Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian
Because they think 500+ horsepower is needed to drift.
|
it has to do with competition. What is faster off the line. a small tire, or a big tire. well the big tire will get more traction (surface area) than the small tire. Well if the guy next to you has the maximum tire allowed for the amount of weight he has, and based on your weight, you have the maximum, you "should" be equal. As horsepower doesn't judge how much forward traction you can acheive. It's not the power of the engine that puts traction down. it's the tires.
Now with that understood, Torque is what spins that tire. If you have the maximum tire for your required weight, that doesn't mean you have enough power to actually spin those.
And that's why Justin's running a Mustang with almost 900whp and a 295 tire. If he ran that tire with less power, it will be harder to spin cause the friction will still be the same on the tire regardless of power. Basically more power, just means it's easier to spin required tire. Less power, for the same size, just makes it harder to break that traction.
And unfortunately, money determines power. Justin's driving around in a Roush built motor worth 40k. That's what sponsors provide ;D. And as you can see...it's giving him podiums with his driving also being on par.
Winning in FD means forward traction. Eventually there is a limit to how much grip you can acheive without doing willies around the track sideways (which according to ross petty, he says he at some point actually has both his tires leave the ground cause of traction).