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ive been having a think about doing this eventually but i was wondering if anyone had any tips about this?
things like a good base? ive seen c5's used, go karts and home built
power? im assuming as much as you can shove in?
any advice, tips or what ever?
(didnt know were to put this thread so i just poped it here)
Don't unless you have a grand you can happily blow. I spent around a grand and a half on a racer last year, didn't race because I made it over complex and wasn't able to focus on the basics.
The top teams have a full team of engineers building it for a month or so with a company sponsorship behind them. I could see this being a fun sport before the large companies got involved. No idea about this year but last years top racing machine would have cost in the region of 10K if everything was bought brand new.
ive seen a go kart rolling chassis fairly cheap around my area and i was thinking of sticking somethinge like two petrol saws on the back but its only an idea right now, would be a fun project :)
Just don't expect to win but do expect to spend at least twice the amount you have in your mind right now
I just want to do it for the fun of it really ;)
put a bar stool on it aswell, then you have a bar stool ride on powertool drag racer!
Not been on here in ages. Been working alot and mainly focusing on drag racing (not power tool drag racing) and a few other little projects.
Personally I think the ride on class of PTDR should be broken up into two classes. First you would have the Heads Up class where basically the fastest machine wins, This is the type of racing that PTDR is at the moment.
Also there should be a Bracket Racing class where a driver dials in a time and has to run as close to there dial in time as possible.
What would happen is every driver would get a qualifying run, This would be where you go down the track to get an idea of what time you will be running. Then you do three runs trying to get as close to your dial in time as possible without Breaking Out (going faster than your dial in time). You can change your dial in time before every race. The driver that gets closest to there dial in time wins.
This is probably the most popular form of drag racing around the world now. In heads up its usually the person with the most money or the biggest sponsorship deal that wins every time. Bracket racing is all down to Driver skill and machine reliability, It all comes down to whoever can get the best reaction time, and shift at the right time etc to get the most consistant E.T's
Its kinda hard to explain how it works on here but it is actually really simple. If anyones actually been drag racing before they should understand bracket racing.
It would be nice to go to a propper drag track one year and run the 1/8th mile. They could even have the silverline dragster do a couple of passes down the 1/4.
And I know plenty of people with real drag cars that would be up for putting on a show. A 1 or 2 day event at shakey or pod would be perfect. You would get 10X more entries and 100X the audience. Plus racing with a real tree and racing side by side adds to the excitement. PTDR could be quite big.
Anyways the point of this message was they shud run bracket racing so everyone has a chance and not just the people that get the most sponsorship money.
Agree with what tom sais... at the moment PTDR is way to corporate... it should be about redneck style chainsaw powered scooters etc... not how much money/how many sponsors you have...
tom- i reckon you could make a ptdr run a 1/4 faster then kennys camaro lol
I agree, the field should be split, theres no way im spending £10k plus on one (especially as the big teams will just spend more money), let the big guys go at each other, and let the rest of us have our own competition. I think as a spectical it would be nicer to have them race 2 at a time side-by-side so its abit more intersting for the public, as just watching them taking in turns to set a time is'nt very entertaining. A propar race tarck would be good, would it throw up issues with safety ect in terms of the construction of the racers though?
r u in a team? i help my friends in a team in the wild bunchQuote:
Originally Posted by xtreme
What wild bunch team you help out?
totally agree bracket racing would allow 10x to the people to race and have ago at winning without having fastestQuote:
Originally Posted by mr_turbulence
thats what has always put me off getting involved...i mean what engineer wouldnt want to bolt some chainsaws to a go kart !!
Ive never built one because it is what you say, spend the most money and your going to win !
ball breakerQuote:
Originally Posted by xtreme
do u?
Webby was you at Shakey at the hot rod drags at the weekend? if you was I was probably talking to you lol. Ball Breakers a nice looking Slingshot. Impressive on the track too, Runs 9s doesnt it? Iv kinda got a thing for FED's. You cant got wrong with a slingshot or an old skool Fuel Altered like pure hell and winged express. We have owned a fair few race cars that you will have seen racing before.
Bracket racing is the way forward to attract new builders and racers I think. Sombody can build somthing in there shed for next to nothing and still have a chance at winning.
There wouldnt be drag racing in this country at all now if it wasnt for bracket racing. When you look at drag racing in the 50s when it had just started to become more popular, everyone was using 30s cars that they had stored away during the war and with the same engines just doing home modifications they were all about the same speed so it made for interesting heads up racing and anyone could join in and have a shot at winning, it would be nice if it was still like that but its not. So without bracket racing the average guy doesnt have a chance at winning so they dont bother entering, hence why theres so many bracket racing classes in drag racing today. Power tool drag racing will have to go in the same directon as normal drag racing to get more people building and racing.
Me and kenny and a few other lads are probably going to be running Power tool drag racer type cars all year round at various events at real race meetings next year. But were using engines that probably wouldnt be accepted in ptdr. There 4 stroke engines that are used in alot of things and even used in augers but mainly 2 man augers. There is a single person auger that uses the engine but its really old and you cant get them anywhere nowadays so we probably wouldnt be allowed to use them. Infact they used the engine in an old stone cutter saw but I cant find pictures or info about it anywhere on the net. So because they dont use the engine anymore in powertools and its nearly impossible to find info about them on the net. Technically there within the PTDR rules but I dont think we would get away with running them at Silverline PTDR events. There commonly used on lawn mowers and 2 man augers, small generators, whacker plates and water pumps etc.
Like the Idea of Bracket Racing since we have full torque limiting on each Angle grinder, repeatable times would be very easy. Guess we would soon get banned though.
Seriously though the big teams are not very fast yet (or at least last year) so the competition is wide open. It always makes it easier with more money, but it can be done with alot less, just needs different thinking and smarter engineering.
We just did it for a bit of fun, but we still want to win :) If we beat just one petrol powered one we will be happy.
No reason you'd get banned... The people who do better in real drag racing run automatics that aren't that fast... Just put there foot down and keep it down until the end so they keep consistent to there dial-in time... As Tom said, it only becomes difficult when you need to work out if your running to fast and need to work out when to let of the loud pedal
Repeatable times would be easy but you could still loose it on reaction time, and even with the slightest bit of wind can change your ET enough to make you loose a race so you would have to know if to apply more throttle or back off to get your time back in line. Some races are won and lost by as little as 0.001 of a second. all you have to do is go 0.001 of a second quicker than your dial in and youv lost.
Say for example you get within 0.5 of a second of your dial in time but your reaction time is 1.2 seconds and your opponents runs within 1 second of his dial in but gets a reaction of 0.5 seconds, They have won the race by 0.2 seconds.
You have to start thinking about things that you wouldnt think about usually.
Wind direction, this could speed you up or slow you down easily.
Tyre pressure, slightly less pressure in your tyres causes rolling resistance and more inflated tyres effectively changes your gearing.
Wear on the engine/motor, Quite obvious really
Even the slightest bit of weight. Somthing as simple as having lunch, and amount of fuel in the tank can make a differance.
It sounds stupid, but if you get a few of these things happen at once it can make a big difference, Lower tyre pressure, more weight and a head wind, That might be half a second lost on your run. half a second is a huge amount.
As soon as you get a few guys running consistant times it really gets interesting.
I think you should win Mark Electric Dragsters are the way to go! In any case I want one of the Roboteers teams to win this year :D :DQuote:
We just did it for a bit of fun, but we still want to win :) If we beat just one petrol powered one we will be happy.
Good Luck guys
Only problem is electric doesnt make the right noises :p
Quote:
Originally Posted by xtreme
thanks, we were at shakey, good event (apart from weather!)
Weather was ok on sunday, some good racing.
That sounds interesting I shall put it forward for our next meeting.
We are also going to put forward running a privateer class and a pro class however money isnt what makes you win. Fleet must have built one of the cheapest dragsters there and yet they were consistantly 2nd this year until the finals. Robo Challenge spent around £250 on our dragster, for the rest we spoke to companies about sponsoring parts as any other roboteer could & should. Its only Silverline that have put any real money into the racing and thats only because the engineering to build their dragsters have cost, parts wise they dont use any fancy stuff at all. You guys are all engineers. Everyone either builds a light dragster or gets companies to sponsor engines. then you can be competitive :)
In fact if you would really like to build a ride on for next year let me know and I shall speak to Silverline to see if there is any possibility of sponsorship of engines or grinders. email me at info (at) robochallenge.co.uk and I shall see if anything is possible for you.
Great event! Crap weather in the morning, good weather in the afternoon, outstanding weather at all times inside, under Concord, where I was competing. Over half the awards went to machines built by roboteers.