"is a
panhard bar good for a drag car as well?"
For most street/strip cars, this system has a lot of advantages. Any time you can control lateral movement, the car will launch straighter. Years ago when I first had the stock style 4-link and put on the PB, it was a night and day difference, even with Maximum Motorsports
control arms. In fact, after I put on the
control arms, I tested it. Then, installed the PB, and the car launched perfectly straight, even with tire spin. No side-to-side slip-n-slide that is common to stock Mustangs. The effect was quite dramatic.
A few years ago, the same question was posted on the Corral. There were a number of 9 and 10 sec. cars running TA/PB suspensions with 60' claims as low as 1.2 sec!
The TA/PB geometry is certainly a far cry better than the factory design which, among other things, leads to a much harder and efficient launch. For more serious drag racers, there are better
suspension set-ups like adjustable 4-links and ladder bars, but they too, have lateral locating devices. The PB DOES have some lateral movement with
suspension travel, the effect is minimal, but it is enough that your more powerful vehicles are subject to tirespin, and is why you don't see PBs that often.
Griggs Racing has a "Pro-Style" drag race
suspension that includes the TA with a Watt's-link. The Watt's-link does not create ANY lateral axle movement. Grigg's also uses the Watt's-link on their "World Challenge" suspensions. For more information,
www.griggsracing.com