Danger of drag racing...

[strobhen]

This isn't something to condemn everyone, rather, a gathering of opinions & facts...

And let me make clear this has nothing to do with the human danger (ie, people getting injured). This is danger with the components of the car.

I'm only interested in real experiences with computer controlled, feul injected cars that have been modded & handled correctly. I'm not interested in stuff about carburaeted cars without all the computer safety stuff our cars have (unless if you can make a case that the computer isn't worth jack).

Emphasis on the motor, but other components as well are of interest.

So, what does everyone think. Is drag racing REALLY doing all that much damage to our cars? I think not since most of our suspension is just about the same as the v8 -- especially autos, the 4l60e is a tank compared to what we can put out. But I would like to hear some from people who have been racing a lot longer than me or perhaps know cars very well.

Opinions & experiences? How long have you been racing your feul injected car? How has it held up?

[12secondv6]

How long: 3 years
How many passes: 400-500
Lots of nitrous runs
Mine was the death of me.
If I hadn't juiced it soooo much with mix matched injectors I would not have run into a problem.
As long as regular maintenence is done and it is not a wild car you shouldn't have any problems.
But, reg maintenence is required!!!!
Tranny cooler
Plugs, wires, fluid changes etc
If you run a lot then you might want to start to change various fluids much sooner than the norm.

[strobhen]

I betcha you wouldn't have had a problem w/ out those bigger injectors at all... not up until almost 100k miles anyway...

But that is more than I thought you did James, 400-500 passes, many with nitrous, and running this car at very impressive speeds. A good arguement for the ability of our cars to handle the stress.

[12secondv6]

Yeah, I think it would have held till about 100,000 miles.
Our engines are brutally strong from what I am seeing.
We shall see what happens with this engine

[Magnus]

Well.. its not easy on the car.

I have hundreds of track passes on the car, all is well.. EVERY day on the street I'm usually at WOT... so far so good.

The key is to keep the fluids from overheating. When your trans oil gets too hot, it stops protecting. Also keep your engine temps down as well.

When my coolant temp goes past 190* or so, I'm very careful not to beat on it.

Yes, the 4L60E is a tank. [img]smile.gif[/img] Mine his holding up nicely. A trans cooler and shift kit really prolong the life.

The rear end is strong.

Things you have to worry about are bearings.. axle bearings, motor bearings.

If you're careful, you can minamize the potential for damage. Don't continuosely beat on it.. give it a rest.. let it cool down.

The motor should be fine as long as it has good oil, good filter, oil pressure and is not detonating.

I haven't broke yet.. I'm not sure what I'm expecting to brake either.. most of the parts in my car I feel are very strong.

[MustangEater8251]

Drag racing, I have had no problems with the motor. I have 113k only mechanical problem was a tick in the rockers, I adjsuted them, no tick. My transmission is a little beat and I have replaced driveshaft and rear end, transmission mount, all do to the stock one breaking. But I am very rough on and off the track to my car.Passes at the track maybe i have about 100-120, don't really feel like conting them all. Practiced launches on the street? WAAAAY too many to count.

[Bill Spano]

I've been running my 97 V6 Revenge/PHANTMM since it had 800 miles on it. I estimate the car has about 300-400 runs on it with 200 being nitrous runs. The car has 51K on it. I've had absolutely no problems with the car. This includes engine, suspension, transmission, etc.

I've also been running my 2000 WS6 since it had 750 miles on it. It currently has 20K on it. The only problem I've experienced is a blown differential. FYI, the WS6's comes with a Torsen rear. The main reason why the differential did not hold up is because Torsen's cannot handle the stress of constant low 1.6 60-foot times.

There are some week points in our cars. All cars have them, even real racecars. When you race eventually something will break, that's a fact

When modifying our cars I've always stated that you need to know the limits of your car, modify your car weak points to handle future power mods, and learn how to fineness the car. This will reduce future equipment failures, make the car more efficient, and make the car work for you, not make you work for the car.

Overall our cars are well designed and engineered to handle racing and modifications.


Bill Spano

BAD 2000 WS6 12.380@110.91, best 60ft 1.676 (spinning), 325 RWHP, 343.4 RWTQ
http://www.mycar.net/mafb/registry/detail.cfm?id=332

V6 Revenge 13.967@90.42 60ft 1.779
http://www.mycar.net/mafb/registry/detail.cfm?id=257

[ April 06, 2002: Message edited by: Bill Spano ]</p>

[black97cam]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 12secondv6:
How long: 3 years
How many passes: 400-500
<hr></blockquote>

500!!!!??? [img]graemlins/omg.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/omg.gif[/img]

I've had my car for 4 months and have ran it only 5 times so far! Guess I wont have to worry about anything breaking right?

[oxbld]

I've had my car 6 months, and I've made about 30 runs so far, all in the last 2 months... :D

[MustangEater8251]

hehe my friend has a 94 z28, nothgin but an exhasut cutout about 40k on it, first run at the track, the cutout was capped to get a basic stock idea of wat the car ran, first run blew his transmission so it would shift off the line, I limped it ot a dealership where it was fixed under warranty. he still doens have one complete run in the car. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[strobhen]

lol, glad we don't have the same tranny :D

also TTT for more testimonials...

[MidLifeSpeed]

I've had my car for 18 months. Bought it with 45K on it, now it has 87K. I drive a minimum of 600 miles a week in city stop-n-go traffic to work. Additionally, I have run it hard at the track ... maybe 100+ 1/8 runs and (hehe) a "grand" total of three 1/4 runs.

Haven't had a bit of trouble. I change the oil religiously every 3000 miles and use synthetic. You get "tuned in" to the sound your engine makes and are usually able to detect any differences before something major happens.