[puff puff]

Are Burnouts necessary in most cases? i'm thinking no.


Your thoughts?

[Steve69SS396]

It depends on the car. Back when my car only ran mid 12's on drag radials I would just spin them enough to clean them off. As I started going faster a burnout was definately needed.

[rojo]

I rarely ever do one on the way to the grocery store.

[Big Block Tom]

They are cool though when done right!

[DjD]

Originally Posted by puff puff

Are Burnouts necessary in most cases? i'm thinking no.


Your thoughts?

In what context? At the track? Street tires or slicks?

[puff puff]

Originally Posted by DjD

In what context? At the track? Street tires or slicks?

i'm saying for MOST cars at the strip short of the pro or alcohol classes (although i'm thinking they may not need it either).

i'm thinking it would be better to get a wider tire than burn the one you got in order to make it sticker---it's too marginal. A larger tire would be more consistent and put less stress on the drivetrain if no burnout required.

[DjD]

Originally Posted by puff puff

i'm saying for MOST cars at the strip short of the pro or alcohol classes (although i'm thinking they may not need it either).

i'm thinking it would be better to get a wider tire than burn the one you got in order to make it sticker---it's too marginal. A larger tire would be more consistent and put less stress on the drivetrain if no burnout required.

You should ask why the pros do a burnout? It heats the tires making them more sticky as well as it cleans the surface of the tire. As for stress on the drivetrain; spinning the tire is less stressful that a dead hook and depending on the class some of these cars are pounding out more than 1500 hp and a dead hook is not possible.

The generally accepted guideline at a drag strip is; racing tires = burnout (for the reasons already stated), street tires go around the water and no burnout. Now what happens after that (the race itself) is a totally different thing, the less spinning the faster the car will run but not spinning isn't necessarily possible with lots of power...

[DOUG G]

When the tire is warm it sticks to the VHT better....but yes, most of the time a 10sec. "dusting" is fine. All comes down to the tire, track temp, and track prep.

[captcanuck68]

Nothing like the smell of rubber in the afternoon...or is it napalm? Remember that line?

capt

[DOUG G]

Oh...and it looks cool too

[2x67rs/ss]

Doug and Dennis pretty much hit it on the head.
But who cares they are cool!

[68rs406]

If it's a tire that gets sticky, not a street radial, yes it helps. If the car they are on is slow and won't spin the tires anyway no point obviously.
That said even in the really fast drag classes guys typically seem to over do it, all they need to be is up to temp, not too hot not cold either.

[Eleanor's Nemesis]

Originally Posted by puff puff

i'm saying for MOST cars at the strip short of the pro or alcohol classes (although i'm thinking they may not need it either).

i'm thinking it would be better to get a wider tire than burn the one you got in order to make it sticker---it's too marginal. A larger tire would be more consistent and put less stress on the drivetrain if no burnout required.

Actually most cars DO need to heat the tires up before making a run. For many it isn't just about getting down the track it's about consistency when ET racing, or bracket racing, or handicap racing.

If racers didn't need to heat up and wear the tires I doubt they would....those slicks aren't cheap.

Have you ever actually seen the size of the more popular tires used on drag cars? Go pick up a mounted Goodyear or Hoosier 33x16 tire, then look at the wheel tubs in the car that it is going on, and tell me where and how you are going to fit bigger tires on the car?

And many associations prohibit running larger tires. Stock Eliminator racers are limited to 9 inch wide tires and Super Stockers are limited to 33x14.5. And others are limited to 275 radials and 10.5s.

Nitro cars use the burnout to put heat in the engine....funny thing about that nitro, it makes lots of power but it's hard to light it and if the engine doesn't have some heat in it then it just isn't going to work period. An example is the fact that A/ fuel cars start on gasoline and idle for a bit before pulling into the water and switching over to nitro.

[bigblockragtop]

A big mistake with a burnout is not all tires are created equal. Drag radials and slicks are made to heat up or to temper and stay soft. Street tires will glaze and temper and get hard and will ruin the tires quickly. Not that I am a tire guy but I found this out from a tire guy. Doing a burnout from a 40 mph roll is rather enlightening though, can you say adrenalin rush.

[novaderrik]

is a car that's capable of doing a burnout necessary?