60 ft can often be the most significant piece of info you can have.
MPH speaks to Horsepower but little else . What happen in the first 60feet can be the difference between killer car and someone elses cannon fodder. The easiest place on the whole race track to get the biggest bang for you buck is the launch and the first 60ft. Why? because for one thing you are moving at the slowest speed here so most improvements will cost you little $$$$$. When I am running a serious car I spend almost all my time working at this. I ask do I have too much gear, Do I have enuf converter. Am I lifting the front end too much or too little. Am I leaving straight or sort of sliding out of the gate with a slight sideways march. Things I have learned along the way. Everything has absolute limits. Even traction. Biggest mistake I see and I see it often is a light weight car , like our FEDs running gearing suitable for door slammer . Bluntly put that would be 4. anything or higher. With my little six at 1706 race weight including me I run 3.91 with a 29.5 tire. I should probably move to an actual 30 tire as I don't need quite that much even. On Mikes car the Hemi we run a 3.55 and really should up its tire size an inch dia as he doesn't need that much either.
I buy the best converter money can by from one of the best there is,Frank Lupo. I currently use a 4700 stall 8 inch behind my little six and if I have my witts about me stage using as much as the track can handle that day I can leave on almost anyone , even some of your procars . I have been involved with Frank since the 1990s. He is my secret weapon. If you think any good converter will do may you be in the other lane on race day. Tire setting for the track I covered few days go so I wont redo it. Which trans gear or which low gear. If I run a tiny cube engine then I use the big gear. With a PG I believe you have a 1.82 or something. Also on the 904 torque flight which I run the lock up cases use a lower first gear and I would use that for a small cubed engine but not big cubed one. Once I get above 400 cubes I would start to consider the lighter gearing in first. I try best I can by shifting weight or balance in the car to keep the front end off on the launch but less then 6 inches with about 3 being ideal. I spend lot of time at this. I watch my short times like a hawk and if I do something that produces a neg to me result I swallow my pride and undo it. (You can laugh but many don't) Now I know at this stage of my life I am not as serious about this as I once was but we did field a lot of track champions from this shop in various forms and this is how. Far too often folks are consumed about the engine and forget the small stuff. We concentrated on the launch and worked to leave you sitting hoping we could hold off your top end charge. Most of the time it was a very successful approach. As to the simulator results. Write the figure down it gave you. Assume that to be ideal and work towards it. Use it as ideal yardstick as it were. You wont get their overnite. You may never get there but if you use it that way you will always beheaded in the right direction.
My 2cnts
don
