Mike Buck

Something to consider . . . the NASCARs were faster around the short course than the GT cars. The NASCARs are hitting just slightly higher top speeds on the straights and no one will argue that they aren't worse under braking, so that means they must be going as fast if not faster than the GT cars in the corners . . . . hmmmm.

Seems to jive with what I saw this year when I went to the races. I watched a lot from a top a RV on the Inner Loop and a seat behind the pits overlooking the 90. When those guys hit the curbs right going into the inner loop, they really flew through there.

To answer the OPs original question, it is my opinion that had Jimmie Johnson showed up at the PCA Club race this year with his normal Watkins Glen road course Sprint Cup car, he would have been the fastest car there and also the most powerful. There were two RSR's there and one even driven by a regular Grand Am driver for FL.

billpor930

Concerning the 'little' brakes on the Nascar car, based on the brake specs posted earlier in the thread, the rotors may only be 12.9 inches in diameter but they are 1.4 inches wide. This is wider than the Cup car so don't just compare diameters.

chrisp

they also have a lot of cooling

DrJupeman

Thanks, I was trying to find the width because that is also very important.

mark kibort

Big hp, big weight, but skinny tires and tea sauser brake rotors? Their brakes,look pretty big to me!

When Boris does run Sears, (a top road course) he did pretty well even on his first day there in a NASCAR.

The NASCAR guys do run the wheels off the cars on the road course. really entertaining racing IMO.

As a note, NASCAR ran very close to the same times as ALMS GT2 porsche RSRs when they ran the same course at Sears Point, a few years back. (i.e. 1:36s) now with the shoot, they have run near the same times as the top SpeedGT cars, in the 1:16 range.

racer

Another reason Nascar brakes are so "small" is because they run 16" rims. If they ran 18" rims, they would stuff more inside, wouldn't they? (I'd hope so )

Also, while complaining about how "small" they are, can anyone put any figures on actual braking distances?

I'm with some others.. only 2 seconds advantage?

And is that vs a Qualifiying lap or "average" lap? I imagine the whole Nascar field is spread out by only 1 second or so which makes for great racing.. and rubbin is racin afterall. I imagine the GT class yields a bigger time delta from pole to last place.

mark kibort

braking distances would depend on tires and weight (along with some suspension settings ) all things being equal, the weight would be the most important factor, expecially since most fast GT cars have pretty small front tires.
I would guess there is a difference in stopping distance, only offset by the HP advantage on any straight. the cornering ability, gives the 2-3 second faster laps to the GT cars. (If I was going to really generalize)

Now , you think these brakes are small? they are massive, just not the same diameter 13" vs the 14 or larger found on some ALMS cars. However, this doesnt determine the braking, its really how the heat is dissapated, and brake compounds as well as the mass of the rotors, and they do look much thicker. They might be more work, but Im sure they stop the car just fine. Our rotors are about 30mm thick, while nascar rotors are near 35mm thick!

mk