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Why do Imports such as B series swapped Honda Civics and Acura Integras have higher trap speeds, while having the same E.T. as Domestic vehicles? Is there any way to tune let's say a Foxbody Mustang to run the same MPH as a FWD import at a 10:50 E.T.?
Here is a video of what I am talking about.
Mustang
Civic
Now you see that MPH disparity.
Is there any way to fix that difference?
because they have high rev engines that domestics never had and are lighter overall? and domestics always won on torque with heavier weight? so they win in long run, but not from the get go?
under same HP condition, a high rev 4 cyl will spin and propel faster than low rev 6. It's laws of physics that you can not beat. called inertia and friction.
ET is a function of traction, gearing, and horsepower. Trap speed is weighted far more toward horsepower. Cars with higher trap speeds have more horsepower than cars running lower speeds, even if the ET is less, simple as that.
If you have a car making 500hp at the wheels, but you spin the tires all the way through 1st and 2nd gear, your ET will suffer because of no traction.
ET is a function of traction, gearing, and horsepower. Trap speed is weighted far more toward horsepower. Cars with higher trap speeds have more horsepower than cars running lower speeds, even if the ET is less, simple as that.
If you have a car making 500hp at the wheels, but you spin the tires all the way through 1st and 2nd gear, your ET will suffer because of no traction.
Yeah I see, but I just can not get over how FWD hondas always hawk down and catch up to a domestic car in a drag race.
Do you have an answer as to how one can tune a mustang to have those characteristics?
The Honda had a higher trap speed for one of two reasons. The first is that it made more power or the second is it's much lighter than the mustang which I would believe is the case.
Watching the videos it's clear that the mustang hooked up well and took off effectively using the power it was making. The Honda spun the tires through the first two gears effectively wasting the power it was making. If the honda had hooked up it should have gone well into the mid to low 9's with that trap speed.
I would guess that there is about 1000lbs difference between those two cars. From experience I know it's very hard and expensive to get a fox body mustang below 2800lbs without gutting the entire car. Civics on the other hand can be made 1800lbs pretty easily.
If you want a higher trap speed out of a mustang you need to either make it weight less or make more power.
In realty trap speed doesn't make any difference. All that matters is getting to the end of the track first and RWD cars make better use of the power they make.
What I mean by this is when they are in a the same class,(10.50 index) if everything goes well the FWD cars catch up to the RWD one's. Even when FWD cars they loose, you can still see them gaining speed over the RWD cars. Whereas domestic car's just sort of flat line once the powerglide transmission is in 2nd gear, not gaining much speed. The FWD cars just keep pushing and pushing.
What I mean by this is when they are in a the same class,(10.50 index) if everything goes well the FWD cars catch up to the RWD one's. Even when FWD cars they loose, you can still see them gaining speed over the RWD cars. Whereas domestic car's just sort of flat line once the powerglide transmission is in 2nd gear, not gaining much speed. The FWD cars just keep pushing and pushing.
While there are a lot of cars that use the good old 2 speed glide there are a lot more running the Th400 and Th350. Later model cars and cars that have been modified can have the 200R4, 700R4 and the awesome but increably heavy 4L80E.
I'm personally not a fan of the 2 speed glide in a car that only runs 10.50's. Yes it takes less power to turn but i prefer the additional gear offered by the 400. That said. When you get into higher powered cars that are running in the 7 and 8 sec range the glide is a great choice but for a different reason. You only have one gear change to deal with and that is one less opportunity to blow the tires off the car on t a gear change. Trust me when I say that it's a little scary when the tires go up in smoke on a 2 to 3 upshift at 90+ mph.
Smaller cars are lighter and they take less power to move. Therefore they are faster IF IF IF IF they can hook up. FWD cars don't hook up without BIG $$$$$ being spent on suspension. Just look at the goofy bars they have off the back that actually jack the back of the car up to prevent the front suspension from unloading..
Racing FWD cars is a bit like banging your sister. Weather you like it or not it's still a stupid idea.
I build the best of both worlds a few years back. I built a single turbo RX7 with a 358 SBF and a C6 under the hood. RWD, Turbo V8 power and 2500lbs. Best run was 9.06 at 151 on 100 octane unleaded.
Did I mention I drove it to the track, raced and drove home.
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