Tired of the dominance of the '68 Dodge Dart Hemi Superstock I decided to figure out why it was so fast. I noticed the car is quite light, allows for very wide tires and of course has the V12 upgrade available. So I decided to look for cars that were just as light, allowed the larger tires and the V12. Lo and behold the Shelby Cobra and the Daytona are both light cars, allow the V12 upgrade and support wide tires.
After extensive tuning, no joy. Something wasn’t right. Then I decided to plot out the primary characteristics of the Dart and the Cobra. By accident, I selected the Dart HE and noticed something that convinced me the physics is wrong.
So, for the Dodge Dart (HE and normal) and the Shelby Cobra I gave them identical upgrades. Then tuned them. Here is the results. I hope the formatting works!
Car, 0-60 Mph, 0-100 Mph, Top Speed, Weight, Balance %, Front Tire, Rear Tire, Final Drive, then gears
Dodge Dart,_ 1.222, 3.174____271.7______2862___51__275/50-14__345/45-15_____3.65 2.37 1.53 1.13 0.9 0.74 0.64
Dodge Dart ,_1.734, 4.478___271.9______2872___51__275/50-14__345/45-15_____3.65 2.37 1.53 1.13 0.9 0.74 0.64
Cobra 427,___1.773, 3.547___269.7______2239___51__265/55-15__345/45-15_____3.73 2.37 1.53 1.13 0.9 0.74 0.64
Note: The Cobra is 600 pounds lighter and is SLOWER! Even stranger, the Dodge Dart HE is virtually identical and slower!
How can this be? What the heck is wrong with the physics?
It seems the standard Dart launches better but has the same top end as the HE… Could be suspension-related. This is not something tuning will solve.
If I’ve changed the sprints and struts do you mean the two darts have different control arms and springs? That wouldn’t explain the difference because I made the rebound/damping and everything to be identical in both the Darts.
However, even with the differences with the suspension on the Cobra and non-HE Dodge Dart, the Cobra is WAY lighter. Suspension won’t give that much of a difference.
Glad u finally noticed =D unfortunately Dart is just tip of iceberg.
I posted similar stuff elsewhere many times. In short, just don’t trust power-to-weight ratio of ANY car. Test them all out yourself. E.g. old cars usually don’t accelerate as well as newer models at similar power-to-weight ratios.
Tire radial affects grip. What exactly are the tires of both of the cars your running. What is thier wieght and balance. These all affect gearing and acceleration. Some times a wider tire is t the best method to go down a drag strip. A high tire radial will have more straight line grip than a wider tire at a launch. Tire upgrades should be done last. Tune them bone stock and just go for power and launch then mess with your wieght and tires. Some times a lighter car has no launch and will get beat by a slightly slower car due to a great launch. Tuneing tires is key but must be done last to optimize thier grip with your set up. And at the end of the day the cars are only as fast as thier driver if they where pushed all the way there no telling what numbers you would of posted.
Same tires for all cars and the extra mechanical grip for greater weight is not greater than overcoming the inertia of a heavier object when all cars have the same motor! If you read the thread closely, all the cars have the same upgrades.
In fact, if you notice the only difference with the two Dodge Darts is one is HE but with the same upgrades.
And to awnser your question. The dart is faster due to its wieght. The extra wieght gives it more grip during launch. But the extra wieght hurts acceleration breaking and cornering. Hemi good for drag Daytona good for circuits.
My last post disputes this.
The dart will be faster at drag due to launch the extra wieght doesn’t slow it down that much. The time cut on the launch from the added wieght out weighs the loss of speed and acceleration on the drag strip. Having to go only one mile you never want to smoke your tires after 100.
OK, take any car. Build your best tune with and without the weight reduction. Record your times and tell me if the heavier car is faster or slower.