speed demons, answer me this

[Vad3r]

i have a question about speed and power.

My experience is: 1987 Honda Hurricane 600 / 1989 Mustang 5.0 / 2001 Honda Blackbird 1100cbr). I understand power, i done it, enjoyed it. I have a fairly good understanding of speed/power. I know there is more and faster. but,..

I have a friend that claims, he had a street legal car that when he hit the gas, your arms could not pick up a coin off of his dashboard. He says, it had so much horse power, your arms were glued in down position. You simply could not reach for the coin, it was that fast, and had so much acceleration you couldn't reach for it.

Of course this car doesn't exist no more, this is a bud of mine telling me of old times. I'm calling bull on it big time.

No debates, just tell me how much power it takes to pull off this extreme power. I can see this as possible in Funny car and Dragsters, but a street legal car in the 80's, really.

Give me math examples, i know this is not possible back then.

 

[Raizinman]

This actually should be in the garage forum.

 

[waggy]

thats usually the set up as a joke. he does that as you reach slam on the brakes..

 

[Ferzerp]

My experience is: 1987 Honda Hurricane 600 / 1989 Mustang 5.0 / 2001 Honda Blackbird 1100cbr). I understand power, i done it, enjoyed it. I have a fairly good understanding of speed/power. I know there is more and faster. but,..

Yeah, that 225HP (between 14 and 15 LBS/HP) stock just glued you to your seat, eh?

 

[BlackTigers]

Go sit in a car that can pull the front wheels...and let me know how your mind changes.

 

[Vic Vega]

Yeah, that 225HP (between 14 and 15 LBS/HP) stock just glued you to your seat, eh?

Depends on the model and the transmission.

A GT with the AOD wasn't exactly a screamer.

A notch with a 5spd weighing in at 2,700 pounds was and is today a fast car. 225HP and more importantly, 300 pound feet of torque in a car that light moves pretty good.

Throw some 3:73 gears in there and you had a very quick stop light car, even today.

 

[Vad3r]

thats usually the set up as a joke. he does that as you reach slam on the brakes..

i wish it were a joke, my bud swears that you couldn't reach and pick up the coin.

Could a street legal car like this exist in the 1980's ?

I think not, but if it did, how much horse power are we talking about where u can't reach for the dashboard of the car.

This bud is serious, so i ask. I know it's silly, but on paper how stupid is it. Gemme facts to smack him with.

 

[Vic Vega]

There were PLENTY of street legal, big block muscle cars cruising around in the 80s and unlike today, they were cheap and everywhere.

A late 60s 390 Mustang GT for example was just a 20 year old used car. Sure, they had some collector value but not like now. With that much torque and the right gearing they can and will slam you into your seat back.

 

[LTC8K6]

It would have to pull a lot of g's for that.

An F1 car pulls about 1.5g on acceleration according to wiki, and an F1 driver can still reach controls and move his arms even at that.

An F1 car accelerates far more brutally than any street car.

 

[Vad3r]

There were PLENTY of street legal, big block muscle cars cruising around in the 80s and unlike today, they were cheap and everywhere.

A late 60s 390 Mustang GT for example was just a 20 year old used car. Sure, they had some collector value but not like now. With that much torque and the right gearing they can and will slam you into your seat back.

agree, many hypo machines then, that slam you into your seat.
Arms as well though ?
would not be able to pick up a quarter off of the dash ? What keeps the quarter in place, i have no idea, his words, not mine.

I do not believe this. I want to tell my friend of 20 years he is soooo full of it, he should shut up. Can anyone tell me it is really possible.

Ferzerp: humor noted, try 1100cbr or busa, you will get it.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

with a car like that I'd be more suprised by a coin staying on the dash.

I call BS.

Math. Lie on your back and lift up your arm. You are experiencing one G of force. How many G's can a car reach during acceleration? MAYBE 0.75g, and -1.5g under braking.

Ya. total BS. The coin would fly off before you could pick it up... so therefore YES you wouldnt be able to pick it up hahaha.

EDIT: Here is an example of a coin flying off the dash during acceleration. And it had to jump a 1/2" ledge.

 

[phucheneh]

It would have to pull a lot of g's for that.

An F1 car pulls about 1.5g on acceleration according to wiki, and an F1 driver can still reach controls and move his arms even at that.

An F1 car accelerates far more brutally than any street car.

If this is accurate (not saying it isn't; just can't verify), then I believe that answers the OP handily.

Also of note, think of the size/compound of the tires on those cars. Acceleration is not just a function of power, it's a function of grip.

Only argument would be that in an F1 car, your arms are rather locked in place, and most (all?) controls are wheel-mounted. So it's not like you're moving your hand from in your lap to (or past) the steering wheel.

But if your buddy is essentially trying to compare his wheel-driven, horizontally-moving street vehicle to a thrust driven NASA rocket taking off straight up...yeah, he's full of shit.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Complete bullshit.

 

[JulesMaximus]

If this is accurate (not saying it isn't; just can't verify), then I believe that answers the OP handily.

Also of note, think of the size/compound of the tires on those cars. Acceleration is not just a function of power, it's a function of grip.

Only argument would be that in an F1 car, your arms are rather locked in place, and most (all?) controls are wheel-mounted. So it's not like you're moving your hand from in your lap to (or past) the steering wheel.

But if your buddy is essentially trying to compare his wheel-driven, horizontally-moving street vehicle to a thrust driven NASA rocket taking off straight up...yeah, he's full of shit.

In the 80s we had the turbo era where the cars made around 1200hp in qualifying trim. And the drivers had to shift the cars manually.

I'll remove the part of my post that seemed to set you off for some reason...

 

[LTC8K6]

Yeah, um... no.

In the 80s we had the turbo era where the cars made around 1200hp in qualifying trim. And the drivers had to shift the cars manually.

Yes, their arms weren't jerked off the shifter, nor did they have to "hang on" to the shifter in order to shift.

 

[LTC8K6]

I guess on a crotch rocket, your feet get pulled backwards and you can't move your legs.

 

[phucheneh]

Yeah, um... no.

In the 80s we had the turbo era where the cars made around 1200hp in qualifying trim. And the drivers had to shift the cars manually.

Yeah, um... just kind of throwing that out there, but feel free to pat yourself on the back for 'winning' the 'debate.' (read: making yourself look like a pompous ass for no reason)

Also, possibly google 'modern F1 car' to have an idea of what I'm talking about. There is not a hell of a lot of room, nor any reason for, the driver's arms to leave the steering wheel.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Yeah, um... just kind of throwing that out there, but feel free to pat yourself on the back for 'winning' the 'debate.' (read: making yourself look like a pompous ass for no reason)

Also, possibly google 'modern F1 car' to have an idea of what I'm talking about. There is not a hell of a lot of room, nor any reason for, the driver's arms to leave the steering wheel.

meow! things are getting good in this thread!

 

[_Rick_]

Well, I for one remember the top fuel dragster, where the driver held so hard onto the steering wheel, that it came off in his hands. Probably a bad mounting job, but it does show, that the forces involved aren't trivial

I think in the described case it's mostly psychosomatic though.

 

[Doppel]

It's nonsense. Assume even a weak guy can push forward three times the weight of his arm you'd need many G to make this happen.

 

[Meghan54]

I have a friend that claims, he had a street legal car that when he hit the gas, your arms could not pick up a coin off of his dashboard. He says, it had so much horse power, your arms were glued in down position. You simply could not reach for the coin, it was that fast, and had so much acceleration you couldn't reach for it.

Of course this car doesn't exist no more

Of course the car doesn't exist any longer....as it never existed in the first place.

And if you were accelerating enough to pin your arms, you certainly wouldn't be able to pick the coin off the dash as the coin would be in your lap. If it were still on the dash at that point, it'd have to be glued, so I guess it is possible......but then again, you wouldn't be able to take the coin off the dash, moving or not.

Utter bullshit.


And I've been in some horribly fast cars back in the day, such as a 1970 Hemi Cuda...was a passenger in that while street racing up in D.C.

We'd use the commuter two-lane section of I-95, from its opening around Alexandria, down to the Springfield exit as our race "track". Do it only around 2-3AM when there was little/no traffic on it. Two cars could "block" off behind us, the two racers would roll out around 20mph, three honks on the horn would start the race....challenger getting the privilege of honking.

And despite how fast that Cuda was, could still move around all I wanted, and I'm no big or strong person.


As for dragster drivers being pinned, bullshit on that, too. Top Fuel dragsters, Funny Cars, etc., do have shifters. So, how does the driver shift the car? (They don't use pure automatic transmissions, btw. The transmissions have to be shifted.)

 

[Plugers]

Depends on how long... When my daughter tries to lean forward to change the radio, I give it some throttle and she is back in her seat. That only happens for so long though as you reach speed.

 

[HarryLui]

Carroll Shelby at the wheel of a new Cobra production car-- Venice, California, 1963. He loved to stick $100 bills to the inside of the windscreen and challenge the potential customer, sitting in the passenger seat, to grab the bill before the Cobra hit 100 mph.

http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.co...l-shelby-ford-cobra-that-kicked-ferraris-ass/

 

[Ferzerp]

Gravitrons were 3 or 4 G by the way. For perspective.

 

[Ferzerp]

Depends on the model and the transmission.

A GT with the AOD wasn't exactly a screamer.

A notch with a 5spd weighing in at 2,700 pounds was and is today a fast car. 225HP and more importantly, 300 pound feet of torque in a car that light moves pretty good.

Throw some 3:73 gears in there and you had a very quick stop light car, even today.

Try ~3300 lbs curb weight. Add in a human and you're at 3450-3500 lbs. It's 92% of the weight of the current GT, 55% of the hp, 77% of the torque.

You're also confusing a single torque number with the acceleration ability of a car. I guess diesels with their astronomical torque values must be used for all high-acceleration applications

Stock 89 mustang gt manual took a whole 6.1s to reach 60 mph. That's a yawner. That's a camry these days.