ET with and without wheelie.

[Frank Castros]

I have often wondered about this subject and I always think about Morehead's Camaro because IMHO is the best leaving Super Stock in the sport and is Holt built.

However;

I remember being at the Summernationals at Englishtown when Alderman was driving the Wayne County Daytona and they were bad fast at the time (and that's another story) the car barely lifted the wheels but carried them for over 100' and qualified on the pole. That was one of the most impressive thing I ever seen a race car do.
Now you can say that they were cheaters and you would be right but at the same time those boys knew their stuff.

[1320racer]

Originally Posted by nickh

Back in 2005 we ran TS with Jerry Haas built car. We experimented with wheelie bar settings. We found that the car liked 5" height for wheelie bars, our car was pretty consistent tripping 60' clocks at 1.02 with back tires. We went to 4" on bars the car slowed to 1.04, we went to 6" on bars and car hit the bars too hard and unloaded chassis. We went back to 5" and the car went right back to 1.02 tripping with back tires.

Every car is different, you have to find that sweet spot in every car no matter how fast or slow.

Nick, this discussion nor my comments are about 2500 lb. tube chassis cars which can't be compared to 3500+lb.stock suspension cars nor 3000+ lb. back halved cars. Their "wheelies" as well their wheelie bars are in play for different reasons.

Ed you guys have found the sweet spot with the Firebird. Car leaves flawless every pass, your chevelle was awesome to watch and was consistent. But you had to spend the time with it to find what it wanted, shocks & settings, travel limiters or non, rear suspension settings, etc..

Make 1 small change, keep good notes or read your data acquisition.

Thank you and I do. My Chevelle was badazz but a totally different car than my Firebird. That said, in all honesty I set the Firebird up in the first few outings of buying it back in October of 2008, after installing my engine, trans, converter and rear gear, I changed the ride height, front coilover springs, shock settings, travel limiters and wheelie bar height.

This photo is from my 2nd weekend out in the car in October of 2008 after licensing with the car the week before.



In 2009 I swapped out the front shocks to Afco's bnc shocks and those same shocks are in place today. From then until the winter of 2022, when the front and rear suspensions were rebuilt as a part of updating and freshening this car from front to rear and top to bottom

https://classracer.com/classforum/sh...t=86419&page=4

the car has been run with the same suspension settings other than adjusting the front shock extension on race day. The car as I run it today is about 200 lbs. heavier than when I bought 16 years ago and has far more power under the hood than when it was raced in Super Stock or when I bracket raced it footbraking.

[KennyAnderson]

Originally Posted by 1320racer

As usual you add nothing of relevance to a thread, you?re a clown!

Now what is preposterous is some here believe that a car can break the 60 foot beams just as quick with the back tires as it can with the front tires!

I do what I can!! LMAO!!

I've driven, owned, or worked on just about everything under the sun. As mentioned, several times in this thread, EVERY combination likes what it likes. Our two stockers are prime examples, the Nova likes a small wheelie, the wagon is faster with a bigger wheelie. There is no hard and fast rule. Testing and more testing will always tell the truth.

[1320racer]

you're clueless!

[Ed Carpenter]

Originally Posted by KennyAnderson

This is preposterous!!!! Didn't you read what 1320 said!?!?!?

Our car would only run fast like this. I’m not getting into any arguments with anyone. We tried it several times, it would not run fast tied down period. That’s a fact.

[1320racer]

AGAIN, for those that don't understand how the timing system works and we know there are many here, just ask them how autostart works and for those that failed basic math...

if you get to the 60 foot clocks slower and you WILL, breaking the beam with any part of the car behind the front tires no mind the back tires, you WILL run a slower ET!

[TOSTO RACING]

Wrong!

Explain these two runs

Run 1
1.349 60 foot Small wheelie
4.053 330 foot
6.390 660 foot
104.78 660 mph



Run 2
1.458 60 foot Big wheelie rear wheel 60'
4.049 330 foot
6.388 660 foot
104.49 660 mph




REAL world proof that A BIGGER WHEELIE DOES NOT SLOW YOU DOWN!!!!

[Frank Castros]

Great thread.

Of course Ed is providing his bombastic rhetoric, but that's him. He does know his stuff though.

Would it not be cool if Warren Johnson would provide his knowledge on technical subjects like these.

Also Herb McCandless has endless information to share and I wish he would.

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by 1320racer

AGAIN, for those that don't understand how the timing system works and we know there are many here, just ask them how autostart works and for those that failed basic math...

if you get to the 60 foot clocks slower and you WILL, breaking the beam with any part of the car behind the front tires no mind the back tires, you WILL run a slower ET!

Ed, what does the 60' beam being broken by any part of the car other than the front tire have to do with your overall E.T.? IF the car is staged in the same spot and everything else about the run remains consistent? If the car isn't "bothered" by more or less of a wheelstand then the E.T. difference between the staging beam and the finish line beam has nothing to do with the 60' beam.
A "wheelstand" is nothing more than a residual effect of traction, power and acceleration. The proper control of a "wheelstand" will create the best E.T..

[Pauley]

All i know is this past weekend at bracket finals at Darlington my vega was pulling the wheels about 2 to 3 feet sitting them down right at the 60? going 1.26 60? 3.71 330? and 5.77 660?. Had the bye at 3 cars and proceeded to do a 120? wheelie going 1.34 60? 3.71 330? and 5.773 on a 5.77 dial. So I personally dont see any difference in et and wheelie size. Now if you didnt daylight the wheel at launch and rolled through the beams at launch i could see it being faster because you are getting a running start at the timing system. But i think it would be minimal et gain.

Ep