At 06:45 AM 6/7/02 -0700, you wrote:
>How does the NASCAR guys read the spark plug to determine
>the optimal heat range and gapping of the tip? Steven St.Laurent
Steven
I don't know they determine those things. With all their money and
resources though, you would think that they would have some kind
of 'hitech' equipment.
My guess is that they would use the same techniques as
the weekend drag racer ... begin at some point and do a trial
and error during their testing. A lot of teams seem to use some
ignition systems like the MSD topends so gapping would be large
to start with (0.060"-0.075 and sometimes 0.080"). With this
in mind and the fact that it's oval versus strip racing, 0.001"changes
would have less of a performance influence.
I would imagine that detonation/misfiring control and plugs not fouling
up would still be the main criteria for gaps and heat range.
As far as reading, teams should have some oldster around experienced
with plug reading ... more than just looking at the tips but also looking
(with a magnifying glass, no less) at the inner walls of the ceramic,
central tips for clues.
I don't use race fuel but I would imagine that race fuel has far less
ingredients added and thus far less to interpret than with pump gas
with who knows what and how much additives are added by the
major refineries.
Bob
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