Hey! What are we thinking!? My track days (like your's) are done in 2nd and 3rd... of course I'm going to get low mileage. Done in 5th and 6th you'll get above 10... well above. Not 20mph (2 stops) but at least 13.

 

How cool is it that we get to drive a car that would have been a contender in pre-1950 Indy 500 ...I'll tell you...way cool...

 

Way way cool! And I'm thinking, not just a contender... maybe a winner. I'm working on another chart.

 

Well what do you think?

I am showing the Fastest Qual times, Slowest Qual times, Ave Qual times and Ave Race times.

It seems that the least useful is the Ave Race times. This is because (as discussed before) of the yellows etc. I think the most interesting is to see where we could qualify at the pole and where we'd be 'on the bubble'.

Over history half of the races have been won by those in the top 4 starting positions. Probably half of the races have been won by the fastest 3 qualifiers since many many times the fastest 3 qualifiers are *not* in the first 3 spots.

This would suggest that if we have the speed to qualify in the top three we could easily win the race.

(There is an anomoly in the 1956 data... the "ave qual speed" is greater than the "fastest qual speed"...this is kooky but it's the data I have.)

Starting Position and win rate:
Pole 19%
2nd 13%
3rd 10%
4th 7%

So look at the speeds and lets decide what we agree on.
Assumptions:
"135 through the turns (basically redline 5th gear). Maybe get up to 145 at the end of the long straight, 140 in the chutes" Billy (give me +/- 2.5mph and I can go 142.5)
"13 MPG is achievable" Me
"S absolute top speed is 167" empirical
"S is as reliable over the 500 miles as any of the entries prior to 1965" I just made that up.
"No reason to change tires." earlier post

Agree? Disagree?

What I get from this is that:
- we could qualify with a lap speed of ~ 140 (mid range for speeds 135, 140, 145)
- we could pull off a 3 stop race under no yellow conditions (fewer stops or pit under yellow for other cases)
- we wouldn't need to change tires so we would have fast stops

This means
- we could qualify on the pole or at the front of the grid any time on or prior to 1956 (142.58 - 1955)
- we could qualify at the qual ave speed any time on or prior to 1957 (141.444)
- we could get on the field any time on or prior to 1960 (142.253 - 1957)

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jedwards
[COLOR=red]Really really good stuff Billy.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jedwards
[COLOR=red]Stops would be fast though because (new stock) tires wouldn't need changing.

I'm going to see if I can find someone who's driven IMS...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jedwards
[COLOR=red]So look at the speeds and lets decide what we agree on.
Assumptions:
"135 through the turns (basically redline 5th gear). Maybe get up to 145 at the end of the long straight, 140 in the chutes"

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?se...0&page_number=1

This is the article where they try for the land speed record (in it's class) S2K. "manties" safe...

Great data Jed....I think you'd want racing tires, like billy said, a shaved r-compound something, and quick change racing hubs.

I'm surprised they couldn't go faster, 1955-65...You'd think they would have had enough motor...maybe it was chassis and tires....

 

Hmmnn...."S" is reliable....I have my doubts about the Diff at 500 miles, running high eights....And cooling....? hmmmnnn...

 

edit for Billy Boy!