dna1990 wrote:my thought is that the Mall-track (forget the name, but you know the one we have all seen pics of, they launch from second story)...that has a MUCH steeper drop and should have top-end speeds much more than the Akron hill.
Granted that it is a simplification, but the equation for
maximum speed is primarily governed by the relative height of the starting point. The slope of the drop should not be a very significant factor in the maximum speed obtained; however, a steeper slope allows a vehicle to reach its top speed in a shorter amount of time. Understanding that a 50' drop is like have the starting gate placed on top of a
five-story tower, the top-end speeds at Akron hill should be noticeably greater than the Mall-track (assuming that the drop is really 50').
dna1990 wrote:Just guessing by our hill, a 5oz car seems unlikely to have enough inertia built up to sustain over the longer flatter section at the bottom. Might not even finish, more less be going 'fast'.
Perhaps, although Stan seemed to
disagree. My own intuition would be that a carefully built car would cross the finish line at 1000' with plenty of speed to spare. (At least the simulation seemed to affirm that.)
dna1990 wrote:SBD cars themselves at 240lbs are only around 32mph at the finish.
The physics would be the same whether we are talking about SBD or PWD; to draw a comparison I believe what matters most are the differences in the cross-sectional area/mass ratio, and the differences in the mass moment of inertial of wheels relative to the total vehicle mass. I personally don't know enough about SBD specifications to make the comparison, but trust your assessment that woodcars would be at a disadvantage racing against a SBD car (now there's a spectacle!)