A couple of videos then a couple of questions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk5DTlgAtt4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNYIjG3se3I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siXBXDe2ohU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkZjrmX3fzQ Firstly I hope all these guys walked away from their crashes ok. Good to see the guy in the streamliner get out because I have seen that crash before but it was from someone else's camera and it didn't have the last bit. Now the questions. What causes cars to suddenly go sideways like that at speed? Is it purely bumps, ruts, bad pockets of air and the wind? Presumably the salt has to be as flat as possible to get a safe run in. Salt isn't as tough as tarmac so don't the cars make a real mess of the surface when they come down on it like that? What do they do to repair the surface after a crash like that? Feel free to post up any good salty runs if you have them
You'll get the best answers @ landracing.com. Go into the LSR Forums and poke around a bit before asking your questions. The simple answers are yes, yes, yes, yes, hopefully, etc. vic
Air going over the top of the body creates lift, which makes the car unstable at those speeds. Roughness in the track,and cross winds,don't help.
And driving on the salt is similar to driving on snow. The back end can get loose at a moments notice.
Some guys will run an open diff,when they loose traction,only one wheel spins. The faster cars need the traction, so spools are more common, which means both wheels spin and the car gets loose.
The salt is not smooth. It has ruts, soft spots, small bumps, and like was said above its a bit slippery kinda like snow. Every car has lift, the faster you go the more lift it will make. Everyone handles lift differently but weight is used frequently as aero aids (like spoilers) cause drag and slow you down. Anyway at some point the vehicle will either hit the aero wall (drag is higher than hp) or have lift which also limits speed and can cause handling issues as stated.
This article on salt flats traction is an interesting read and answers alot of your questions. From the Utah Salt Flats Racing Assoc. website: http://www.saltflats.com/traction.html
The Jalopy Journal
