Just aim the exhaust rearward and the thing would do 0-60 in about 8 seconds with the car in neutral.
I remember in the late 90s some mag testing an Indy car (CART, actually) and the only performance stat I recall is 165 trap speed in 1/4 mile. Being about 400 pounds heavier than an F1 car it makes sense. They also don't use carbon brakes like F1, so they won't be able to stop with grand prix cars. It seems as a result of the weight difference that every performance parameter suffers.... acceleration, braking, cornering are all behind. Although, with the horsepower Indy cars used to make, their top speeds were far greater; but that's maybe because they would race on ovals. Lap times at Montreal circuit put CART about 12 to 14 seconds a lap slower than F1, IIRC.
here is a good Formula One / Champ Car / Indy Car comparison: http://www.f1technical.net/topic11.html
Way off. DaMatta in a Champ Car did a 1:18.959 in 2002. Ralf Schumacher in a Formula 1 car did a 1:12.275 in 2004. That's a difference of 6.684 seconds. There was a discussion on Fchat not long ago about F1 vs CCWS vs IRL. It's an interesting thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61427&page=1&pp=20&highlight=canada+lap+time
The limiting factor in 0-60 times is not hp , gearing, or aero drag but tire adhesion and weight. In acceleration, torque is more important than HP.
F1 car are not supposed to do 0-100 acceleration.SO they are not so fast due to the fact that they cannot go full throttle since when the car has a downforce load on the rear tyres. With Fiorano track gear ratios the Ferrari was doing 2.7 seconds 0-100 kmph. After 100 kmph a Formula 1 car usually accelerate more quickly to 200 than it has done to 100. This is due to the fact that the car can open full throttle because there is enough grip on rear tyres. COnsider that with MOntecarlo gear ratio an F1 car can do 0-100kmph in 2.5 second or little less and with monza gear ratio it can do more than 3 sec. Matteo
Take away those damned grooved tires, put 'em back on slicks, and give back a small percent of the downforce they took away.....easy 12 seconds a lap difference right there.
Sort of off topic, but this past weekend I was at Cedar Point (best coaster park in the world). I rode there new ride they put in last year. It is called Top Thrill Dragster and goes from 0-120mph in 4 secs and onto a 420ft tall vertical hill. I cannot describe the acceleration.
Here we go again ... LightGuy, Many agree with you (including myself) ... but it's not worth the debate Pete
Has a blurb about the BAR team heading to Bonneville in October. They are hoping for something around 250 MPH. KevFla PS...How 'ya doin' Dave (Light Guy)?
Spot on although I will make the note that the drag coefficient is actually greater than 1.0 (up to 1.2 in some instances). I always get a 'this guy does not know poop' look when I tell someone that a bus is more aerodynamic than an F1 car but the numbers don't lie. Most of the drag on an F1 car comes from the tires and in the Group C days the Mercedes were clearing 410km/h on the Mulsanne at Le Mans.
This is a re-post but some of you may have not read it. The following puts a Top Fuel Dragster acceleration into perspective: One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Daytona 500. * Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced. * A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster supercharger. * With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle. * At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F. * Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases. * Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder. * Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After @½ way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow. * If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half. * In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's. * Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence. * Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light! * Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load. * The red line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm. * The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph. (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta). Putting all of this into perspective: You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter "twin-turbo" powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course. That folks, is acceleration
