If one rear wheel has slightly more grip than another, it will generate a torque on the rear axle and twist the car. I guess uneven friction in the driveshafts could also cause twisting.
It's the torque of the engine turning the car on the axle when it launches. In the old days it used to twist the whole car and the doors then wouldn't open/shut properly, then along came spaceframe cages which eliminated that but the car would still turn right over on the axle as the engine tried to rip it off the mountings. Some cars use uneven length suspension links to straighten it out so they can launch harder, some use a swing arm which is like two solid arms on a frame so the axle can only move up and down, not twist.
It's the science of getting the power down for a straight line run, but it makes a road car seriously uncomfortable and it's no good for the twisty bits. You'll find a car that is a great circuit racer won't be too good on the strip for the amount of power it produces and a drag car won't be able to negotiate bends at all. It's just got to be able to hold the car arrow-straight at speeds of 170mph+ in an old body style.
And straighten it out again when it all goes pear shaped
Surely the engines torque twisting the car over like that can't help with performance off the line - can't they mount the engine transversely so that this reaction forces the rears down to the ground instead? Or indeed the fronts, if it helps prevent the nose popping up?
There were a few dragsters in the 60's and 70's with the engine round that way but I don't think it actually made any difference. As long as both tyres are planted squarely on the ground which they are with a solid rear axle it can always hooks up.
The dragsters and funnys have offset front wheels, one is further forwards than the other which counters the lift. I think it's more important for them to design the chassis and suspension so it doesn't pick the front wheels up too high. When it comes crashing back down it normally breaks something
I've got the perfect garage but my Anglia is occupying it at the moment so I can't build my Willys gasser at the moment.
As a strange piece of information this red Anglia here actually wears my old grille. I was at the drags and a guy came up to me and asked if I had a grille for sale. He told me about the Anglia he was building for the Street Eliminator and that it was going to be red as well. I had a mint spare one at home so I unscrewed the one on the car and sold him that one. Cool eh?
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