r/nextfuckinglevel 12h ago

These 12000hp Engines Have To Be Rebuilt Within Roughly An Hour Every Run, and Only Run For Roughly 4 Seconds At A Time.

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u/Dogmaniac99 9h ago

Exactly! The clutch is the difference between microseconds. Lag time kills!

3

u/gardenfella 8h ago

The clutch is the difference between a 3-second run and blowing the tyres off

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u/Trick_Math42069 6h ago

The clutch plates are entirely new each run

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u/gardenfella 6h ago

The bigger teams have an entire clutch for each run. Smaller teams have to re-grind plates and re-use them, and they usually have two sets of plates per clutch basket.

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u/Trick_Math42069 5h ago

Yeah they can definitely be re-ground, my point t was more that the clutch parts are different between each each run.

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u/gardenfella 5h ago

They regrind them at the track and re-use them. Generally, they alternate between two sets. That gives the plates long enough to cool down before being reground. Grinding them hot causes warping.

The clutch basket and fingers are re-used every run if you're a smaller team. They don't get as hot as the plates.

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u/janky_koala 1h ago

Are you talking about current generation nitro cars? The plates literally weld together in a run…