Originally Posted by abmotorman (Post 4073904)

Dude, please don't comment on drag racing. I've been racing for years and find this comment offensively ignorant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOmXCbVIU_c

Originally Posted by abmotorman (Post 4074206)

Look, maybe the slo-mo video was confusing. That's ok. Since your car doesn't even have a cage, has t-tops and "racing" tires look to have Ford's recommended tire pressure, I don't expect you to magically agree with us. Word of advise, t-tops and slicks on a prepped track (if you car is making over 350hp) is not a good thing. Notice, you're the only one still tugging this rope??? (Had to put a boat reference in here) My car that has those fancy dancy tires, makes 950HP, has a cage, and is allow to run 9's all day, spin's and hooks.

Originally Posted by MILD THUNDER (Post 4073494)

While I see absolutely no good reason to do full throttle starts, what do you think they do during powerboat testing and performance reports? I'd probably rather buy a 33 Fountain with 496's that had some full throttle starts on a small lake or river, over the 33 with 496's that ran it offshore in big water like great lakes or the ocean getting it airborne every weekend.

Many times drives break not because of HP. Prop pitch, boat weight, prop style, x dimension, etc. Perfect example is the 42 Fountains with the dry sump 6 drives coupled to the 700SCI. The 700SCI isn't busting the drive. Its the high propshaft height, 6 blade props, high pitch, rough water etc. Then there are guys with dry sump 6's running a lot more hp through them on a 41 apache with no issues.

I can tell you from a friend who's developed a product, that you will see on the market very soon, the engine isn't breaking the drives in most cases. When you have torque sensors hooked to your driveshaft measuring the torque readings live and logged into a laptop, on flat ass calm water, the most the drivetrain will see is whatever the engine produces. Get into any kind of chop/rough water, even at moderate speeds, and you'll find the torque spikes on the drivetrain to be in the thousands of ft lbs.

Think of it this way. You can take a bone stock mustang and floor it from redlight to redlight without wheel spin, and the trans,rear axles will most likely take it all day long. Now, dump that clutch and let those tires break loose, spinning and smoking until they bite, and see how long before you smoke a rear end or snap an axle. Happens all the time in the big truck world. You can have a big old Kenworth with a 600 cummins in it, loaded to 80k+ lbs, and boost it up with your foot to the floor all day getting up to speed or climbing a mountain. Get that truck off the pavement in some loose gravel or mud, and get some wheel spin going while your foots on the throttle. That's when the service truck has to come out to replace a busted axle or pinion gear.

Take a slab of concrete and you can park a semi truck on it and not crack it. Smack it hard enough with a 20 lb sledge hammer and watch it crack. Concrete is strong, but brittle. Much like gears and shafts.