The “G’s” of Drag Racing!

Ever wondered how hard your vehicle pulls? No I’m not talking about torque or a tractor pull or pulling a trailer. I’m talking about your Race/Street/Drag Car!

I recently watched the trailer to Top Gun 2 (it looks like it’s going to be incredible btw) and the Director, along with Tom Cruise, were talking about the IMAX cameras in the cockpit and capturing the actual faces of the actors from the “G” forces.

^{HOW MANY “Gs”?}

It led me to ask myself about why I love Drag Racing so much. My first thought was the Holeshot. Some people can play it off as no big deal but it really does get the adrenaline pumping! This feeling really is addicting! Then I thought, I wonder how may “G’s” my car is actually pulling on the holeshot? This is where it gets interesting…at least to me, HaHa!

One of my favorite websites to go to is http://WallaceRacing.com which can therefore lead you to the calculations page http://www.wallaceracing.com/Calculators.htm . I’ve never met the Wallace family (I’m pretty sure they are not the Nascar Wallace’s because this family races nothing but Pontiac’s) but they have a plethora of calculators for anything racing! So, of course they have a calculator for 60′ to G’s http://www.wallaceracing.com/g-force-60foot.php .

^{Actual Numbers}

According to the numbers my car “Backdraft” (with a best of a 1.28 60′) and its cumbersome (insert sarcasm) package of 132.12 turbocharged air cooled cubic inches pulls a hefty 2 G’s at the Holeshot! This is the part that even seasoned Drag Racers will tell you never gets old. This is the first sensation you feel (other than the burnout) as a drag racer. If you scroll to the pic below you will see that “Backdraft” not only pulls 2 G’s but also likes to stand up as if it wants to explore the stratosphere! It’s a handful but damn it’s also fun!

_{What are G Forces?}

Now I don’t want to butcher the English language and screw up the entire meaning of “G” Forces so I’ll link you a more thorough explanation in case you would like to understand more about this …https://www.howitworksdaily.com/g-force-explained-how-acceleration-can-knock-you-out/ . Yes, too many G Forces can make you pass out. If you’ve ever experienced the acceleration of a roller coaster then you have some sort of idea of the feeling of G Forces.

^{How Fast am I actually going?}

So of course I ask myself next, I wonder if there is a way to calculate those G’s into how fast the car is moving? (I’m no math wiz and I thank Wallace Racing for making it easy on me, LOL) Well of course there is! After all, we live in a mathematical universe that’s dominated by numbers and calculations!

A quick Google search and there it is but this time at another site http://www.kylesconverter.com/acceleration/standard-gravity-to-miles-per-hour-per-second! Once you have the calculation of G Forces this calculator will tell you how fast you are accelerating. According to the numbers our little Pro Mod VW is accelerating at 43.87 mph per second! That number had me lift an eyebrow in a bit of amazement.

_Amazement

A car that was originally only meant to run a total high speed of 60mph is now accelerating at almost that speed in 1 second! Even more amazing when one realizes it’s still running the stock Ring and Pinion gears as it came with in the transaxle! My hats off to my trans builder Sean Dowdle of http://DowcoEnterprises.com!

_0-60mph?

Lastly, I had to know….what is the calculation for 0-60mph for Backdraft? The 0-60 mph number is one of the first numbers that come up when talking about performance in a vehicle. Again trusty Wallace Racing comes in handy http://www.wallaceracing.com/0-60_equation.php . The verdict? 0-60 in 1.33 seconds!

_{How does it compare?}

How’s that stack up to some of the world’s fastest manufactured street cars you ask?…. https://www.motor1.com/car-lists/fastest-cars-in-the-world/ . At this point Bugatti (owned by VW – which also owns Porsche) is the quickest at 2.3 seconds. The new mid engine C8 Corvette comes in at a stout 2.8 seconds (take that Chevy! Spanked by a little Bug, LOL! I’m just kidding…no I’m not!). Now don’t get yourself in a “tizzy” because I threw in the Bugatti and the Vette. Yes it’s comparing Apples to Oranges and it’s just for fun but it gives you perspective as to how quick and fast Drag cars really are!

Until race season starts in another month or so here in the Mid-Atlantic I’m going to continue to brainstorm and think of more unorthodox off the wall thoughts and try to throw them in a quick blog such as this…because that’s just what I do, LOL! VeeDub (and Porsche) Baby! So if your a little bored go to http://jlrracing.com and see what we’ve been up to!

Thanks for reading!

JLR