Big Daddy was right, again
Discussion
The NHRA have now legalised and given spec to the mono-strut fuel dragster (SFI 49.1) and it will be legal from Gainsville onwards
after they banned Garlits' version, then Mike Kloeber was developing one for the Werner Enterprises team which was made legal then the NHRA changed their minds David Powis team has now had theirs legalised, ran high 4.4s with an early shutoff in testing.
Finally the technology has stepped up
ever since I saw Big Daddy's idea it made perfect sense (and it looks stunning) and now it's happening, as always people dismissed Big's ideas and years later they come back
after they banned Garlits' version, then Mike Kloeber was developing one for the Werner Enterprises team which was made legal then the NHRA changed their minds David Powis team has now had theirs legalised, ran high 4.4s with an early shutoff in testing.
Finally the technology has stepped up
ever since I saw Big Daddy's idea it made perfect sense (and it looks stunning) and now it's happening, as always people dismissed Big's ideas and years later they come back
Edited by MotorPsycho on Saturday 10th February 00:16
Edited by MotorPsycho on Saturday 10th February 00:17
So the strut itself is acting as an aerodynamic part of the car, helping top end stability like a flight on a dart, or like those briefly fashionable shark fins we saw in TM/FC a few years ago.
Looks ghastly to me, but if it helps...
(There is also a few more square meters of signage space available as well, how long before AC has one? lol)
Looks ghastly to me, but if it helps...
(There is also a few more square meters of signage space available as well, how long before AC has one? lol)
Go to www.garlits.com/ scroll down and click on Swamp Rat 32, First Mono-Wing car, driven by Don Garlits & Bruce Larson, Best ET: 4.92 seconds, Best Speed: 299.30 MPH in IHRA Competition in 1992. Click on Swamp Rat 34, driven by Don Garlits & Bruce Larson, Best ET: 4.73 seconds & Best Speed: 323.04 MPH
Put quite simply, air flow around the traditional wing struts was quite turbulent and not brilliantly aerodynamic. The monostrut in its entirety is designed around the most aerodynamic shape ever, the teardrop, which tapers to the back and includes flaring around the parachutes.
Air flow around it is much smoother, means the car is better aerodynamically and will go even quicker than ever before. This is proved correctly by high speed photographs of the car where the tyre distortion is completely different to whats ever been seen before with traditional wing struts. The distortion is much more consistent throughout the tyre instead of it bulging out of proportionally centrally in the slick face. To round that off nicely because it's more consistent it will be easier to handle because of more surface area contact on the track.
Air flow around it is much smoother, means the car is better aerodynamically and will go even quicker than ever before. This is proved correctly by high speed photographs of the car where the tyre distortion is completely different to whats ever been seen before with traditional wing struts. The distortion is much more consistent throughout the tyre instead of it bulging out of proportionally centrally in the slick face. To round that off nicely because it's more consistent it will be easier to handle because of more surface area contact on the track.
also the mono-strut acts as a rudder helping to stabilise the car at high speeds (which seems doubly useful with the rev-limiters causing dropped cylinders and in some cases cars skating all over the track) when Garlits raced his he commented how much more stable the car felt, there aren't really any ways to compare traditional vs mono-strut yet as it hasn't made many representative passes but watch out for Rod Fuller Gainesville onwards.....
in my humble opinion it can only be good news for top fuel cars
in my humble opinion it can only be good news for top fuel cars
Do any top fuel teams do wind tunnel work, out of interest? Just curious as to whether we're starting to see an arms race similar to F1, whereby the governing body gradually brings in measures to reduce speed and power, yet designers just recoup it in other areas. Pretty much killed F1 as a spectacle, so hope we don't see things go the same way.
NuthinFancy said:
Don Schumacher Racing have been testing a monostrut car in a wind tunnel that much i do know.
Edited by NuthinFancy on Tuesday 13th February 00:51
Don Produmme is the one who has been windtunnel testing a Monostrut somewhere in Canada.
Fuller ran 4.48 with the Monostrut in testing so it seems to work ok but i dont know if it makes it any faster as he ran that with the strut setup at Pomona. I think its more of a safety deal...
hornet said:
Do any top fuel teams do wind tunnel work, out of interest? Just curious as to whether we're starting to see an arms race similar to F1, whereby the governing body gradually brings in measures to reduce speed and power, yet designers just recoup it in other areas. Pretty much killed F1 as a spectacle, so hope we don't see things go the same way.
Hmmm, NHRA mandated blocks, Electronic timers permitted, chassis innovation stifled. I fear it is heading that way already
I've read that the wing is much heavier than the 'old' style and the teams are looking at it as a safety feature rather than for performance.
I have also noticed a couple of teams at Pomona using a new style of injector hat (JR Todd has had one for a while and won this event with one). Does anyone know who is building these and what their advantages (if any) are?
I have posted some photos from the Winternationals on DragsterWorld here: www.dragsterworld.com/2007reports/winternationals/index.php
I have also noticed a couple of teams at Pomona using a new style of injector hat (JR Todd has had one for a while and won this event with one). Does anyone know who is building these and what their advantages (if any) are?
I have posted some photos from the Winternationals on DragsterWorld here: www.dragsterworld.com/2007reports/winternationals/index.php
dragsterworld said:
I've read that the wing is much heavier than the 'old' style and the teams are looking at it as a safety feature rather than for performance.
I have also noticed a couple of teams at Pomona using a new style of injector hat (JR Todd has had one for a while and won this event with one). Does anyone know who is building these and what their advantages (if any) are?
I have posted some photos from the Winternationals on DragsterWorld here: www.dragsterworld.com/2007reports/winternationals/index.php
I have also noticed a couple of teams at Pomona using a new style of injector hat (JR Todd has had one for a while and won this event with one). Does anyone know who is building these and what their advantages (if any) are?
I have posted some photos from the Winternationals on DragsterWorld here: www.dragsterworld.com/2007reports/winternationals/index.php
Isn't it the Sharkfin like Andy Caters show car has?
It does look similar to the sharkfin, the scoop is not the same though. The sharkfin was a Peter Lantz invention... www.plr.nu/fabrication.htm
"Could not believe the amount of empty seats on eliminations day as seen in the photo's on the Dragsterworld site"
After our Friday comp qualifing session's at Indy in 05 we went in the stands to watch the pro's. Here we were, at the biggest gathering of drag cars, its a 5 day event and the stands were almost empty!. We talked to some of the locals and they say a lot of people, due to costs, are more selective and now choose to come out only for a day, whilst before they would be there for a couple of days, at least.
Its not just Indy, I've seen the same at Virginia and Englishtown last year
Herb
After our Friday comp qualifing session's at Indy in 05 we went in the stands to watch the pro's. Here we were, at the biggest gathering of drag cars, its a 5 day event and the stands were almost empty!. We talked to some of the locals and they say a lot of people, due to costs, are more selective and now choose to come out only for a day, whilst before they would be there for a couple of days, at least.
Its not just Indy, I've seen the same at Virginia and Englishtown last year
Herb
Edited by herb andrews on Tuesday 13th February 12:46
Hi DragHeads !
I think the monostrut has another advantage, besides the ones already mentioned :
in case of a tire damage (explosion or separating of outer layer and carcass),
the shreds of the tire are not so likely to reach & damage the wing strut(s).
I think there have been nasty top-end accidents when the remains of a tire
smashed into one of the two wing struts, causing one strut to collapse,
and then the wing itself to come down on one side,being still held up by the other strut,
acting as a -then vertical- rudder (word?) and causing the dragster to swerve around,
(most likely into the wall).
Herr Garlitz surely is some kind of genius.
Cheers,
Benni
I think the monostrut has another advantage, besides the ones already mentioned :
in case of a tire damage (explosion or separating of outer layer and carcass),
the shreds of the tire are not so likely to reach & damage the wing strut(s).
I think there have been nasty top-end accidents when the remains of a tire
smashed into one of the two wing struts, causing one strut to collapse,
and then the wing itself to come down on one side,being still held up by the other strut,
acting as a -then vertical- rudder (word?) and causing the dragster to swerve around,
(most likely into the wall).
Herr Garlitz surely is some kind of genius.
Cheers,
Benni
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