RE: Charger SRT is 'fastest saloon in the world'
Discussion
BFleming said:
Is the Bentley Flying Spur (207mph) not considered "mass produced"?
I recall reading a NASA article that referred to Alan Shephard as the first man in orbit in 1961... Two problems with that, firstly Yuri Gagarin was in space a month before Alan Shephard. Secondly, Shephard didn't go into orbit in 1961 (he did a sub-orbital space flight, and John Glenn was the first American in orbit in 1962).
Presumably someone had said the somewhat patriotic "first *free* man in space" which got misunderstood as "first man in orbit".
So... Perhaps someone at Dodge said something like "fastest American mass produced sedan", and this was misunderstood.
tommy1973s said:
Last time I was in the US, US car mags had a few group tests on Challenger, Camaros and Mustangs and they were all unanimous - Ford is the best all-rounder, best quality etc, of the bunch. But I still want the Challenger, in orange please, without the horrible body kit. Yee, and indeed, haa.
As a Mustang owner, I too want a Challenger, in orange. In a few more years hopefully, I'll be in a Hellcat!
BogBeast said:
ensignia said:
I know as a rule Yank performance motors are always RWD, but in those Worlds Greatest Drag race series the American cars always end up getting obliterated despite having a billion horsepower. What's the point of them?
They are cheap and they are fun.That Senna though!
Edited by TyrannosauRoss Lex on Friday 3rd July 14:46
ensignia said:
I know as a rule Yank performance motors are always RWD, but in those Worlds Greatest Drag race series the American cars always end up getting obliterated despite having a billion horsepower. What's the point of them?
RWD with a front engine on street tyres. Means you'll not put the power down. Fit some DR's (Drag radials, a bit like a semi-slick, but with a softer sidewall) or some crinkles. So they could make the most of the power they've got. And it would likely be a very different story.e.g. you need the traction to enable them to do this:
Which is only a cheap tyre mod away..... so hardly even a modification.
The factory tyres, which in the USA might even be all seasons, depending on what State you bought it in. Will likely be a struggle to launch, even with half the horse power. And drag racing is often all about getting of the line. Therefore it is not surprising they don't do very well.
10.5 ET in the 1/4 is seriously quick. There are a great many supercars that would get nowhere near this.
300bhp/ton said:
ensignia said:
I know as a rule Yank performance motors are always RWD, but in those Worlds Greatest Drag race series the American cars always end up getting obliterated despite having a billion horsepower. What's the point of them?
RWD with a front engine on street tyres. Means you'll not put the power down. Fit some DR's (Drag radials, a bit like a semi-slick, but with a softer sidewall) or some crinkles. So they could make the most of the power they've got. And it would likely be a very different story.e.g. you need the traction to enable them to do this:
Which is only a cheap tyre mod away..... so hardly even a modification.
The factory tyres, which in the USA might even be all seasons, depending on what State you bought it in. Will likely be a struggle to launch, even with half the horse power. And drag racing is often all about getting of the line. Therefore it is not surprising they don't do very well.
10.5 ET in the 1/4 is seriously quick. There are a great many supercars that would get nowhere near this.
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
So you mean put illegal tyres on it so it's a more fair comparison against the other cars wearing legal tyres? I think the point of the race was also to show how the cars perform when in their "road" settings. The Aston (whilst a lot more expensive) has less power yet still was a lot quicker, despite being FR layout.
What makes you say such tryes would be illegal? I think if you bought the Demon with the extra box of bits, DR's are what it would have. Nothing illegal about them.As for this particular race, dunno. But suspect individual driver skill has a great deal to do with it. And lets be reasonable, the Aston has 715hp, which is pretty similar to the Dodge. And it probably weighs less and is certainly more slippery.
I don't know if the Charger was auto or manual. The latter would probably have been slower for this type of thing. However go back and rewatch the race. It was over for the Charger in the 1 second, dreadful launch, is was practically the last to leave the line. And did so far worse than any other car. Some of this might be down to the car being difficult to get off the line. But the driver certainly plays a part.
Then at 5min 10secs you can see the Charger roasting it's tyres while everyone pulls away. So certainly was a lack of traction/driver skill thing going on.
BTW - while the Aston is front engined. I bet it is more front/mid mounted with better weight distribution than the Charger. Not too mention the price!
And let's not ignore the fact, that despite such a poor launch. It was only 3 tenths slower than the Aston and beat a whole heap of cars that got off the line better than it did.
300bhp/ton said:
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
So you mean put illegal tyres on it so it's a more fair comparison against the other cars wearing legal tyres? I think the point of the race was also to show how the cars perform when in their "road" settings. The Aston (whilst a lot more expensive) has less power yet still was a lot quicker, despite being FR layout.
What makes you say such tryes would be illegal? I think if you bought the Demon with the extra box of bits, DR's are what it would have. Nothing illegal about them.As for this particular race, dunno. But suspect individual driver skill has a great deal to do with it. And lets be reasonable, the Aston has 715hp, which is pretty similar to the Dodge. And it probably weighs less and is certainly more slippery.
I don't know if the Charger was auto or manual. The latter would probably have been slower for this type of thing. However go back and rewatch the race. It was over for the Charger in the 1 second, dreadful launch, is was practically the last to leave the line. And did so far worse than any other car. Some of this might be down to the car being difficult to get off the line. But the driver certainly plays a part.
Then at 5min 10secs you can see the Charger roasting it's tyres while everyone pulls away. So certainly was a lack of traction/driver skill thing going on.
BTW - while the Aston is front engined. I bet it is more front/mid mounted with better weight distribution than the Charger. Not too mention the price!
And let's not ignore the fact, that despite such a poor launch. It was only 3 tenths slower than the Aston and beat a whole heap of cars that got off the line better than it did.
Anyway, who cares. They're all more than quick enough. Then there's the Senna wonder what the Speedtail would be like!
TyrannosauRoss Lex said:
Sorry I thought the tyres that you were referring to are slicks, which are illegal. Are you saying that the Dodge should have more sticky rubber than the rest of the competition to give it a more fair chance? That seems a bit odd to me?
Anyway, who cares. They're all more than quick enough. Then there's the Senna wonder what the Speedtail would be like!
I don't know what tyres the Dodge has. But for the power, torque and weight distribution. Normal road tyres are probably not the best choice. And I suspect unlike the exotics, it would be fitted with either summer tyres or all seasons depending on exactly where it was purchased.Anyway, who cares. They're all more than quick enough. Then there's the Senna wonder what the Speedtail would be like!
Drag radials look like this:
Soft rubber compound like a semi slick, but a softer sidewall to allow the tyre to flex more under rotation. Very popular type of tyre to run in the USA on performance cars.
Anyhow was just trying to answer the question of why the Dodge didn't do as well as some might have expected.
Andy83n said:
do Amercian Manufacturers still release power figures at the engine, not the wheels?
All car makers rate them at the engine. I don't think in the history of the motorcar, has any car maker every published at the wheel figures. Quite impressive as we are about 120 years into production Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff