering and engineers higher education has to offer implementing the best metallurgy "unubtanium" alloys and composites the "Skunk Works" has to offer and not come close to breaking a record. Some cars that have been trying to break this record are very well engineered. They have been trying for years. Nearburg, his team and my brother took another approach to the problem, thought outside the box and it worked.

(1) Money is a tool. Money alone will not make you a winner

(2) Engineering is what happens when people use there experience, pool there knowledge and think outside the box. Properly implemented this gives you a chance to win.

(3) Composites, CAD, Computation Fluid Dynamics and higher education help, these alone will not make you a winner.

(4) The right team is essential for winning. You can have the best of everything and without the right team, it all falls apart. 


This is what I have learned through the years and I rarely see it happen any other way.


Just my personal opinion.