The Burnout

Horsepower, roads, and an excitable driver almost always lead to burnouts sooner or later.  The burnout is exciting and fun.  Moreover, it’s like a body builder flexing a muscle.  All that time, energy and money displayed with the implementation of one lead foot.

The engine roaring, the tires flexing and smoke crawling from the tires as if they were going to burst into flames. An exciting endevour to say the least. The mere thought of it will have gearheads chopping at the bit to dump the clutch and send their tires spinning into oblivion.  The burnout, as it relates to cars, by definition cannot be found in the dictionary. However, some very interesting material is listed in the urban dictionary. The burnout is a method of forgoing traction and spinning tires on a vehicle as quickly as possible to create emense amounts of friction.

The burnout is cool , however, there is much more here than meets the eye.

Why do burnouts?

A very ingenoius and scientific approach can be found at the heart of the burnout and it’s a must in specific applications. The burnout plays a very important role in many forms of racing, especially in drag racing. First, a burnout can help tires to gain better traction and second, a burnout can keep the tires warm. So while the fans get a charge out of seeing precision machines flex muscles the cars driver and crew consider this as necessary as stretching before running.  The burnout causes emense amounts of friction between the tires and the road. Consequently, the tires are warmed and cleaned from and foreign debris. Additionally, when done properly, the burnout will leave behind a trail of sticky rubber as the tires reach high temperatures.

Burnouts Good!

In competition you can expect that all competitors will attempt gain every advantage possible. Automotive sports are no different. Therefore, the next time you lay smiling eyes on that beastly hotrod  smoking it’s tire; you can sit back and enjoy the show knowing full well the real reasoning behind it. The sport of drag racing, and racing in general; actually spends far less time racing then they do preparing. Burnouts are just another step in racing preparations. Finally, with all the preparations, time and money invested, the driver, the crew and everybody in attendance can see what the car is really made of.