The Super Street class of Fastest Street Car racing is one of the most exciting and challenging classes because the rules are so limiting. Running 8.60s on a 10.5-inch rear tire, with engines restricted to a single-four-barrel and plate-type nitrous systems, demands that the car builders be plenty innovative. Its also exciting because the same tech that helps the owners of these cars run in the eights can help the rest of us with our 12-second and quicker cars.
There are a few basic rules for building one of these cars. First, consider the entire car as a package rather than as an assembly of parts. For example, the engine must produce a torque curve that works with the traction the car affords, the rear suspension has to work with a small tire, and the front suspension has to provide the correct amount and rate of weight transfer that the rear suspension needs. In other words, all the parts must work well together, and due to the great variety in car wheelbases, power curves and vehicle weights, there are countless solutions to getting the different cars down the track.
There are also a ton of tricks to help maximize your car within the rules, but to keep the appeal of this article broad enough to cover nearly any small-tire car with a straight-line agenda, well concentrate on true performance tips. Well also point out the streetability drawbacks to the tips that present a compromise. The few pages here will barely scratch the surface, but the major components and the best speed secrets are here, in addition to tips to make building your car easier.