I am looking into building a drag race car. The 2 classes that I am torn between is Turbo street (NDRA) and Comp 4 (NDRA). I have the parts for both motor builds. I have a set of custom 13.5:1 compression JE's and crower rods, as well as brand new 9:1 compression CP's.
Now the thing with the classes is, turbo street there is A LOT of power, and tuning that is required to be competitive. I mean it is very hard for someone like myself to compete against a full ride/ sponsored team like Clutch Masters. My only sponsor is me and thats busting my *** just to make it to 4 or more races a year.
Now with the comp 4 class, I would only need a few things to have a fully built motor that is ready to tear it up. There were not that many cars in the class and I think it could be a lot of fun, and possibly a great starter class for sanctioned racing. I think that I could make some good power and make it hook and be very competitive.

What would you guys do? Knowing the cost of either motor well equipped. Nothing crazy, off the wall like multi thousand dollar itb's or anything. IF I were to run them they would be the twm or just the ips manifold.

 

I guess you're in the same dilemma as I am. Building a car for a class that may potentially disappear or trying to qualify in a class with mid 9 seconds cars as the norm. We're going for PW/S. At least the most horsepower won't win in this class but then you'll still have to deal with the AWD cars. I still don't comprehend why AWD cars are allowed to run in this class. My buddy's GSX pulls 1.55 60' ft's on all seasons. No matter, we're still gonna compete regardless.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RaceProfessor &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I still don't comprehend why AWD cars are allowed to run in this class. My buddy's GSX pulls 1.55 60' ft's on all seasons. No matter, we're still gonna compete regardless.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Because they have to run somewhere and due to the weight of any AWD car they can't compete as easily with the light weight FWD chasis. Why does this come up every time PW/S is mentioned. Nothing in life is complelty fair. As to the orginal question if your just thinking about building a car, you should go comp 4, while you may just want to race to race, everyone wants to be somewhat competitive and being put on the trailer every week gets old fast. Turbo Street has advanced very far, many of the cars in it could be competitive in Pro 4, its not budget racing thats for sure, and if your building a car part by part its dollar for dollar more expensive to run Turbo Street. Many people can build a decent all motor engine for just what a Gt42 cost.

 

Josh, I say go for comp4. It is an easy class to build for, a ton less maintenance, and overall much more fun for a beginner. $10k will build you a competitive car whereas it is over double that for a competitive turbo street car.

Plus, comp4 needs more competitors. If we get more cars then the class will not go away. I dont know why this class does not have twice the competitors of turbo street because it is so much cheaper. And the cars sound really cool.

 

keep in mind, comp 4 isnt exactly a cakewalk either. the faster cars in this class arent running "street" motors. they are more like a pro motor in a sportsman car. while building a boosted setup may be more expensive, building a motor to be competitive in comp 4 is also very costly. honestly i would say go for the pw/s class if i had to start over. or maybee buid a car/motor for nhra street stock. either of these class' are more about driving and less about having the most power. goodluck w/ whatever you decide.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Missing Gears &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">keep in mind, comp 4 isnt exactly a cakewalk either. the faster cars in this class arent running "street" motors. they are more like a pro motor in a sportsman car. while building a boosted setup may be more expensive, building a motor to be competitive in comp 4 is also very costly. honestly i would say go for the pw/s class if i had to start over. or maybee buid a car/motor for nhra street stock. either of these class' are more about driving and less about having the most power. goodluck w/ whatever you decide.</TD></TR></TABLE>good point on the race motors, on street cars. but don't you think, that the samething is being done in street stock? it would be nice if more people can step up, and run comp4 this year. i know i'll make the rockingham NC event, and the MD event in august! hope to see you guys at the track

 

tracy, I am glad you replied. I think you know I have the parts bottom end to build a competitive car and I would need to build the top 1/2 of my motor. Watching your wife race it looked really fun and not too many people in the class and the times looked like I could built a competitive car fairly easily.This would be a drag only car, I will get another chassis, either a race chassis or just do minor changes to my daily and get a beater, but the car will not be driven other than racing.
My racing partner's g/f is interested in building a car to race and we were going to build her a comp4 car but found that it would be cheaper to build a competitive power street car for her.
Man its great seeing all these women racing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by smokey2.0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good point on the race motors, on street cars. but don't you think, that the samething is being done in street stock? it would be nice if more people can step up, and run comp4 this year. i know i'll make the rockingham NC event, and the MD event in august! hope to see you guys at the track </TD></TR></TABLE>

i agree, same thing is being done in street stock but at least it comes down to the driver more than the motor. anybody can run consistantly on slicks