With RWD, you’re making all that horsepower up front, but you’ve got to make it do a 90-degree turn to spin those tires. That’s got to be hard on the mechanism — downright brutal in any kind of racing. Here’s how to get started putting the pieces back together, and a set-up shortcut, too.
You may have noticed that HOT ROD Professional has morphed into Performance Technician. It means a renewed commitment to a wider variety of performance-related topics of interest to you, our tech-savvy readers.
In this issue, we focus on brake friction material, why combustion chamber volume is critical to know in calculating true mechanical compression ratio of an engine, why a supercharged engine doesn’t have to be difficult to tune, and,why setting up your differential properly is critical.
Mercedes-Benz has always been an innovator in the automotive industry, and its powertrain technology shows this clearly. But besides the great leaps in engines that have produced the wonderful performance and efficiency of today, has anybody ever given any thought to how those engines are mounted in the chassis? Yes, indeed, and to a larger extent than you probably suspect.
When it comes to racing, initially large chunks of horsepower are made and lap times drop quickly on that first day at the track. By day three, the improvements have dropped to 0.1 second if you’re lucky. Will lightening your flywheel give better lap times — or just another 0.1 second? And will the car still be “streetable” after this mod?
BMW has always been a company that leads the way with technological advancements. One important development was the Mechatronic transmission. It’s been installed in many models, so we need to be more familiar with its do’s and don’ts.
