[evoir]

Ok, I dont want to start a flame-fest just a innocent question.
If DSMs are "famous" for having AWD, & quick 60' times, why drop AWD and go through all the trouble to convert to RWD?
Should one read that as RWD is superior in drag racing?

 

[mafiman]

yes.

The superior grip of AWD doesn't counter the extra weight required in a drag only application. Most of the weight shifts to the rear anyway, thus making RWD king at the 1320.

 

[evoir]

hmm now that I think of it, kinda of a dumb question as pro drag racers like top fuel, ect, use RWD. I guess AWD is good up to a point in drag racing.

 

[wc_one]

Have you seen the size of his rear tires? If he were running regular 215s then he would need AWD.

 

[dsm1995gst]

The superior grip of AWD doesn't counter the extra weight required in a drag only application.

What? What extra weight?

And yes, AWD is superior only up to a point.

Somebody get my megaphone......... NOSLASER!!!!!!! COME TO THIS THREAD!!!

 

[Stephen]

I dont think its that much extra weight.
Id think if anything our awd is not as big of a deal over 70mph(im guessing) and just causes parasitic hp loss. Meanwhile since hes a professional dragger he takes that sucker up to 170. thats 100mph of accelleration that the awd would be holding him back.
Besides he gets the same 60 foot times with drags.
But if it was to be a street car, yeah awd would be better.

 

[Nick 92 TSi AWD]

There is a serious weight penality for AWD cars in profesional drag racing.

 

[evoir]

I havent read the latest Turbo, (I guess I should get it) is his car gutted?

 

[95GSXracer]

Besides he gets the same 60 foot times with drags.

I'm not sure what you mean here so forgive me. But he has done 1.2s for short times on the tube frame rear drive car... I have never seen an AWD pull that off. It would break first.

The main reason he (and eric plebani and most of the other outlaw guys) switch to rear drive has little to with traction, but transmission choice. DSM trannies arent strong enough for 8s. Ask Glazar. And Bushur is knocking on the door to 7s.

Bushurs car and the fast Starquests use 2 speed PowerGlide trannies from the old American cars. Why? Because they can be built to be indestructible. Easily and fairly cheaply... They can be used in cars with excess of 1500 hp. And naturally using such a tranny requires rear drive setup. It is also pretty light too, especially compared to AWD.

Someone though is in the process of building a tube frame AWD car. That will be very interesting. If it can be made very light the DSM AWD system could go a lot faster before breaking.

I think the simplicity of RWD (when you tear down the car/motor frequently) and the ability to use big turbos (this is just a guess, but there is no radiator in the way. Erics old SQ looks very open even with a huge turbo in there...) may be a factor too...

 

[Dyre]

The AWD just becomes a liabilty at a certian point.

Noone has built a nearly invincable AWD system YET becuase they have only been around for about 40 years... With slicks and a powerglide you can get most of the HP down to the ground, which means you really dont NEED that AWD.

 

[RabidDonkeyBoy]

The AWD just becomes a liabilty at a certian point.

Noone has built a nearly invincable AWD system YET becuase they have only been around for about 40 years... With slicks and a powerglide you can get most of the HP down to the ground, which means you really dont NEED that AWD.

yep and thats why the nissan GTR isn't a true AWD, and why its the king in japan for 0-300-0 0-300 and all the other insane speed comps. it uses AWD to jump off the line, then as speed increases its doesn't need awd so it switches out

awd becomes very inefficient as speed starts to increase, not to mention AWD has more powertrain loss then a RWD or FWD car

 

[countersniper]

Hey just to through this one at ya'll. Wrighttouch is building an AWD, tube frame, 3G. That is gonna run a 6. It is awesome, from just the pics that I've seen on the net.

 

[ProjectGSX]

The main reason he (and eric plebani and most of the other outlaw guys) switch to rear drive has little to with traction, but transmission choice. DSM trannies arent strong enough for 8s. Ask Glazar. And Bushur is knocking on the door to 7s.

Yup. Buschur switched because he was breaking shit all the time.

 

[Dave94RS]

Because RWD is better then AWD for EVERY PART of a drag race.

When you launch, all the weight transfers to the back wheels...hence you want the back wheels to spin with 100% of your hp. If all 4 of your wheels are spinning then you will only get the full benefit of whatever % of the power thats going to the back wheels, at first.

Also, as mentioned above, the hp loss at higher speeds, especially with traps of 170.

 

[More Power]

Right. Cars that run 9s and 8s in the 1/4 have to have wheelie bars because they pop wheelies off the line. If the front wheels come off the ground, they are a waste in the launch.

 

[$Big Pimpin$]

If they could make an AWD tranny/drivetrain that was guarenteed not to break and could handle the beating which one in theory would be better.

 

[Formz TSi]

When you launch, all the weight transfers to the back wheels...

um.. if that was true, the car would be pointing towards the sky. Also, if this was true, every AWD DSM would be getting destroyed by mustangs on the street. (not taking tire choice into the equation). You get the idea.

 

[Dave94RS]

The RWD would still be better because the two front wheels of the AWD in the 8 second car will still leave the ground (even with a wheelie bar). Even if you do a distribution of, say, 70 in the back and 30 in the front, your still losing 30%. Plus, even if the AWD doesn't break, it does still lose power, especially at the levels in which these 8 second cars are running.

 

[Blitz]

Sean Glazer 8.87@156 with 1.3 60' in AWD Talon.

 

[Formz TSi]

dave, go race all the rwd cars you see with the same hp or even more on the street. tell me where the weight goes. i can tell you right now, a 300hp AWD dsm does NOT have 70% of the weight over the rear wheels. Its actually pretty 50/50 at that level.

im disputing your statement of saying all the weigh shfits back to the rear wheels, nothing more.

EDIT: i didnt realize you were in a FWD car. When i mean "go race all of the..." i was assuming you had an AWD DSM.