[cavgsi]

how much do you think times are affected by the driver?

for example the best reaction time ive ever had is something like 0.4 seconds
but the Top fuel dragster drivers have reaction times less than a tenth of a second, is this due to the car/setup etc or because the drivers can time it so well ?

 

[Guest]

drivers time it well

my personal best ones have been in the 0.2s and 0.3s

 

[wazpaz]

Practice makes pefect, so they say

 

[Fenix]

how much do you think times are affected by the driver?

for example the best reaction time ive ever had is something like 0.4 seconds
but the Top fuel dragster drivers have reaction times less than a tenth of a second, is this due to the car/setup etc or because the drivers can time it so well ?

Top fuel dragsters fastest reaction times are 0.4. Any less than that and drivers are disqualified for jumping the lights.

 

[RDS]

reaction time is irrelevant, its only the car breaking the beam that starts the clock. The only thing a real bad reaction time will cause is being beaten by a similar car spec staging up along side you.

 

[cavgsi]

my mistake
dunno where i got those figures from
is the reaction times purely for reference then ??
and i agree with the 0.4 second rule, but why do they disqualify them if the competition is based on times
and its the car, not the xmas tree lights that start the timer

 

[Fenix]

my mistake
dunno where i got those figures from
is the reaction times purely for reference then ??
and i agree with the 0.4 second rule, but why do they disqualify them if the competition is based on times
and its the car, not the xmas tree lights that start the timer

In competition drag racing its not based on times. its based on first across the line.

 

[Guest]

reaction time is irrelevant, its only the car breaking the beam that starts the clock. The only thing a real bad reaction time will cause is being beaten by a similar car spec staging up along side you.

Rob - not any more, I went up on Sunday, and its now the first person across the line wins, altho getting a worse time

 

[Guest]

actually, maybe they are doing it the same way, trap times... musta c0cked up on this one where Miles' time is better than Chris' but Chris wins via crossing line first

 

[MikeWarner]

When going to santapod etc the reaction time is not included in the overall time. A great example of this was when I was in my old Astra lined up against Cemesis in his Mk2 turbo. His got off the line well and I had a bad start and bogged down. I got back to the paddock and Cem thought he beat me as he crossed the line first - but my time was 1/100th of a second quicker!! . Was a bad time though for me as it was only around 14.2s due to bogging down.

 

[zetec-t]

top fuel dragster drivers don't react to anything, they have timers to release the brakes, a pro tree takes 0.4s to turn green, thats why they cannot get a better reaction time of .4 seconds, different events have differents tree times and sequences, it'll should say on the slip though

 

[Mike007]

But back to the original question - yes, the driver can make a big difference. There are more places than just reaction time that need driver input (and as stated, reaction time doesn't affect your 1/4 time anyway).

Mike

 

[ChrisB]

actually, maybe they are doing it the same way, trap times... musta c0cked up on this one where Miles' time is better than Chris' but Chris wins via crossing line first

Miles had sat on the start for quite a while for that one, think he was off in his own little world.