How would you set up a sprint car?

obi_waynne

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What mods work best on a sprint car then? I would have thought handling is just as important as acceleration and perhaps longer gearing than drag racing. I'd be interested to hear what our "sprinters" have to say.
 
think this is the most refined of tuning (road race wise) i would think the perfect (on paper car) would be not to power full light and grippy cateram or sumthing lotus
 
Setting up a sprint car

I have found that the set up of my sprint and hillclimb cars is very important.

Cars have to be highly tuned and getting plenty of power out of the engine. Horsepower is always a good point, but the thing you really need to pull you up through your acceleration is the torque output. Gearing is equally important. Very tall first and second gears and much closer third fourth and fifth so you can still keep on accelerating.

Camshaft choice is paramount as you need one that gives lots of power and revs high.

You do not want one that makes the engine bog down at low revs, as you have a lot of tight turns and acceleration out of bends, so bogging looses time and so does having to downshift and then try to clear its throat. These races are often split by a hundredth of a second or so. Every gearchange, drift, lockup, early braking etc could cost several places.

Hope this gives you a small insight.
 
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waynne , your right.
handleing is one of the most important factors in circuit racing , and a nutral setup is what is ideal . ie no over or understeer . Reliability , horsepower and comfort are other factors which make or break the car and driver . setting up suspension , steering , weight distrubution and tyres are critical , but there are plenty of sites offering information on rectifing handling problems . ideally a nutral set up and an increase of 4 psi tyre pressue measured after race is what is required .
 
It obviously depends on both car and driver. The set up (and even driving style) of a high powered RWD car will differ from that of a high powered FWD car (oversteer and understeer). Even things such as weight transfer will alter driving. This is the driving that I love, and when i think of it, this is what comes to mind. Acceleration, braking, and traction.
 
well my opinion is some of you boys on here really need to get a life. so technical. so what? ??? . half the so called profesional racers sprinters i know. drive like. all show no go! !!! and thats not directed at any one just my opinion.
 
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Keep in mind, those are the racers you know. The racers in my circles eat, breath, and live it. And when you take something so seriously, the technical makes a huge difference. Especially when the skill level of the drivers are all so equally matched, the smallest technicality can make the difference.
 
well my opinion is some of you boys on here really need to get a life. so technical. so what? ??? . half the so called profesional racers sprinters i know. drive like. all show no go! !!! and thats not directed at any one just my opinion.
Very strange bump for a two year old thread.
 
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I've been sprinting and hill climbing for 4 years now with much fun and a few trophies to show for it.

It is all about power to weight ratio as the courses are short straights connected often by slow corners. The FTD winners are often "Caterfields" with V8's and way too much power. Spinning the wheels at every gear change. Almost undriveable for mere mortals!

My car, a 1977 Matra Bagheera with a 1592cc Simca engine and a twin rotor Wade supercharger is great fun and very different to most entries. Class winners start at little Peugeots, Minis of all shapes and sizes, Escorts, Subaru, a small number of Porsche and Alpine Renaults and single seaters. You don't have to get FTD to win prizes!

Andymaco
 
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