It's an ancient but well preserved film with all the trappings we know and love. Old dragsters, a mid engined van up on two wheels, a british narrator calmly talking your way through the terrifying bits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qg6WdboK1nY
14.5 1/4?? 0-60 in 7 seconds? Kind of sad for a Gurney Weslake to be that slow.. Let Andy Nelson work on it a bit, he'll get it right.
If it went 92 in the 1/4 mile, it didnt really make 400+ hp.
I want one....
for some sick reason, the solid front axle, independent rear, and mid mounted small block in a flared van work for me.
I can believe 400 hp and a 14 second 1/4 time, its probably geared too tall for 1/4 work and even purpose built drag tires back then weren't great. IIRC most is not all of the muscle cars of the late 60s were running mid 13s at best as delivered.
the solid front axle,
It was independent, it just still handled like E36 M3 because it had the spring rate of a helium balloon.
can believe 400 hp and a 14 second 1/4 time, its probably geared too tall for 1/4 work and even purpose built drag tires back then weren't great.
I dont care about ET. If it only trapped 92 it wasn't making 400+ hp. Sure, the thing is sort of heavy, but not crazy so. Probably less than 5000 lbs. Look at the current fleet of <400hp half-ton pickups that weigh more and still go faster. It's entirely possible the quoted numbers on that van are not representative of it's actual performance potential, but if they stayed in it the whole run, that thing was probably making 300hp or less.
when I watched the video, it sure looked like a solid front axle. ill have to watch it again later.
edit: watched it on the pig scree in slo-mo. that is one funky looking ifs.
Vigo wrote: I dont care about ET. If it only trapped 92 it wasn't making 400+ hp.
how well does your car launch in 4th?
a car geared to top out at 200 mph is not going to accelerate well. F=ma. taller gears = lower F.
What makes you think that thing was geared to go 200 mph (i only heard that they 'thought' it could go over 150)? Who in their right mind would think they could get a car that traps 92 mph in the 1/4 mile to crack 200 mph? There won't be enough space to top it out if it accelerates that slowly! I have seen some 200mph LSR cars try the 1/4 and they ran 12s @ higher trap speeds. If they geared it so high that it sucked for 99% of the promotional events they were going to attend, in order to make it geared for a speed they did not have anywhere near the power to get to, they were a bunch of idiots. That thing probably couldnt even hit 150 if it DID have 400hp. It would probably take over 1000 hp to make that thing hit 200 mph.
Rotoflex couplings? I didn't think those saw use outside Spitfires...
As I understand it, the supervans were made out of leftover lemans GT40 bits, quite possibly with pre chicane Mulsanne straight gears intact.
IIRC, the later big block GT40 ran out of 2nd gear at ~100mph.
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