Curb Weight

[studemax]

Don't forget your aero tricks, P.

[Red_Kitty]

I made the Hellcat a "Superleggera" for one ECTA event by removing the entire back seat, subwoofers, trunk carpet and trim, ran 1/4 tank gas, etc to see what would happen. I estimate I took out 150lbs vs. how I normally ran the car. The results were underwhelming - if anything the car went slower due to less traction and more wheelspin on the launch. Otherwise, no discernable difference in speed at the mile.

However, taping up the upper grille gave me +2 mph in back-to-back runs.



Now that the class rules have changed, you could try some aero changes to reduce drag? I highly recommend the ECTA-approved Hunt Brothers Pizza boxes:



Expert tip - use the box lids, they are less greasy so the painter's tape sticks better!

[Monster]

Many very successful LSR racers bolt hundreds of pounds of lead ingots in the trunk.

[Tubbed Pacecar]

AND, something I learned from Steve probably close to fourty years ago.....vehicle weight doesn't affect your terminal speed, but being heavier, it does take you longer/further to reach it.....

[bukshysteve]

Well I am the currant record holder in E/CBGC and the first year I raced I was able to set the record at 156MPH but the car (1979 Mercury Zephyr) was real loose crossing the finish line. I decided to try adding 600LBS of lead to the cars rear end. The next year I reset my own record at 190.319 MPH on the 3 mile course so I was able to go on the long course and was up to 193.4 in mile 4 when the car got loose and I went off course. The car now has an additional 500 LBS of lead but because of the closed border I was not able to compete this year.(I live in Canada)

[DanStokes]

You'll be surprised - it won't make much difference. I completely stripped the interior, AC system, etc. from the Camaro but left the engine lone for this experiment. The difference - no change in speed at all. Still, I'm very much in favor of installing a real roll bar but get a race seat if you're going to do that. Upholstery burns and that's not a good thing in the event of a mishap. Kirkey and others (I'm trying to pull up the one that Joe Timney vends as it's excellent) make seats for this purpose.

Dan

[pdub]

It's my understanding that some of the folks doing land speed at multiple hundreds of mph add weight to the car to keep it on the ground.

Well, Red was born a poor red brick. And everything I've done to him has added weight. The blower, big brakes and rotors, by-10 wheels and tires, Roush suspension, brake cooling hoses, drive shaft hoop, strut cross brace, shark bar harness mount and 5 point harness....

This current project has me thinking. Remove both the stock front seats, that's minus 99 pounds. 56 driver side, 53 passenger side. Install 30 pounds, 18 for the Corbeau seat and 12 for the seat rail. Remove the shark bar, that's minus probably 15 pounds. Install the roll bar, its shipping weight is 71 pounds.

Red's gonna lose 13 pounds in this deal. I'll make sure his ashtray is empty before I run him down the track and maybe he'll go 30 mph faster.