Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Dyno and Drag Turbo svt VS. 2002 M5

I looked at that 1/4 mile registry and its pretty impressive. The slowest car with a T3/4 is 12.9XX or something like that.
But I don't see how that applies to the previous statements. Just to restate: AWD gives an advantage launching from a dead stop, therefore a car with 2WD of the same power has a much better chance of losing. From a roll, you have to kind of assume that the clutch is engaged and you are rolling slowly at 5mph. The car with the most torque at that rpm (assuming equal weight) is going to take off quicker. This just comes from that fact that AWD has twice the traction generally that a 2WD vehicle does, so you can rev into your power band (probably what you meant). I can burn my tires well below my power band, so launches from a roll or a stop make only slight differences.
I don't believe that you are in your powerband from a 5mph roll. One factor is the spool-up time for your turbo. From a 5 mph roll there is no revving of the motor to pre-spool the turbo, therefore there is a second or two at least before your turbo is spooled and you are in your power-band.
Intersting thing that goes along with what DemonSVT said: At the drags, I could not beat the firebird TransAm; however once we were both rolling he could not increase the distance between us. Given better traction on the launch I could beat him.
By comparison, Car & Driver tested the Dodge Viper from a dead stop and from a 5 mph roll in 0-60 tests, and the viper was only different by 0.01 seconds in either test.
Anyway, there is no complaint against your car or drag race prowess, I just want to clarify why a rolling start is a valid way to measure performance and also indicate why you might get beat from a roll by a car that can't beat you in a quarter mile drag race.

warmonger