Basic car performance questions

Crapozo · 13-03-2006, 10:55 PM

Hello,

I just recently found a flash game on the internet called Drag Racer Version 3, and i find it quite interesting.

Anyway from playing the game i have found out a few things about manual cars which i have a few questions on:

1. You can change the gear setup (speed) with cars to give em more horsepower, torque etc...
How do you do this? I think for the newer cars you can do it digitally but how about older cars?

2. When you approach the red section of the RPM meter the temperature goes up dramatically. But what is it the actual temperature of? The petrol?

3.If the temperature goes too high, the car engine gets "blown". So what would this mean, in real life i would have to replace the entire engine? What is actually blown?

4.And is it possible to tune a automatic transmission too?

**Falcon Coupe** · 13-03-2006, 10:58 PM

Are you for real ?

1. Change the diff gears

2. Engine temp.

3. Engine has blown, yes same as real life, my advice is change gears just before the redline, not after it.

4. An auto trans can be kitted to shift harder and have a larger stall convertor to leave the line with more revs.

stiddy · 13-03-2006, 11:02 PM

hahahahahahahahahaha

Jim Beam · 13-03-2006, 11:17 PM

Oh he cant be for real...

Noone could be THAT dumb.

Oh and this is my first post, and for you Fordmods boys I'm also Jim Beam on there.

**Falcon Coupe** · 13-03-2006, 11:23 PM

Give him a break, everyone learns at somestage, great first post ehh. :yeees:

Crapozo · 13-03-2006, 11:23 PM

Yeah i'm for real, i know NOTHING about cars and just want to know alittle bit more about them

GTS_300_Coupe · 13-03-2006, 11:24 PM

give the guy a break, not everybody is a car nerd around here.

stiddy · 14-03-2006, 12:33 AM

Welcome to the Forum matey..

merlin · 14-03-2006, 08:09 AM

6) If I use all my nitrous how long does it take to recharge?

7) I can't find the "speadbreaker" button on my corolla?

:

oh and welcome :-)

agony · 14-03-2006, 08:20 AM

at least your trying mate and got the guts to ask why things are going wrong, keep up the good work and you will work it all out there.

big_waity · 14-03-2006, 08:30 AM

Faclon Coupe pretty much answered them all. The only thing I would add is thatyou can also change the internal gearing of a gearbox. To do that, you need to replace all the gears within the box. A lot of work and not really worth the effort. It is MUCH harder than they make it look in Gran Turismo!

pauljh74 · 14-03-2006, 11:38 AM

As for how to make an engine have different power/torque characteristics, things like camshaft configuration would influence that without going to complete engine rebuilds. The camshaft determines when and for how long the valves open and close. By putting a different camshaft in it can change the engine's nature - ie. instead of producing torque across a wider rev range, this powerband range can be reduced, but the peak performance may increase. The closer you push the engine to it's limits in it's setup to extract max performance, the more stress you put on it and the more likely it is going to go bang sooner rather than later. Car makers generally make the engines develop power over a wider range and set them up fairly conservatively to achieve the level of durability expected ie 200,000+kms under normal use.

Crapozo · 15-03-2006, 03:40 PM

I thankyou for the replies,

I think in some of the questions my descriptions were alittle bit off what i meant was:

1. How do i tune the gears on a car? (not how to change the gears)

3. So if the engine is blown, what is actually wrong with it? would the whole engine need to be replaced?

foxtrot · 15-03-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crapozo

I thankyou for the replies,

I think in some of the questions my descriptions were alittle bit off what i meant was:

1. How do i tune the gears on a car? (not how to change the gears)

3. So if the engine is blown, what is actually wrong with it? would the whole engine need to be replaced?

This guy has to be joking

seriously...

FRDXR6 · 15-03-2006, 03:51 PM

1. Firstly could i ask what kind of car you have in mind when you ask these questions?

2. Secondly what do you intend to the use the car for? e.g will you drive it on the street or will it just be towed to a racetrack and only drive on there?

Without knowing this its very hard to answer your questions and give you advice!

Also im fairly sure you wont be able to change the gear ratio in any widely available gearbox for any street car. To do this i would assume you would need a fully adjustable tranny as found in race cars etc (are you willing to spend at an absolute minimum $10 000+ just for a gearbox?) Most people choose the gearbox according to the ratios, they dont muck around changing ratios once they have a gearbox. But someone maybe be able to correct me on this.

big_waity · 15-03-2006, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crapozo

I thankyou for the replies,

I think in some of the questions my descriptions were alittle bit off what i meant was:

1. How do i tune the gears on a car? (not how to change the gears)

3. So if the engine is blown, what is actually wrong with it? would the whole engine need to be replaced?

Hi mate, with your first question, what do you mean by tune the gears? Do you mean change the ratios? If you mean change the ratios, then you do need to replace the internal gears. Otherwise, I have no idea what you mean.

With your third question, it depends on what is blown. More often than not, cars blow head gaskets. A blown head gasket is pretty comon with E-Series sixes. Repairing a headgasket can be done by just replacing the headgasket, which is a little under a hundred bucks plus labour. To really do the job properly, you replace the headgasket, some bolts and some seals and you get the head checked. If the head is fine, you put it back on, if not, you get it machined or just replace it. So, you can be looking at anywhere between $300 and $3000 depending on the damage and how good a job you get done.

big_waity · 15-03-2006, 04:03 PM

So, Crapozo, I don't want to sound rude or anything but, how old are you?

Crapozo · 15-03-2006, 10:41 PM

yes yes i know my questions are kinda dumb but i seriously know zilch about cars
Anyway i am 20 years old

ok i think my questions confuse some of you, i know a way to make you all understand!

goto this address and play this game in tuner mode,
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/dragrace3.html

Now there is a tuning section where you can adjust the speed of the gears and when you drag race the car and the temperature gets up to 100, the engine "blows", this is what i mean.
I think the questions i ask should be possible in all cars

Scott · 15-03-2006, 11:01 PM

:nutsycuck

LeMans · 16-03-2006, 12:39 AM

Crapozo,

Well done for taking the first steps into the world of the car enthusiast. Regardless of what some people may think, no one knows anything until they are taught.

There are a few concepts involved here that need more than a little while to grasp though, but since everyone has to start somewhere, then this is as good a place as any and better than most.

Lesson 1: A gear box is just a fancy set of levers. As you probably know, anyone can move a heavy weight if they were to use a long length of wood as a lever. How easily you move it depends on how close the pivoting point is to the weight. If it is very close to the weight, then you can move it easily but you won't move it far. If it is further from the weight, then you can move it further, but you will need to use more force to move it.
In a gear box, each gear is just a round lever. Some gears let you move the car more easily (low gears) and others allow you to travel further (high gears). However, each gear is a permanent lever and these levers might not be the ideal compromise of distance and force for what you want to do (drag race). By replacing the gears in the gear box however, you can find a different compromise. Each compromise will have a different effect on the car depending on the power of the engine, the weight of the car and the length and grip of the race track.
This is why you are able to change the performance of the car by "tuning" the gear box, and by tuning I mean replace the gears.

Lesson 2:
Blowing the engine can mean many things and can be caused by many things. The game that you are playing has a very simple opinion of what blows an engine. Although overheating can cause an engine to blow, it is probably not likely that it will do so as it is shown in the game, although the engine will blow up as shown in the game for an entirely different reason... usually because the engine is spinning so fast that a component spins itself straight out of the side of the engine, or because the igniting petrol in the engine is just too big an explosion for the components to handle, so it blows up like a small bomb.

These are some very simple explanations, but as I said, a complex concept starts with a simple understanding.