Does the power this car is putting down seem right?

[moper]

If you take a car of a given weight, and run it down a given distance, regardless of time elapsed..the speed will always be the same. Run in 3rd gear. GO thro all 3. the horsepower applied over that distance will result in the same mph. (IE the Moroso drag calculator thingy) It's not exact, but it is much more precise than any chassis dyno. Chassis dynos should not have numbers associated with them. The numbers mislead. All one needs to know is it making more power than before. Not "6hp" or "20hp" more. It's a tool. A fun, big, loud tool. Nothing more.

[bb71challenger]

If you take a car of a given weight, and run it down a given distance, regardless of time elapsed..the speed will always be the same. Run in 3rd gear. GO thro all 3. the horsepower applied over that distance will result in the same mph. (IE the Moroso drag calculator thingy) It's not exact, but it is much more precise than any chassis dyno. Chassis dynos should not have numbers associated with them. The numbers mislead. All one needs to know is it making more power than before. Not "6hp" or "20hp" more. It's a tool. A fun, big, loud tool. Nothing more.

Let me get this right, you are saying that if I accelerate for 400 yards, going through say 3 gears on a 4 speed, I will be going the same speed as if I started in 3rd gear and just accelerated for 400 yards? That cannot be right.

[wart1de]

I agree an auto would be more consistent and win more rounds overall but I feel a manual car would set the fastest time, say, if they had 10 goes each and recorded the fastest time. In other words the manual will still set a faster 1/4 mile, just not every round like an auto. It's good to have both!

A properly setup automatic will beat a manual down the quarter. Besides the faster shifting of the auto, the stall converter gives the car more torque off the line. There is a reason almost all cars run autos at the strip and it's not because we're all lazy.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[PlumCraZRT]

You also can't reproduce the ram air effect a hood scoop will have when you run on a dyno, so actualy power will vary with that as well.

This whole calculation based on your trap speed is also assuming some sort of average horsepower throughout your operational RPM band.  A car that has a big flat HP output through a long RPM range will not put down the same numbers as a car with the same peak HP, but that only acheives max HP for a short RPM range.  Average HP is the name of the game in a calculation like that.  It does little or nothing to provide values of peak power/torque and at what RPM.  If you actually think about it, it does pretty much nothing to describe what the actual power band is, from form to actual peak numbers.  The calculation really describes nothing.  The trap speed is what is doing the talking...  I am interested in power/torque numbers because those are what end up making fast rides.  However, I understand the argument that power means nothing if you can't transfer it.  As far as describing your car's abilities, it's important to know what your engine's power band looks like AND what your quarter mile ET/MPH is.  Your dyno numbers indicate how well you create power and your track times indicate how well you transfer it.

[FTT843]

A properly setup automatic will beat a manual down the quarter. Besides the faster shifting of the auto, the stall converter gives the car more torque off the line. There is a reason almost all cars run autos at the strip and it's not because we're all lazy.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Auto's are MUCH more consitent in the 1/4, your changes in time will come from your 60' and rt. But I still belive a 4spd properly shifted will overtake the auto.

[Chryco Psycho]

 
 Sox did it all the time