Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars?

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Lancer
Posts: 1365
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2002 3:53 pm

Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars?

Post by Lancer »

Every couple of weeks I go out and get some import magizine and there is always pictures of front wheel drive dragsters with thier fat front wheel slick's and they also have a wheelie bar behind them. Can somebody explain why a front wheel drive needs a wheelie bar?
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cohocarl
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Re: Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars? (Lancer)

Post by cohocarl »

quote:Can somebody explain why a front wheel drive needs a wheelie bar?No
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NovaResource
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Re: Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars? (Lancer)

Post by NovaResource »

Wheelie bars have one job: to limit front end lift.In a rear drive car, you want lift to transfer more weight to the rear wheels and generate more traction. The wheelie bars limit how much lift to prevent the front end from rising too far and to prevent blow over.In front wheel drive cars you don't want front end lift. Acceleration transfers weight to the rear wheels just like in RWD cars but in FWD cars, this causes loss of traction. Since wheelie bars limit front end lift, they stop this from happening in FWD applications.
Lancer
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Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2002 3:53 pm

Re: Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars? (NovaResource)

Post by Lancer »

Thank's for the explanation. I kept seeing them in mag's and couldn't quite figure them out. I've never seen them run, ESPN only shows the more traditional top-fuel and funny-car drag races.The only thing I've seen on TV that is for imports is 'Super2ner' on TNN on Sunday morning's @ 11:00 CT.
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MadBill
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Re: Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars? (NovaResource)

Post by MadBill »

NovaResource is right, but there's another trick the fast front drivers do with their wheelie bars: They often have pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders connected to the bar linkage and on the line they use them to almost jack the rear wheels off the ground. Because the bars touch the ground several feet behind the rear wheels, this means the center of gravity is closer to the front on a percentage basis, so the front end weight and traction is greater. Once they get rolling, say into second gear, they release the pressure and the rear tires take the weight again. Pretty weird, huh?
Lancer
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Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2002 3:53 pm

Re: Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars? (MadBill)

Post by Lancer »

Yes that is wierd. You'd think that the extra weight of the hydraulics would defeat the time and speed of the runs.
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lordyogi
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Re: Front wheel dragsters and wheelie bars? (Lancer)

Post by lordyogi »

drag racing is all about torque and traction, you need as much of both as possible. if you look at a lot of the high horsepower FWD's like 400 wheel hp they only run like 12.5s quarters, sure that is fast, but its dynoing a ton of hp at the wheels to where it should be running in the 10's. The weight transfer with out the bars robs soo much traction those cars will spin tires for like the first 100' at a track that is prepped for drag racing and the grip is better than on the street. They run an astronomical MPH when they get traction but the FWD cars spin tires for so long because without the bars they have no weight on them.yogi
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