times or even dyno figures, although for me 1/4 mile is more telling. Ive seen some big dyno readings that just don't translate to the road (or they're BS). Many hot rods these days are very pretty but I couldn't do all that work & not at least give it a day at the strip, or even buy a turn-key & not know what it'll do. The boy racers are in this group too, lots of bling, not much sing
gunhand,
Jan 26, 6:23am
Well, If I was looking at a "hotted up" car knowing the 1/4 mile time tells me one thing. It's been thrashed and likely to explode anytime. Time to walk away lol. When Ive looked at cars and bikes to buy and the owner starts going on about top speed and it can cruise at 250kph blah blah blah They just lost me as a customer. Because generally, their fulla shit.
myrns,
Jan 26, 7:42am
^^^Agree^^^ just like the dumb sellers who are showing the bike doing a burnout. why would you?
whqqsh,
Jan 26, 7:53am
big difference between raced & thrashed. I drove my T bucket all over the North Island, as well as quite often at Meremere, driving to & from as well without ever needing a trailer or tow or doing any damage. Never had an issue, car is now on it's second owner since me & from what Ive heard like he's happy as with it. Many of my cars, even daily drivers, have had a run at sometime even when Ive just gone down as support & had to make up the numbers & still never had any problems. I see more 'thrashing' from people being light to light heroes
gman35,
Jan 26, 8:04am
Dont think I could ever drag race or time my "favourite" car. Would far rather do some "enthusiastic" track laps while searching for that perfect line and also winding a nice engine out a certain amount. How people can give their cars the absolute beans from a standing start is beyond me.
les6,
Jan 26, 8:37am
what the swearword?thats what they are made for?most have revcounters,shiftkits etc.you can drive as hard as you want to take it?
smac,
Jan 26, 8:46am
I was seriously looking at a car once with modified head, custom exhaust, modified cam, overbore etc. I asked if it had been dyno'd or otherwise what had been done to get the carbing correct (sidedraft weber). Got blacklisted with no answer. Yeah I really wanna trade with you buddy.
sw20,
Jan 26, 9:53am
Are you actually serious?
It would depend on the car, my first MR2 turbo I raced every single month at the Ruapuna drags for a whole season, sure it got beaten on hard on race day, but the car was meticulously maintained and ran on 100+ octane Avgas. I would change the oil and filter once a month before race day and clean the air filter out. Change plugs every second meeting. The engine still runs perfectly to this day (the car however was written off). That was ten years ago.
If you were looking at a hot rod or American muscle car that had the cash spent on it. Engine and driveline improvements. Why wouldn't it handle a day at the drags? Why even bother to modify a quick car to make it even quicker if you are just going to drive like a nana around town.
quickbuck,
Jan 26, 10:09am
Agree. Sort of goes along the lines of the Motocross bike for sale with "NEVER RACED" in the ad. To me that means it has never been used for it's intended use and most likely never maintained. Racers (of which I am one on two wheels) tend to over maintain their machinery to get the best out of it. No point having a 500 kilometre service interval on a Race Bike chain for example.
bill-robinson,
Jan 26, 6:10pm
I will not buy modified cars. I build them to suit the purpose. if you want one get it built for you
richardmayes,
Jan 26, 6:16pm
I live my life a 1/4 mile at a time.
For those 8 seconds, I'm free.
socram,
Jan 27, 6:10am
I have no idea what my cars would do on the drag strip. I've never been to a drag meet and probably never will.
Dyno doesn't tell you whether the brakes, suspension and steering are any good either.
Straight line speed means nothing if it doesn't come on the cam until it is doing 5,000rpm and has minimal torque.
If you know the spec of the rebuild/modifications, I'd be more inclined to know who built it and whether or not you'd trust their work to last.
smac,
Jan 27, 6:42am
Duuuuude. As one petrol-head to another, go! Just once. THEN you can say "not for me".
extrayda,
Jan 27, 6:46am
Good call on builder / what mods. However a quick dyno at least isn't too hard. Plus gives you powerband too. And a/f ratio etc. I took one of my old cars to the drags and had a blast. Would have gone again, but needed to do more work to improve traction. Spending money on the house won, so car got sold. Thinking about another one now though!
richynuts,
Jan 27, 7:05am
Yep but its a long friggin' day for only 3-4 runs.
whqqsh,
Jan 27, 8:19am
I used to get 10-14 runs in a day depending on how much grudge racing time was set aside between rounds. Even if you get knocked out in the first round just line up in the grudge lane, lots of runs & fun to be had
sr2,
Jan 28, 1:28am
LOL, it's a lot more fun when you throw some corners in and instead of 8 seconds it goes on for days!
socram,
Jan 28, 1:43am
True! but, I'd rather do a one or two day race meeting as I couldn't even afford the fuel for a Targa, let alone the fact that I can't easily get spares for the old car and have no support crew.
Two or three 8 lap races a day at HD is fine by me. I get the 1/4 mile drag from the start line thrown in for free on every race! Around 11 minutes a race is plenty thanks, but 11 seconds in a straight line, even 10 times a day? Nah!
My old car is a low revving slugger not a sprinter anyway, so totally unsuitable for the drags.
whqqsh,
Jan 28, 5:16am
I think some are missing the point a bit, I only used 1/4 mile times because thats more the type of car I look at, but whether is drags, roundy-roundies, track, targa. whatever, if you sell a car aimed at these pursuits shouldn't you be able to give some form of measure of its ability?
socram,
Jan 28, 6:23am
Some people get their kicks from building the cars, others from driving them. For me, it is a case of driving it to the best of my own modest ability, but Racing Ray Williams drove my car at Whangarei street races and was 2 seconds a lap quicker, because:
a) He is a far better driver than I am b) he also weighs less than I do.
The lap times are therefore no more than a guide and I generally circulate consistently without wringing the car's neck.
Same would apply to the drags. Are you going to rev beyond the red line to avoid a gear change for a better time and risk the engine?
On a dyno, with a freshly built engine, I'd be setting a rev limit too.
I understand your need for some sort of guidelines, but there are many club cars around that do Targa, circuit racing and club rallies and therefore set up may be a compromise anyway.
Usually, an educated guess is possible, but one thing I'd never do is buy a modified car without a very intense inspection and trial.
bjmh,
Jan 29, 9:40pm
heres one for you. Listing #: 809314658
whqqsh,
Jan 30, 4:10am
seen that one, what a beast! Shame it wouldn't suit many on here as it's been to the strip & 'thrashed' lol. Silly to build a car like that & actually race it! , don't people know you build a car for looks only these days!
granada,
Jan 31, 12:50am
Lots of people buy cars , bikes as a show pony. Just sit in the garage to be admired. Never understood that mentality. They are made to be driven. Selling my 4 x 4 at the moment and the number of people that wont look at it because its been offroad. go figure
bjmh,
Jan 31, 3:35am
I saw a beautiful black deuce coupe being trailered through Te Kuiti. real flash half covered trailer with a late model tow car.Half the fun is driving the open road,but I guess when you spend $200k on a street rod you wouldn't want to scratch it ? I'm with Granada. they ARE made to be driven.Some of my best memories are beating around in a rodded model A roadster,sold it to finance our house.
neville48,
Jan 31, 7:22am
people build and buy cars for different reasons. A car can be a work of art and be trailored and garaged but its still a work of art. A car can be built with a lumpy as cam and all the go fast/be strong goodies to be streeted/drag raced and thats entirely up to the owner and a car can be modified/improved and muscled up a bit but it does not have to go down the strip to be proven, again entirely up to the owner. There is nothing wrong with owning, driving a car that you never know "what if", thats entirely up to the owner so no matter what you buy or race or street or modify the point is, just get out on the street and use it and enjoy it. but only if you want to.
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