Bracket racing a Nissan Leaf

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In the Sixties and early Seventies, my father bracket raced a Volvo 122S. Since it was a four cylinder originally rated at 90HP (his was more like 150 in that car, and then 200 in a lighter Volvo 544 later on), he got a big head start. Depending on which bracket he fell in at a particular track, he either had to go for broke, or run as hard as he could until right before the finish line, and then stand on the brakes so he didn't go under the national record for the bracket and disqualify. (Interesting system, eh?) In either case it was a blast to see the white "Violent Volvo" Volvo come roaring off the line, nose bobbing with every shift, then about 5 seconds later some Muscle Car would take off in a cloud of smoke and try to catch him. They often failed. One reason was that he'd psych them into doing multiple "burnouts" with him before the race; this didn't bother the Volvo B18 at all, but the V-8s he was racing would get too hot and run a bit worse. This strategy could probably by used by Leaf drivers as well. ;-)
 
RickS said:
Sorry for the delay. Yes that was Lowa on the Volt forum.

Times for the Leaf were:

1) 17.4466 @ 78.23mph
2) 17.4291 @ 78.49mph
3) 17.3882 @ 77.19mph

60 ft times

1) 2.6047
2) 2.5801
3) 2.5815
Click to expand...
Very interesting thread. I have a 2013 Honda Fit EV and decided to check the 1/4 mile performance data that Car and Driver reported in their instrumented tests. So I went to my local track, Lebanon Valley Dragway. It was calm with no wind, 70 degrees, ideal for testing.



Car and Driver's instrumented tests claimed a 16.8 sec @ 83 mph. The only change I made to my car was to increase the tire pressures to 44 psi. I was able to better their elapsed time by quite a bit, but the mph was spot on.



Run 1: 16.468 sec. @ 83.47 mph.

Run 2: 16.465 sec. @ 83.62 mph.



I snapped this pic just after the finish line.

I am quite happy and because it was so perfectly consistent, I felt no need to make any more runs that evening. I will go back again and try to improve on it a little.
 
We raced at Lebanon valley. Do they still allow motorcycles and even snowmobiles (with wheels) to run there?

I've read that the Leaf's speedo is a few MPH "optimistic." Did the track's MPH figure match yours?
 
LeftieBiker said:
We raced at Lebanon valley. Do they still allow motorcycles and even snowmobiles (with wheels) to run there?

I've read that the Leaf's speedo is a few MPH "optimistic." Did the track's MPH figure match yours?
Click to expand...
Honestly, I wasn't watching my speedo right at the line so I can't say for sure, but in my past experience with the plethora of Sentras I've owned over the years, yes the speedos always read a 2-3 mph high.

Yes, they still allow the snowmobiles with the slick rubber tracks in place of the snow tracks and urethane wheels in the skiis. Motorcycles too. ;)

Mike
 
Last Friday I took my 2012 LEAF SL to "Test and Tune" night at Capitol Dragway in Crofton, MD. It was beautiful weather and I made (3) 1/4 mile runs. The car is all stock including the 120 volt charging cord in the back. I weigh about 180 pounds.

Here are the results:

Run 1 - 17.337 seconds @ 78.50 mph 0 - 60 foot time - 2.579 Reaction Time, .057

Run 2 - 17.304 seconds @ 78.62 mph 0 - 60 foot time - 2.561 R/T, .056

Run 3 - 17.319 seconds @ 78.64 mph 0 - 60 foot time - 2.565 R/T, -.088 (redlighted)

This might be a bracket winner if one can cut a consistent reaction time. I wasn't the slowest car that day but I was the only BEV.

FYI.
 
BEVeedom said:
Last Friday I took my 2012 LEAF SL to "Test and Tune" night at Capitol Dragway in Crofton, MD. It was beautiful weather and I made (3) 1/4 mile runs. The car is all stock including the 120 volt charging cord in the back. I weigh about 180 pounds.

Here are the results:

Run 1 - 17.337 seconds @ 78.50 mph 0 - 60 foot time - 2.579 Reaction Time, .057

Run 2 - 17.304 seconds @ 78.62 mph 0 - 60 foot time - 2.561 R/T, .056

Run 3 - 17.319 seconds @ 78.64 mph 0 - 60 foot time - 2.565 R/T, -.088 (redlighted)

This might be a bracket winner if one can cut a consistent reaction time. I wasn't the slowest car that day but I was the only BEV.

FYI.
Click to expand...

Nice! Very consistent as suspected. Adjusting for RT, it comes out to a delta of just 0.159 between all 3 runs. No launch RPM to deal with or tranny variances. Just step, go and let the car do all the work. Should be real easy to get low and consistent RT's. If you weren't driving a Leaf I'd almost say your RT's were God-like (I dunno, maybe they are. ;)).
 
003_zps1bb9eec5.jpg


Lebanon Valley Dragway held it's first Wednesday night "Test and tune" event of the season last week and I took my Fit EV down there to try to improve on my personal best 1/4 mile run of 16.31 @ 84.76 mph, with a 2.559 sec 60 foot time. I mounted a pair of [1.4"] shorter 205/50R15 front tires to effectively lower the gear ratio for better acceleration. I also did some minor aerodynamic tweaks by removing the side mirrors and adding a temporary grill block. It worked as planned and my new record is now 16.14 @ 84.99 mph. My new best 60 foot time is 2.497 sec. Not that any other Fit EV owner is trying, but mine is clearly the quickest one in the country right now - maybe the world. [lol].

Anyone else with a LEAF, [or any other production based EV] trying to improve their times? Please tell us about it!
 
Tammy and I are NEDRA racers and will have our Bracket racing Leaf out soon.

I will post a concept photo later today

It is called....


wait for it......


Current Attraction.


Fun stuff.
 
Bracket racing is much more fun than a standard drag race, in my opinion. I had a slightly modified 1989 Toyota Supra Turbo, which was a quick car in its day, and most of the people that showed up for bracket racing were in 16-17 second Hondas. I usually came in around 12.9-13 seconds flat, so they would get their green light 4 seconds before me. Trust me, the 4 seconds they were going down the track while I was still stopped felt like forever. When I would get the green light, it felt hopeless at first, thinking I would never catch them, but if both of us were consistent, we would both cross the finish line at the exact same time. The difference is they would be doing high-70 to 80 MPH at that point, while I would be passing them at between 108 and 110 MPH. Now THAT was fun.

Now that you have me thinking about it, the Leaf should be fantastically consistent for bracket racing. I was always fighting a good launch, then trying to handle 430 horsepower when the turbo kicked in, then consistency in shifting and driving. The Leaf will have none of those issues.
 
I was the Pit Crew for my father's "Violent Volvo" 122S bracket racer in the early '70's, and I have a suggestion or two. First, see if you can find an 8th mile track to race a Leaf! The car's early advantage drops off the longer the track. Second, if you are up against a turbocharged (or supercharged) high-compression vehicle, especially on a hot day, do a few 'burnouts' with them while staging. The Leaf will remain cool while the ICE will start to get too hot for optimum performance. My father used to do this all the time with his Volvo four, which actually liked to run hot...
 

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