Just how bad would it be to use a parachute on a car about 2/3 the weight of the specs on a manufacture's sizing chart. The car would also be slower than the speeds listed for the heavier car chute as well.
The reason I ask is that I fully intend to put a chute on the FED I'm building, but at the races last night at my local 1/8 Mi track I never saw a single car deploy a chute and they were running much faster MPH and much quicker E.T.'s than what my car will be capable of. I read of "soft" and "hard" opening chutes, but I would think that any particular chute would open softer at 100 MPH than it would at 140 MPH or more.
I don't want to disregard a manufacturer's recommendations or safety. I was able to pick up a nice chute but was told it's for a heavier car and wouldn't be suitable for my FED. I can fully understand the danger of using too small a chute for the speed and weight of a car, but it seems a chute a bit too big to not be as critical, especially at slower speeds.
Thanks, in advance for advice from a user's standpoint.
Lynn