Someone please educate me... What is "trap speed" and how does that affect how fast a car is? Thanks!

 

Well the trap speed is not your actually speed at the end of the 1/4 mile...

It is the Avg speed over the final portion of the run.... your actually speed at the very end of the run is always going to be a little higher than your trap speed...

I'm sure someone could elaborate on this further, but that's the basic ideal...

DOM

 

Trap Speed (both for 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile) is measured in a 66 foot speed trap that ends at the finish line (and/or 1/8 mile line). The trap speed therefore, is calculated as an average speed through these timing lights.

Trap speed is generally a better indicator of a car's performance capability than ET since even if a car is driven very poorly off the line resulting in a bad ET, the trap will generally always be where is should be. For example, if I have a good run in my Cobra, I might run a 13.3@105 mph. However, if I spin really badly off the line and/or miss a gear, my run might be 14.2@105. You could also normally assume that the car with a higher trap would win a race "from a roll"....

 

I was close....

DOM

EDIT - This was post 1K, kind of a waste

 

If you spin badly, most of the time you should actually have a HIGHER trap speed than you would if you hooked up perfectly.

Think about it- after spinning, you'd be going through the beams at a higher rpm than you would have otherwise.

I had a AWD Talon Tsi that would run 13.20's all day but only trap at 103. And that car NEVER spun

 

I know that man, I wasn't trying to get that specific in the explaination. I was just trying to demonstrate that there is a difference between running a 14.2 at say 105 then running 14.2 at 95. The car trapping higher is "faster" though the times are the same (if that makes sense)...

A run between your Talon and my car would be a good example of how different vehicles perform differently, we'd be pretty evenly matched in a quarter mile run, anything shorter you'd likely be ahead, anything longer and I'd likely be ahead...

Matter of fact, yesterday, the track hooked for shit and I actually pulled off a wonderful 14.3@108.5 (2.4 short time)...

 

Thanks folks! Now I think I get it.

 

so what was once a 12 second car w/a 13 second driver is now a 12 second car w/a 14 second driver?? :P

 

Noooo, wouldn't it be a 12 sec car, w/ a 13 sec driver, on a 14 sec track??? :P

DOM

 

Bwwahahahahahaaaa