On Thu, 8 Jul 1999, JERRY FOSTER wrote:
> #1 Car weight. Do you build for super-light cars in the LSR business?
There are two basic schools of thought in LSR racing. The "bigger hammer"
racers do things like fill their frame rails with lead, and carry fifty
gallons of water in the trunk, all in an attempt to gain traction. Others
feel that a lightweight car that sticks to the track thanks to good
aerodynamics will be quicker, faster, and ultimately safer. I belong to
the latter group, as does my boss, Russ Meeks, whose Modified Roadster
carries no ballast whatsoever.
> #2 Engine assembly weight. Do you go with aluminum rods, small
> damper/balancer, lightweight crank, etc,?
That depends on what you want the engine to do. It's not a dragster, so
some extra reciprocating mass may in fact be a good thing. Five miles is a
long way. Visualize yourself making a run on a track that long. Then
contemplate how you would want your car to handle, and how its engine
should respond. Think of what a flywheel does. Do you want more or less of
its effect?
These differences in opinion are just more of the appeal of Land Speed
Record racing. We get to experiment and play around more than any of the
other racers.
Regards,
Dave Mann
Webmaster, Roadsters
http://roadsters.com/
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