On Wed, 28 Feb 1996, Brian Chinn wrote:
> I have a '94 Dakota Ext. Cab 318 automatic. I want to know if it will get
> blown away by a stock 350 Chevy P.U. automatic? This would be in a drag
> race from a dead stop.
>
> Brian Chinn
>
On the street, anything goes, but on the strip, the Dakota should get to
the finish line first every time unless the driver is asleep.
Torque moves you down the drag strip, not horsepower, which gives you top end
speed. The stock Dakotas still have plenty of both when compared to
the new Chevy and Ford full-size pickups. The weight factor is much more
important here. These trucks weigh about 1,000 pounds more than a regular
dakota short bed and probably at least 700 lbs more than a dakota club cab.
A good rule of thumb is that you loose a 10th of a second for every extra 100
lbs of weight. That could be a one second difference in the Dakota's favor
at the end of a quarter mile, which is huge when you are going 90 MPH!
The road tests I have seen on the new Ford and Chevy pickups are not
impressive in this area. They seem to run in the mid 16's and any stock
2WD Dakota with a Magnum V8 that I have ever seen at the track has been
capable of low 15 second time slips.
In fact, the former class champion at Woodburn drives a Ford Lightning
(351 V8) that has been seriously messed with, and her best time last year
was a 15.25. My friend Jerry runs an equally serious Dakota Club Cab and
regularly runs 14.70's!
see you at the finish line...
mel
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