Engine RPM is what determines engine output. Not the speed at which the car is moving or the distance the car has traveled. If the LS1 driver is able to plant his power from the launch, he will eat the mustang in all aspects of the race.
At the track, powerband location doesn't matter because you are in a controlled environment where you can put the car in its powerband. If I have a mustang with a powerband from 4500 to 6500, I'd launch the car at 6K and my tach wouldn't go below 4500. What you're suggesting is that both the mustang and the camaro start at the same RPM. In that case, you're right, because the mustang will reach the power band faster. A competent driver will negate any powerband arguments by starting and keeping their car in its respective powerband the entire length of the run.
Say the mustang has 300 hp at 6K and 300 trq at 4500. Say the LS1 has 350hp at 6500 and 350 trq at 5000. Do you think the mustang and the LS1 will launch at the same RPM? Of course not. Notice that power and torque are given as units according to RPM, not according to which transmission gear they are in or how many horsepower per feet traveled.
Adam
Let me start this is not meant to be an insult in any way.......
An old man walks into a bar.... he sees 3 guys talking about all kinds of scientific formulas and physics lessons. He has no idea what they are talking about and is annoyed at their banter. He walks up to them and the following conversation can be heard:
Old Man - You guys are giving me a headache...
One of the 3 men - You're a funny old cuss. You just don't understand science or math. You sir are most likely speaking to 3 of the most intelligent men you will ever meet in your life at one given time. I graduated from MIT. Bob here works for Nasa and IS a rocket scientist. Ivan works for the government, and well I can't tell you his credentials. Now go back and finish you beer and leave us be.
Disgusted the man leaves the bar, while the 3 laugh at him. 20 minutes later the man returns.
Man - I have a wager for you. I just want to see if you are actually smarter than I am.
The three men just laugh at him. Whatever challenge you can come up with, I'm sure we can solve.
Man - You know the bridge down the road? How long will it take a rock to hit the creek below if you drop it from the railing?
Bob - Oh, that's simple physics...
So they all to go the bridge. The 3 "wise men" start asking all kinds of questions. Which rock are we talking about? How far from the railing? Where are you going to stand on the bridge to drop the rock?
The man is confused, but says "well, this rock, I suppose will do. I'll stand here, and hold my arm out like this."
The 3 men start calculating on scratch paper. They have to take educated guesses on the height of the bridge from the creek below. Estimate the wind speeds in the valley and debate a bit amongst themselves on a few details.
The man is getting impatient. Come on.... just spit out a number already.
The 3 men are confident they can come closer than this crazy guy. So after one final look at their page of formulas... they wrote down "the rock in your hand will take 4.6 seconds from the time you let go until we hear a splash. And yes, we calculated the time the sound waves would take to reach your ears."
The man replies - I'm actually quite impressed with your guess. I wrote down it'll take 5 seconds. I too factored in the sound thingy too.
They laugh, assuming he picked a number close to theirs during their debate.
Moment of truth, let's see who's guess is closer.
The man drops the rock and the stopwatch is started. When they hear the splash it is stopped. It took 4.88 seconds.
The 3 men just drop their jaws... and start going over their paper again. The old man just laughs and walks away while they continue to argue.
Finally one of them stops the argument and yells to the guy. "Sir, I apologize for the way we treated you in the bar. Will you PLEASE admit to us you just guessed after overhearing our conversation?"
The old man responded - I don't know a thing about what you boys wrote down on your paper..... nor did any of the numbers you were spouting off make any sense to me.
Bob - then how in the world?
The old man continues - When I left the bar, I came out here and dropped a rock off this bridge and timed it.
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I think I paraphrased this joke correctly. Moral of it is... I can't scientifically explain why many mustangs can beat an f-body off the line and sometimes to the 1/8 but lose terribly to the 1/4 strip. But I do know I've raced a bunch and watched a lot of these races at the track. It's just a pretty common sight.
