[Shotimes] 92 Alternator in 91

[sho2go]

The factor that causes the most drag is load on the alternator.  A 150-amp
alt. running with no load will have less drag than say a 90-amp one with the
fan on high, lights on, ac, etc.  So if the load is the same, i.e.
everything off except for basic engine requirements, drag will be more or
less equal.  There are probably some slight parasitic losses increasing with
alternator size, but I don't think much.  In fact I'm sure that increasing
pulley size as much as possible (since the alternator is always running at
high speed under race conditions)  would have more effect than simply
undersizing the alt. itself.
Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Nunnally" <manunnal@netheaven.com>

>     Wonder if there is a basic ball-park formula somewhere based on the
size
> of the alt in amps, and how much hp it takes to drive.  I know the WC
teams
> run the smallest alt they can at a given track to free up as much hp as
> possible.  Run the big ones (140 amp or more) for the road courses, and
> short tracks for the brake cooling fans, rear end cooler, etc, but run
> smaller ones at the restrictor plate tracks (60-70 amp or so).
>
> mark