Quantity Has a Quality All Its Own

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http://raceology.com/images/joseph_stalin_pipe.jpg "Quantity Has a Quality All Its Own" By Don Terrill (c)2005 Stalin was referring to Russian Tank production during WWII when he said "Quantity has a quality all its own." This may be tough, but let's consider the quote, and not the man it came from. In the past, I'm not sure if people ever meant it when they said "Bigger is always better", but today it's used to make fun of those who always want more - be it compression, camshaft duration or carburetion. The new cliche is "Bigger is NOT always better" - a phrase I hear way too often. The fact is though, there are areas in racing where just plain bludgeoning it with more works. More outweighs better: Engine size - If there are no traction problems, more engine will always equal more performance. Power-Adders - Let's face it, the worst Nitrous system can still make a ton of power; and more Nitrous is going to make more power. The same goes for the boost from a turbo or blower. RPM - This formula says it all; Horsepower = (Torque X RPM) / 5252. As you can see, anytime you can increase RPM without a corresponding loss in Torque, you are going to make more power. The key is getting enough air into the engine. Money - This is an easy one; it doesn't matter where it comes from, it all spends the same; and more is better. [/list]On the flip side... Better outweighs more: Engine Builders - There are a 1,000 ways to make (x) amount of horsepower, choose only one. Start mixing the ideas of more than one engine builder and you're finished. Crew Chiefs - One great crew chief will beat five good ones every time. [/list] I got this blog post idea from watching too much of the History Channel. An example of more is better? I'll let you decide. Think I'm out to lunch? Fine, write your own article (http://racingarticles.com/submit.html) Read more... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/raceology?m=16) Source: Raceology - Science of Auto Racing (http://raceology.com) Technical Column by Don Terrill

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Jul 27, 2005 | 12:00 AM

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Quantity Has a Quality All Its Own

"Quantity Has a Quality All Its Own"

By Don Terrill (c)2005

Stalin was referring to Russian Tank production during WWII when he said "Quantity has a quality all its own." This may be tough, but let's consider the quote, and not the man it came from.

In the past, I'm not sure if people ever meant it when they said "Bigger is always better", but today it's used to make fun of those who always want more - be it compression, camshaft duration or carburetion.

The new cliche is "Bigger is NOT always better" - a phrase I hear way too often.

The fact is though, there are areas in racing where just plain bludgeoning it with more works.

More outweighs better:

<ul>[*]
Engine size - If there are no traction problems, more engine will always equal more performance.[*]
Power-Adders - Let's face it, the worst Nitrous system can still make a ton of power; and more Nitrous is going to make more power. The same goes for the boost from a turbo or blower.
[*]
RPM - This formula says it all; Horsepower = (Torque X RPM) / 5252. As you can see, anytime you can increase RPM without a corresponding loss in Torque, you are going to make more power. The key is getting enough air into the engine.

[*]
Money - This is an easy one; it doesn't matter where it comes from, it all spends the same; and more is better.
[/list]On the flip side...

Better outweighs more:

<ul>[*]
Engine Builders - There are a 1,000 ways to make (x) amount of horsepower, choose only one. Start mixing the ideas of more than one engine builder and you're finished.[*]
Crew Chiefs - One great crew chief will beat five good ones every time.[/list]I got this blog post idea from watching too much of the History Channel. An example of more is better? I'll let you decide.

Think I'm out to lunch? Fine, write your own article

Read more...

Source: Raceology - Science of Auto Racing
Technical Column by Don Terrill