[Land-speed] Downforce vs Ballast Question

Flowbench at aol.com Flowbench at aol.com
Sun Jun 10 17:42:27 MDT 2007


In a message dated 6/10/2007 12:40:16 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
lsr_man at yahoo.com writes:

Which is  better?  It would seem that if you add, say 500 pounds of ballast, 
it's a  simple addition.  If you add a spoiler designed to add 500 pounds of  
downforce, then you are adding the effective weight, plus additional  drag.  
No?



Simple answer, yes... unless your still "significantly" accelerating  at the 
end of the timed mile. 
In 2000 our driver tried to "get with it" to get a good number. Well, he  
about looped it in 2nd gear, gathered it up and got going. We would normally run  
250-255 in the 1/4 at B-ville, this run had a 228 quarter speed. Ran 293 with 
a  303 terminal speed compared to our best ever of 301 with a 307 terminal. 
Me... I'd rather spend $75 for 500 pounds of lead than a spoiler any day, I  
still think ANY traction control SLOWS the car, it's your money, make your  
choice.
By the way, car #265 weighs over 5000 lbs.



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