Max safe long straight performance in a road race?

[Humba]

Hi, im thinking of a hypothetical race.

The race would be driven in a street course. It would have normal corners etc, but also one very long straight.. say one mile long. Now, I would want to do one qualifying lap, and after that a 30-40 lap race. The only requirement for the car would be only to achieve maximum speed in this very long straight. No cornering or 1/4 mile performance would be needed, even tough we would be driving against time in qualifying and against each others in the race.

What kind of horsepower is it possible to run in qualifying without destroying the engine? What about race? What kind of top speeds would it be possible to achieve in the long straight with this safe amount of power when the car is optimized only for long straight performance? We would have 100 000 - 200 000 dollar budget (yeah right..)

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by Humba

Hi, im thinking of a hypothetical race.

The race would be driven in a street course. It would have normal corners etc, but also one very long straight.. say one mile long. Now, I would want to do one qualifying lap, and after that a 30-40 lap race. The only requirement for the car would be only to achieve maximum speed in this very long straight. No cornering or 1/4 mile performance would be needed, even tough we would be driving against time in qualifying and against each others in the race.

What kind of horsepower is it possible to run in qualifying without destroying the engine? What about race? What kind of top speeds would it be possible to achieve in the long straight with this safe amount of power when the car is optimized only for long straight performance? We would have 100 000 - 200 000 dollar budget (yeah right..)

In my experience, for the $100K price tag you could make an Mkiv TT that could really excel in this kind of race, easily and repeatedly and reliably hitting 700rwhp+ and 175mph+ in the "long straight" (I'm considering some room for braking at the end - let's say at least 1/8th of a mile or so). For a $200K budget in theory 200mph may be possible in the "long straight", and 800-850rwhp would be your power level.

Oh, and with an Mkiv TT you'd automatically get very decent cornering performance too - no way around that.

Interesting discussion - let's keep it going!

[Humba]

Is it possible to run the engine with a higher hp level in qualifying if only one lap would be driven? Then the engine would be tuned to lower level for the race. What if we make the straight longer. Like 1,5 miles. From the corner that leads to the straight the speed would be already 60 mph. I guess the acceleration is very slow near the end due to the friction forces from air and drivetrain, tires etc. Would it be possible to drive over 200mph speeds in qualifying?

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by Humba

...Would it be possible to drive over 200mph speeds in qualifying?

In short, yes. In fact, I'm pretty sure that in my previous post I stated that with your $200K-ish budget, 200mph is no problem.

Additional RPM, boost, horsepower, etc. is not the problem during the 1 or 1.5 mile straightaway, it's heat dissipation. Oh, and you'll also need one hell of a 12 point roll cage or there's not a track in the world that'll approve your vehicle for those kinds of speeds...

[Humba]

Originally Posted by pwpanas

In short, yes. In fact, I'm pretty sure that in my previous post I stated that with your $200K-ish budget, 200mph is no problem.

Yes I asked because I didn't know did you mean 200mph repeatedly in the race or just qualifying. Thanks for answering. And also, I would definately put a roll cage in to a car that is going to be driven in track, regardless the speed.

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by Humba

Yes I asked because I didn't know did you mean 200mph repeatedly in the race or just qualifying. Thanks for answering. And also, I would definately put a roll cage in to a car that is going to be driven in track, regardless the speed.

For the $200K budget, 200mph repeatedly would not be an issue.

[Humba]

Originally Posted by pwpanas

For the $200K budget, 200mph repeatedly would not be an issue.

If you think qualifying and race, is there any way you could make the car to go little faster in qualifying so that 200mph could be done with a 100k budget? Or is the heat dissipation problem such that it is possible to drive only same speeds in quali than in race?

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by Humba

If you think qualifying and race, is there any way you could make the car to go little faster in qualifying so that 200mph could be done with a 100k budget? Or is the heat dissipation problem such that it is possible to drive only same speeds in quali than in race?

Honestly it depends on a lot, including how much of the work you do yourself. If you're going to dump it off at a go-fast shop and tell them you want an Mkiv TT that can roadrace at 200mph, they'll probably laugh if you say your entire budget for everything (including the car) is only $100K. However, if you're very careful (i.e. frugal) with part selection, you do tons and tons of research, and you do almost all of the work yourself, you don't care a lot how it looks (i.e. you don't mind if it doesn't show well, etc.)... then yes, you might be able to create such a beast for $100K-ish. Again, there are a LOT of variables in your quesition so in short, yes it is possible.