For you drag racers out there...do you reference DA a lot?

Mook

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I couldnt think of a better title but as a spinoff from my R thread...I always used to think it was utterly retarded to reference DA when at the track but now I'm starting to see merit.

So I guess my question is....is it douchey to go to the track, run a certain time then bring up DA and say WELL it could have ran blah blah.

This topic is interesting to me.
 

1quick

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I always do, for me it’s more of hot damn that was pretty decent for as high as the da was, I’ve never been in sub 1000 da at the track it’s normally mid teens to mid 2000’s, I never use it as a full on excuse since it’s only worth a couple tenths for me from high to low anyway
 

1quick

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Depends on conditions, when it was low 60’s and I ran the 9.9 it was 1300 da at 85* with more humidity it was 2300, it dosent get sub 1000 at gld until it’s in the low 50’s and dryish, altitude is 600ish if I remember right at gld, it needs to be cold like 30’s with hot sun shine on the track to get the da that makes for hero runs
 

Pressure Ratio

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I use DA only for seeing the results of different mods, weather, track locations, and conditions. It give me a good gauge of what is working and not working no matter the actual DA.

I DO NOT say "I ran a 10.15 @ 1800' DA. Which means I ran a 9.82. So I have a 9 second car." lol





It is like a dyno. It is good for reference and tracking data. It is easy to see if your car typically has a theoretical ET of 10.00 at sea level an suddenly it says you are only running a 10.30 corrected, then you can look for potential issues and so on. Just another "tool" to use.
 

Pressure Ratio

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Glen Ellyn
For those that tune their cars based on atmospheric conditions, such as Top Fuel and Funny Car, DA is very important.

Ya, if you have a bracket car or race an index class, you can read your mobile weather station and find out what changes you may need to make to achieve the desired ET. Or how to change your dial in to account for the DA.

Nitrous users also pay attention to the DA and the number of water molecules in the air. Again, to tweak the jetting of the nitrous system nitrous and fuel jets to keep the a/f and power where they want it.


People that use alcohol as fuel also pay attention to the water vapor as the fuel is affected by the water in the air as well.




So ya, DA and other weather conditions are looked at by serious drag racers. Not so much your average test and tune guy. But that is not to say any racer couldn't use the weather info to run better if they were willing to make changes.
 

b00sted

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The only time I really see DA mentioned is in bracket racing where you're chasing hundredths and thousandths of seconds. The other instance would be guys that are on the ragged edge and chasing every last bit of power(ProStock, Drag Radial, etc) and/or trying to have their tunes perfect right off the trailer.

edit: But that has everything to do with consistent tuning and performance, and nothing to do with "this is why I got clipped".
 

GTPpower

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It's a good reference. The bracket racers at our local track will lose 1/2 a second in the summer, so it's useful to figure out if there is a mechanical problem if it's just the weather.

I use it to figure out if it's worth it to travel to a better track for faster times if I'm close to hitting benchmark.
 

Ear Rak

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Yeah it matters and I pay attention to it. I helps know why you're running what you run. I really wish companies and magazines would include it as information for stuff when they run marketing for ET.

Just know that what ever you see on Facebook doesn't count for us. Dallas is always 2500-3300 and Houston just says "You're fucked" when you try to measure it.
 
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