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What distance does it typically take a HP car to reach top speed?

69 GTX

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So I was just wondering from a standing start what distance does it take to reach max MPH in a HP B body? What HP requirement would it take to reach 200 mph. I'm sure every car is different but just a guess? HemiRunner got any thoughts?
 
A LOT of factors.....but a guess would be about 3 miles & you won't get there unless you have a Daytona, Superbird or AT LEAST a '71-'74 Charger (low drag coefficient). I looked into this a lot many years ago.
 
Not that I'm looking to do it but just curious. In my head I figured My GTX would top out +- 5mph in 2 miles. Besides my tires are probably only rated to 150!
 
Not that I'm looking to do it but just curious. In my head I figured My GTX would top out +- 5mph in 2 miles. Besides my tires are probably only rated to 150!
I've "heard" (nod, nod, wink, wink) that wind resistance makes the b-bodies "brick" body start to float & drift maybe a 1/2 lane at a time when you drive over a pebble in the road above about 150mph
 
I've heard that too! (nod, nod, wink, wink) It was many years ago, but that part of my memory is still clear! :thumbsup:
 
I've "heard" (nod, nod, wink, wink) that wind resistance makes the b-bodies "brick" body start to float & drift maybe a 1/2 lane at a time when you drive over a pebble in the road above about 150mph
I took my 440 powered '70 Roadrunner to just over 150mph around 30 years ago, on a lonely deserted stretch of road. It was approx 2 miles to get that speed, and another 2 miles to coast back down to a stop.....engine quit. Found a burnt out condenser in my points distributor. Tunnel vision was the thing that scared me most about that ride. No traffic to worry about....and the power steering helped me stay reasonably straight during that blast. :)
 
All i know is that drag multiplies by the cube, so if it takes 100hp for 100 mph, 200 mph needs 800 hp.
 
From a standing start at El Mirage dry like, it took one mile to get Pop's 361ci 1959 Plymouth to 146.10 mph. That was in 1959. He was the first man to go 180 mph one way in an unblown stock bodied sedan at Bonneville. 518 ci wedge in, I think it was, 1963. It took the Dodge Coronet three miles if I remember correctly.
 
With my '70 Baracuda it took about 1 1/2+ miles to top out, with the needle way beyond the 120 mark (130?). 383 2bbl short block w/EDE DP4B, Holley 3310. cheap 1 3/4" headers.
 
An a12 car with a stock cam, 5500rpm, big hood scoop and 4.10 gear might top out at 110mph in a quarter mile. Put the same engine in a slipperier body with 2.76 gear? Who knows!?
 
From a standing start at El Mirage dry like, it took one mile to get Pop's 361ci 1959 Plymouth to 146.10 mph. That was in 1959. He was the first man to go 180 mph one way in an unblown stock bodied sedan at Bonneville. 518 ci wedge in, I think it was, 1963. It took the Dodge Coronet three miles if I remember correctly.
Very cool Jim!
 
I was thinking my 69 GTX with 3.73 + gearvendor (3.10 ish) might go 150 mph, I figured (guessed it'd take 1-1.5 miles to do it. Probably will never try it around here, to many critters to pop out of the ditches!
 
It's not something that can be answered in general. It depends on so many factors including the acceleration curve and the actual top speed. Many cars accelerate to say 100 mph quite quickly and then the rate begins to slow. By then you are travelling faster so covering lots of ground. If you're top speed was 150 mph and it took you 30 seconds to eke out that last 10 mph to go from 140 mph to 150 mph at a linear rate then you would travel 1.2 miles just in that 1 minute. I think I read once a Mclaren F1 would need 8 miles to reach its 240 mph top speed, but could hit 138 mph over a quarter mile.
 
Really depends on the style of build
what type of surface, what altitude & RAD etc.

I'd think you need serious downforce 1st off

with the right gears, tires (brakes) & long enough straight
600hp-700hp & a great aero package,
2+ miles if it wasn't a 4000# brick (probably more like 3 miles)
(they did it in 1969 with special setups, Buddy Baker on an 2+ mile semi/tri-oval
with all the money & engineering that Chrysler Corp., NASCAR could muster up)


I went 0-190mph in 6.90 seconds in a 1/4 mile
it wasn't no B-Body either, it was only 1800#'s
23 Ford T altered, did the same in a 27 T altered too

Budnicks 23 T Ford Altered AA-Gas 6-71 Blown 301ci Donavon (1).jpg


Budnicks 23 T Ford Altered Crower Inj. #1.JPG


I did have/drove a buddies fiberglass bodied
tube chassis 69 RR, with a 526ci Milodon Mastodon {or 540?}
blown alky, 4.30:1 {?}, 4 speed Jeffco Crower slipper clutch
(IIRC) it was legal weight 2550#'s
went 188 @ 7.20 1/4 mile way back 1997-ish
unloading the tires 'a lot', black tracking
(IF I had another 320 ft or 4.10:1, 3.91 or maybe 3.73:1 gears, a 1/2 or 3/8's mile
I'd have easily went 200mph, with the gear it had it'd be 10,000rpms
probably be a pile of parts too, it was over 7500rpm in the 1/4
)
big *** 15 x 15 x 33's, black tracking the whole way
never really could get it hooked well for the best ET & MPH
only got about a dozen passes & it felt really light on the nose
(has the aero of a brick, even with a front air-dam/spoiler)
Went 6.69 @ 217 in a 1/4 mile
in a very swoopy/aero package & huge wing on the rear {important part}
in a 1500hp 540ci 1992 Trans Am,

Budnicks 92 Trans Am 540ci N20 Outlaw Pro-Stock Sac. Raceway early 90's.JPG


earlier a 1989 Camaro same basic combo in a
both Pro-Mod/Outlaw Pro-Stock, Top Sportsman cars,
nearly broke the 200 mark....
The T/A had a far better aero package/down-force,
don't discount the aero stuff...
It was the difference between a 190-ish @ 6.90-7.00's & 6.69 @ 217...
The 89 Camaro was no slouch in aero either

Budnicks 89 Camaro Z28 540ci Milodon Outlaw Pro-Stock Sears Point early 90's.JPG


albeit tire tech is far better today than 10-20 years ago too

been I've been best of 5.97 @ 227, in the 1/4
that was well over 2500hp

I don't think I'd even try in a reg. b-body car again
unless it was a Superbird or Daytona Charger & a full F/C cage etc.
too much air under it & it's like pushing a wall...

I wonder what the best a reg. B-Body {not a Superbird or Daytona}
has done on Bonneville ?
 
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In early ‘69 I saw a stock 383 Bee w/3.23’s go to 146 on the speedo, think it took about 1.5 Miles; was real slow getting up that last 5mph! Oh jeez, were OE bias ply’s rated for 150? !!!
 
In early ‘69 I saw a stock 383 Bee w/3.23’s go to 146 on the speedo, think it took about 1.5 Miles; was real slow getting up that last 5mph! Oh jeez, were OE bias ply’s rated for 150? !!!
in reality with the inaccurate speedometer of the the time and in an mopar you probably were only going 145.9
 
Weren’t the Daytona’s and Superbird’s capable of almost 200 off the showroom floor?
 
Weren’t the Daytona’s and Superbird’s capable of almost 200 off the showroom floor?
That was the rumor. I never believed it. I think they are about a thousand rpm and 150hp short, even the hemi.
The stock aero cars sat about 4inches higher than a NASCAR stocker and weren't near as slick arodynamically
 
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A physicist I saw on a site on Google calculated for a decently aerodynamic car,( he used a corvette as example) it takes approximately two and a half times as much power to go from 150mph to 200mph.
So, if your roadrunner can do 150 with 335hp, you will need somewhere near 800hp for that deuce. That is just drag, not Including rolling resistance.
 
I was thinking my 69 GTX with 3.73 + gearvendor (3.10 ish) might go 150 mph, I figured (guessed it'd take 1-1.5 miles to do it. Probably will never try it around here, to many critters to pop out of the ditches!
It’ll probably go well over 150mph with that OD. Mine gets to over 140 in the quarter mile and I shift into high gear just before the 1/8. I’ve never been anywhere near the shift point at the 1/4 trap to click the OD on. If you can find enough real estate, I’m game to find out, but I don’t think my speedometer goes high enough lol
 
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