In a message dated 7/22/01 2:00:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
esheffield@prizmail.com writes:
> OK, so I'm sitting here watching Speedvision and they're showing these sport
> compact drags - mostly Honda CRXs. And I started wonder, why do you need
> wheelie bars on a FWD car? I can't think of any real reason for it, other
> than 1) The rice boys think it looks cool or 2) There is some kind of old
> rule that was never changed to accomodate the physics of FWD.
>
> Maybe I'm missing something...
>
>
This was explained to me once, and I kinda remember the answer:
The reason for the wheelie bars is one of traction. Under wheelspin, the
front tires on a fwd drag car will behave just as the rear tires on a rwd
dragster -- the centrifugal force will cause the tire to get taller and more
round in profile and the tread surface to become more round in relation to
the road surface, which reduces the contact patch. The reduced contact patch
(due to the construction of the drag tires) reduces accelleration and causes
the front end to hop rather than grab the pavement. The wheelie bars help by
making contact with the pavement at the point during wheelspin where the
tires will achieve maximum accellerative forces through an optimized contact
patch, reducing wheel hop and increasing accelleration.
During heavy wheelspin at launch, the car's wheelbase is lengthened by the
wheelie bars, which helps keep the front end down and increases traction.
Plus, the rice boys think they look cool, too!
Chris Eck
59 Bugeye
59 TR3A
93 Audi S4 TQ
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