NASCAR carbureted engines?

[PoodlesAgain]

Oddly, I looked up the NASCAR typical engine specs, and discovered that they are carbureted.

I dunno, wouldn't fuel injection do the job better, extracting more power?
Carbs, because of the fuel type, perhaps?

[uwmcscott]

I don't know a whole lot about NASCAR, but I do know that the technical limitations ( and strategies to overcome them ) is just as much a fabric of the competition as the driving itself. Yes, fuel injection could potentially make more power, or at least allow for more control of it - but in many cases they are limiting power with restrictor plates already because they are too powerful/fast in carbureted form. It's kind of akin to asking why they don't use aluminum bats in MLB.

[mickey]

Methinks NASCAR Officials view F.I. as taking some power away from NASCAR Officials.

[Rollin Hand]

They use carbureted engines, live rear axles, and other older tech because that's part of the series spec. If they change it, then it could go the route of something like F1, and the costs could spiral more than they already are. And, to be blunt, it wouldn't be NASCAR.

As Jack Roush once said, it's still the cheapest frontline racing in the world.

[Houblues]

I don't know a whole lot about NASCAR, but I do know that the technical limitations ( and strategies to overcome them ) is just as much a fabric of the competition as the driving itself. Yes, fuel injection could potentially make more power, or at least allow for more control of it - but in many cases they are limiting power with restrictor plates already because they are too powerful/fast in carbureted form. It's kind of akin to asking why they don't use aluminum bats in MLB.

I'm similarly non-expert, and that is my non-expert understanding of the situation too.

[PoodlesAgain]

Also: can you buy a road car with carbs these days?

And also: I wish I could or knew how to turn a Civic or a Hyundai N into a race car:

[uwmcscott]

One of the things I have spent some time watching in recent years is the proliferation of you tube type content where people are fixing/restoring/modding cars. The motor trend channel’s Roadkill and Hot Rod series are some of my favorites, I even subscribed to their networks.

Seems to me that in most of the builds when they want the most power on a budget, they stick with an old school pushrod/carbureted V8. Sure sometimes they use turbos / supercharger/injection bit you can still make 500 HP with a cleaned up junkyard truck engine pretty handily:

[fatjack]

Like @mickey said kind of a power thing for officials. With some tracks restricting power it's easy to check a carb plate. With computer controled injection it could be a lot tougher to catch teams skirting /breaking rules.

[tonebender]

Tradition, it's already had to change a lot so I think they hang on to what they can. As Scott said they already outrun the tracks.

[peskypesky]

I wonder what year the cars will all be electric.






"It would be funny if everyone was on ebikes so all the riders could hear each other in-helmet commentary or talk shit to each other on the corners like, 'holy shit we are all going to die!' As you dive into the corner"

[uwmcscott]

I wonder what year the cars will all be electric.

VW already has the IDR which is setting all-time records on places like Pike's Peak, etc Something about the sound just doesn't compute though.

[peskypesky]

Something about the sound just doesn't compute though.

Well, I still have PTSD from my childhood...when my father would rev the engines on his sports cars for what seemed like hours and I just hated the noise. To this day I have PTSD reactions to any loud cars or motorcycles. Good riddance to that I say.

[uwmcscott]

Well, I still have PTSD from my childhood...when my father would rev the engines on his sports cars for what seemed like hours and I just hated the noise. To this day I have PTSD reactions to any loud cars or motorcycles. Good riddance to that I say.

Sorry to hear that - hope it improves for you over time. Regarding the noice factor though, that VW is still extremely loud - check out some of the videos - both braking and accelerating it's got some serious decibels going on.

[peskypesky]

Sorry to hear that - hope it improves for you over time. Regarding the noice factor though, that VW is still extremely loud - check out some of the videos - both braking and accelerating it's got some serious decibels going on.

holy sh-t that thing is FAST!



nasty sound though. dentist drill. ouch.

[Chocol8]

Also: can you buy a road car with carbs these days?

For the most part, no. There were a couple safety and emissions regulations that made carbs on major production cars impractical. They are still very common on hot rods and custom stuff though.

[uwmcscott]

In my first post in this thread I said I don't know much about NASCAR. Apparently that is a true statement. I was just reading up a little, one of my friends was at the Daytona race and posted about it on FB. I doing a little googling, and it appears that Nascar indeed did switch over to fuel injection in 2012, so your specs must have been old ones @PoodlesAgain. Restrictor plates are still effective at controlling airflow, but apparently it's all EFI now and in fact McClaren helped develop the first deployment.

[PoodlesAgain]

Can someone confirm for sure?

so many written references to (specifically) Holley carbs...

incidentally, this shows how ANY document should be dated!
What(ever) was true three years ago may not be now!

I was made aware of this years ago while reading a book by the late, French, brilliant engineer and musician Boris Vian, as he wrote it in at the head of a book chapter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Vian

[uwmcscott]

Can someone confirm for sure?

Well, its Wikipedia so "for sure" is a relative term I guess, but there are quite a few cited articles from reputable sources

Looks like the trucks and xfinity series ( don't even know what that is ) still use carburetors but the Cup cars use multipoint EFI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_injection_in_NASCAR

[PoodlesAgain]

My Wikipedia link was about the author, not NASCAR..

And, there is a stray Wikipedia talking about NACAR carb and injection, but wiki editors clearly point out the info is sketchy, unreliable!

So, to conclude, different sister series, different rules.

[honyock]

Carbs suck with the gasahol currently available. I have done all I can and it still is a pain in the rear running one in the heat of AZ summer, plus the altitude here really hurts.

E10 is optimized to the high pressure of fuel injection systems and at the 5.5psi that most carb operate can often cause vapor lock. It just has such a low vapor pressure.

[Chocol8]

Carbs suck with the gasahol currently available. I have done all I can and it still is a pain in the rear running one in the heat of AZ summer, plus the altitude here really hurts.

E10 is optimized to the high pressure of fuel injection systems and at the 5.5psi that most carb operate can often cause vapor lock. It just has such a low vapor pressure.

That’s a big issue in older boats. I switch them to electric fuel pumps mounted back by the tank as far from the engine heat as possible to combat that. The remote pumps can push the vapor out of the carb and get you started. Otherwise with a heat soaked engine, you might not get it started again for 2+ hours. Even today’s ethanol free has a lower vapor pressure than classic gas. Better than ethanol, but not by much.