Secret Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week Issue - What's your take?

[Shawn Anderson]

I am such a dork, my car being in the shot from tulsa got me way more excited than any adult should be over being in a group shot. I was calling people.... my car is in Hot Rod! If I ever have a car that is featured my friends and family will kill me for bugging them so much. I keep looking at that shot and I am there, talking to Walt and Sean.

[lun40119]

Dont even get me started..... LOL

I noticed a lot of things too............from my top ring to the class that I ran in. I am not that worried about it. Seems the internet critics were more concerned with what kind of gas mileage I got.

[Todd Maschmeier]

Most of it isnt a big deal....but to call my junk a TURBO car? How hard is it to notice the difference between a nitrous and a turbo combination? I honestly think the overall coverage of the event wasnt as good this year as it was last year. Would be interesting to give Chad the power to do the write up in HOT ROD to see how different it would be. The class winners didnt even get much credit.

[JeffMcKC]

They get a lot of stuff wrong in it every time, I think more will come in other issues. Its never in the Mag. this quick.

[JeffMcKC]

I got 10 mpg with my small block on Drag Week..............if it matters to anyone. Cruising on the highway at 4000-4200rpm. 65mph was very comfortable. The motor isn't very happy below 3500rpm.

It does not!


Jake your wife called, she found a copy under the mattress with the pages stuck together I told her it was just a phase, you will grow out of it.....

[JeffMcKC]

I noticed a lot of things too............from my top ring to the class that I ran in. I am not that worried about it. Seems the internet critics were more concerned with what kind of gas mileage I got.

Its so they can say cost is a reason not to go, they always say they only get 5 MPG with their cars

[TheSilverBuick]

Jake your wife called, she found a copy under the mattress with the pages stuck together I told her it was just a phase, you will grow out of it.....

[38P]

coverage of DW really only is important to those who have been on it, or want to (or bash it).

I could not disagree more. Good writing and photography can make many diverse automotive subjects interesting and informative. Certainly there's a "society pages" aspect to any event coverage (who doesn't scrutinize the photos to see if they or their car is in them?). That may make the stories MORE interesting to participants and live spectators. But serious gearheads read stories all the time about events and forms of racing that are foreign to their own experience. Epic stories and undertakings have always captured the imaginations of men. And properly told, DW is an epic road trip experience.

I mean . . . Larson touring the heartland in a 2,500 h.p. turbo car . . . Jake somehow getting 10 m.p.g. with a crazy-wild camshaft bumping 16 valves way over 3/4th of an inch thousands of times a minute for hour after hour. . . that old Ford custom that looks like a sports car . . . and scores of other stories . . . what true gearhead wouldn't want to read about that?

[38P]

I got 10 mpg with my small block on Drag Week..............if it matters to anyone. Cruising on the highway at 4000-4200rpm. 65mph was very comfortable. The motor isn't very happy below 3500rpm.

For those of us who have experienced single-digit fuel economy with a hydraulic-cammed big block, you're report is amazing. Well done. (Of course, you've got far more patience that I have to live with a "street" car that's not tractable below 3,500 . . . different strokes for different folks . . . .)

[38P]

Most of it isnt a big deal....but to call my junk a TURBO car? How hard is it to notice the difference between a nitrous and a turbo combination? I honestly think the overall coverage of the event wasnt as good this year as it was last year. Would be interesting to give Chad the power to do the write up in HOT ROD to see how different it would be. The class winners didnt even get much credit.

1. The turbo thing was confusing. I'm not sure how they messed that one up.

2. As for tech errors . . . HRM's trying to cover the event without enough reporters. Sadly things get mangled when sorting out notes days later.

3. For someone who truly thinks their car is magazine feature material, I'd suggest preparing a clear and detailed tech sheet in advance to help out the editor/freelancer. Don't make 'em play twenty questions for all the details, because they just don't have the time for it. Hero cards are nice if you've got the budget for it. Kids love 'em! (and another tip that's more for shows than DW, if you've got a sign telling about your car, please position it so that it doesn't block any part of the car in event photos . . . there are many areas on the car where you can post the "run down" without blocking any of the photogenic parts).

4. As for class winners not getting much credit . . . remember the story runs months after the event . . . the results have been on the internet for a long time. The readers who are really "into it" already know the results. Thus, they're trying to give more of a "global" feel to the coverage in a limited number of pages, rather than just focusing on the handful of Dudes who won their classes.

[BBR]

You fill out a detailed (almost too detailed) tech sheet while waiting in line to tech in on the first day.

[lun40119]

For those of us who have experienced single-digit fuel economy with a hydraulic-cammed big block, you're report is amazing. Well done. (Of course, you've got far more patience that I have to live with a "street" car that's not tractable below 3,500 . . . different strokes for different folks . . . .)

The guy who built the engine, worked at DEI in their restrictor plate program, and then left to help with TRD's Carb development when they started their Nascar Programs. He is pretty impressive with a carb.

It seems the more that I mess with the carb, I only screw it up. Injection would be nice though. My little turd is pretty fussy when it comes to weather/DA changes. I went 10.79 at Amarillo, and 10.19 24Hrs later at Tulsa. Same combo has been 9.94. Only thing that has changed is the tires. Im running a radial now.

[lun40119]

Ask Jeff Doc.............we checked it several times. My GPS vs his speedo. Both matched.

[JeffMcKC]

I get 13.5 MPG and Crow gets 16 MPG I think. Doc gets 10 before I leaned it out and it will go even more when we do a plug change and tune to it.

[nesabo]

What is this becoming a thread about Priuses?