Chris Lockhart

Nicole picked up on the front bumper, and I NEVER even saw it coming. And I call myself a carguy/gearhead!!!!!!!!!! You go girlfriend!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nicole

Details, Details... I seem have an eye for them!

Can anybody tell me what special skills it takes to drive a drag racer? I mean, other than holding the steering wheel straight and putting the foot down. Just wondering...

It seems that they Mark Anderson type of racing is a lot more demanding on the driver, and probably just as much more exciting. It does not already end after a few seconds...

SharkSkin

Nicole, I agree that it is more fun to drive a road course. Drag racing does take a great degree of skill and reflexes though, especially when the race is over in 5 or 10 seconds. The difference between winning or losing can mean doing something a tenth of a second early or late, moving a control a millimeter to much or too little, or a combination of things. On road courses or even autocross, we don't like to lose a tenth of a second but we can usually find a way to make it up. In drag racing, if you go .001 second faster than you are supposed to, you lose and it's time to put the car back on the trailer. If you win a round, you get to go cool your heels for an hour or two until you do it again, every bit of concentration and effort focused on tiny slices of time and one's actions while moving through them.

It's not for everyone; even I don't care much for it although I did show up at some "grudge night" events at Fremont Raceway when it was going. It can be a good way to measure the results of some types of performance mods, though I believe it is a mistake to focus on just this one aspect for a road car.

Anyway, just my .928 cents worth. If I wanted to drag race I sure wouldn't have bought a 78 Shark!

D

Jim V

Nicole,

Suffice it to say that there may be a wee bit more to it than that.

Drag racing in it's various forms is the most accessable type of racing that there is. (using real cars) At it's grassroots level anyone can participate and run any type of car or truck that meets safety regs. Most tracks have a mid-week test and tune night (or 2) and a variety of run-for-fun events keyed toward non-pro drivers throughout the season.

With that in mind, if you really want to know, I would suggest getting together with a group of other 928 owners and heading out to the local raceway and give it a try; really. There's plenty of time between runs to talk 928s or socialize in general so even if you absolutely hate the racing all won't be lost; there's alot worse ways to spend an evening and blow a few bucks.

Gretch

Why the negativity Nicole? Is this a new side of you? There are thousands of reasons to be "hooked on cars", drag racing is just one of them. Your historical knowledge of the 928 adds a lot here, your selective approval of what constitutes a legitimate reason to be "hooked on cars" detracts from that otherwise admirable contribution. As Jim V has suggested, walk a mile in another's moccasins, you may find they are quite comfortable.

Nicole

Hmmm... I wasn't aware I was sounding so negative. I just do not know much (or better: anything) about drag racing. I apologize, if you got the impression I disapprove of it. As I said, the actual race sounds like a very small part in a day at a such event, and it has never been visible to me, what the challenge is for the driver.

jorj7

Nicole,

I was planning to attend an open drag night at Sears Pt some time
this spring. Maybe we can organize a small group of 928s to go out
some Wednesday evening. What do you think? Bill are you listening,
maybe it can be a NorCal928 event. See:

http://www.searspoint.com/news_flash/home_3/411038.html

Then you can experience it yourself. I haven't been to the drag races
since 1978 when I ran my little RD400 (high 12s). Maybe I can beat
my old times with the 928

Nicole

Hi George:

Sure, that sounds interesting! Then we can do some "muscle flexing" and see what difference your supercharger setup makes...

And at the same time our cars get free Italian tuneups. How convenient!

Danny Humphreys

I had to do a double take on that picture myself. That car is out of Houston? By the way, Nicole, road racing is much more physically demanding than drag racing, however if you make a mistake you can try to make it up on the next lap. Drag racing you get to make up for your mistake next weekend. With most cars, (including 928's) you are correct in that you just stomp on the gas and go straight down the track. However when your putting 2000 horsepower to the ground, you do have to drive it quite a bit. The bulk of driving skill involves the actual start of the race where the winner is usually decided by their ability to react to the "christmas tree" faster. Also, to me drag racing is more about the car's prep and mechanical prowess, versus the driving ability. that's why I dig it, because I do ALL the work from chassis to engine myself. Heck, I don't even drive the car right now.
Also, the car goes from 0-160 mph in 4.6 seconds. (That takes 1/8th of a mile to do) i have not run the car in the 1/4, but that is approximately equivalent to a 7.00 @ 200 mph. As far as quickest versus fastest, I labored over that one, but considered the lowest common denominator went w/ fastest. And while it may not be technically correct in terms of top speed, (although w/ a gear & tire change the car could easily exceed the white cars limit) it is certainly the fastest from 0-100 or whatever. And VERY observant on the front bumper!!
you can check out some more pix here Click here for some pix Also shirts are available for $15 plus $4 shipping, please help support the 928!!! Thanks!!

Nicole

Hi Danny:

Thanks for the clarification! What made you choose a 928 as the base for a drag racer? And what on the car - other than the body - is still from the original?

It looks funny with those skinny front tires and the phat rears. Are front axle and steering the same as original? I assume you would not need power steering with those skiny tires, would you?

What's different in the rear end is, to accommodate the wide rear wheels? Where is the transmission lodated? Is it an automatic or manual transmission? As you see, I have no clue...

What I found in an old magazine is that the fun in an S4 should last much longer than in your "drag queen" - we should expect to get about 14 seconds of it, resulting in about 100mph at the 1/4 mile marker.

2V4V

Jim, et al,

Sorry, but when people start bringing out the old "affordable" "attainable" "everyman" gambits, somebody's gotta speak up for the rest of the "red-blooded American Patriots" who have driven the 1/4 and keep wondering where the pylons are.

Everybody can go race against the clock (just like a drag, since one is not looking to get to the apex before the other guy does to get passing position) a bone stock, pump gas, DE event in which you'll have to accelerate, turn, brake, and repeat the process several times to achieve a time. You'll have to keep it together for more than 5-12 seconds. Did I mention it isn't all in a straight line?

If you want to compete on a national (or local) level you'll have far more money in a drag car/trailer/spares than same-level competitive shifter-kart, motorcycle, PCA/POC/SCCA- whatever car.

John Force will beat me by maybe .10 to .30 off the tree. His Castrol thingamajig will cross the finish line maybe 10 seconds ahead of my 928. And I'm no good. I don't practice. Never did.

Millions of dollars and the (arguably) best talent and tech in the (drag) world can beat me (or you, or anybody who can launch and shift) by a total of maybe 11 seconds. In equal cars, 1, or maybe (if I blow a shift) 1.5 seconds. Ooooooh. (I base this on the fact that I got within 1.5 seconds of PeeWee Gleason's old world-record 1/4 on the CBX, and last time I checked, bikes are a bit tougher than cars to launch). And, once again, I'm no drag racer.

And when I turn out of the parking lot and accelerate John'll be getting his first motor swap-out. 10 miles down the road, when I stop for a short nap, to plan my strategy for the cone section of our contest, I wonder how the drag car will fare? Or, if he'll ever be able to swap motors fast enough to make it another 10 miles today? Or if he does get it up to speed on the road section of the course, how many parachutes can they get on the bumper of one of those things, I mean how's he gonna slow more than once? Oh well, it'll understeer plenty with front tires smaller than a motorcycle, and the wrinkle-walls...

I respect John Force. I know he can beat my best ever 1/4 time on his worst day. I also know that I'm not too far behind him, if we race a 1/4 mile in equal cars - he's (arguably) the best in the world and on my best day, I'm maybe the bottom middle of the drag racing pile. I also know that the mid-pack Formula driver/AMA rider/EuroKarter is gonna hand me my *** on a mid-length road course, by a much greater time percentage factor than any drag scenario ever could. Why? There are simply far more variables, which means a greater challenge, and the guys who are really good are way ahead of the average Joe (like me). Drag racing, fewer variables, insignificant time frame, fewer challenges. Not that a challenge is not a challenge, just far fewer.

I also know that Force's car can't corner, brake, or even run much more than 1/4 mile without fraggin'. I know lotsa race cars that can corner on rails, stop on a dime, get fairly (for a race car) good gas mileage and still run (generally) several hundred miles before a tear-down.

If someone wants to race inexpensively, and accessibly, it's not hard to do at all. If they DE, AX, get a shifter cart, hell, spend $400 on a POS car and $30 on some sheet-metal screws for the tires and go ice racing. You'll be competing where you have to corner, brake, accelerate, anticipate, set-up for the next corner, maybe even pass, and then repeat the action. For more than 5-12 seconds. They might even learn some skills that transfer to a safer driving environment for the street. How many of those skills you practicing at the drags?

Once again, if you like it, more power to you.

I still like to shoot skeet. I used to shoot IPSC. When way younger, I used to jump large mounds of dirt on my motocrosser. Skeet shooting has just about zero real effect on one's bird hunting prowess. IPSC has nothing in common with actual pistol combat. I was never gonna outride Roger DeCoster in a stadium, even if I could almost jump as far on certain size piles of dirt.

Drag racing is to many of us like shooting skeet - nothing wrong with it, great fun, but it leaves out almost all the variable elements of the genuine hunt. Therefore, it may make you a better killer of clay pigeons, but it does not make you a better hunter of quail, grouse, or phasant.

Greg

Gerry

So Greg, aaahhhhh what's your point?

Danny Humphreys

Greg, did you get beat up by a rogue group of drag racers in a dark alley or what? That's quite a nice rant, but I happen to like vanilla ice cream.

To answer Nicole's questions. I have always liked the 928, but I'm a hot rodder at heart. So i bought my first one, drove it home and proceded to tear it apart to create my own version. (kinda makes you cringe, doesn't it) As far as the chassis/ suspension goes, from the firewall forward it is all stock Porsche w/ the exception of aftermarket coilovers. I ran the factory rack w/o a pump for the last 2 years, and have just changed to a pinto rack and it mounts in front of the engine instead of under the engine. (Saved about 40 lbs w/ that one) From the firewall back, it's all tube frame race car stuff w/ the only Porsche parts being the skin. The transmission mounts to the rear of the egine as w/ convetional v-8 american cars.

hacker-pschorr

Your 928 drag car has more in common with a stock 928 than Jeff Gordon's car to a stock Chebby.

saxapeeel

awwwww right before im moving!!!!!! i feel so unloved.