It's funny. Everyone says they've got a 12-second street car. I myself have found more entertainment in this statement than truth. The fact of the matter is simple, many backyard hot rodders have never been to the track with their machines, and those who have know what it takes to run a 12.0 on street tires.
The same rule applies to gear heads who install every aftermarket suspension component known to man on their ride in hopes that it'll handle like Jeff Gordon's NASCAR. The reality is basic, some parts work and some parts don't, and too many of the wrong parts cause a lousy ride and negative performance. The only real way to see if a given mechanical upgrade is worth its beans is quantitative testing.
Now, don't get us wrong, the info that one derives from the seat of their pants is valuable, but it's hard to validate. What one person considers a smooth ride, another considers a 4x4. For this reason we've decided to break down the numbers, and show you how well aftermarket drivetrain and suspension components work while under the strict scrutiny of timing machines, radar guns, and the like.
Before we go any further we'd like to point out that all the testing done by KIT CAR is done on a closed course with safety as the number one priority. That being said, we'd like to get to the technology that makes it possible to be accurate. Our mornings begin with the set up of our Stalker ATS radar system. The ATS system is responsible for gathering 0-30 mph, 0-60 mph, quarter-mile times, eighth-mile times, 60-0 braking distances, and any other straight-line factor we deem necessary.
All of the acquired information from each pass is saved in a PC laptop and edited on site. In order to keep our testing accurate, we correct every acceleration pass to a "Standard Day" correction, which is 60 degrees F with zero-percent humidity and 29.92 inches of mercury. How do we do this? Simple, we employ the algorithms of Computech Systems who manufacture the RaceAir Pro weather analyzer.
The RaceAir is an all inclusive weather machine that calculates a correction factor based on temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. All one needs to do is press the sample data button and enter a given ET and mph and the RaceAir outputs the standard day correction. Wham, accuracy is achieved.
Just as radar is used for straight-line acceleration, timing systems are used for lateral acceleration and slalom testing. In the name of simplicity, we will define speed as a relationship between time and distance, as such, all of our g-measurements and slalom measurements are acquired with a wireless Brower Timing System. Our 420-foot slalom uses an invisible beam at each end of the course. When the car triggers the first beam, a wireless signal is sent to a hand held receiver. When the car passes through the second beam, the timer stops. As plain as this system seems, it works more accurately than any other system in existence. Once the number of seconds it takes to pass through the slalom course is acquired, it is divided by the length of the course, thus giving us a feet-per-second (fps) measurement. We can then translate the number of fps to an actual mph.
Using the same Brower technology, we measure off a 100-foot radius to create our 200-foot skidpad. The time it takes for a vehicle to travel around the circumference of a 200-foot diameter skidpad has a direct relationship to its roadholding ability. For example, if a vehicle weighing 2,000 pounds can pull 1 g on a 200-foot skidpad, its lateral roadholding ability is equal to its weight of 2,000 pounds. This means that a given vehicle that pulls 1 g can actually hold its own weight while in a turn, solely on grip.
We've learned that performance testing is a great way to measure how well a given aftermarket system works. Yes, it can be said that many mechanical parts have a cosmetic value, but do they work? Keep your eyes peeled for future KIT CAR Challenge tests, as we intend to test a lot of cars and products.