Roll-on racing... What's the fascination?

[kneedragger241]

I don't understand what the fascination is with racing someone else from a roll.
Isn't launching the car part of a drag race?

I guess starting from a roll is cool if you like NASCAR.

 

[mckraut]

I wouldn't say fascination, but for people who can't launch well or have a car that doesn't launch well, it brings things to a more even keel when racing against someone with a RWD or AWD vehicle. I wouldn't find it fun to race my buddy's Evo from a dig because we know who'd win hands down, but from a roll it might get interesting.

 

[15min5k]

Because racing from a roll is a good display of how much power a car makes. There's too much room for error in drag racing to determine who's got the more powerful / fastest car.

 

[xtrememps]

Because people like their clutches in one piece if they're just having a little fun and it's easier to roll race going down highways would be my guess.

 

[Peter B]

Because people like their clutches in one piece if they're just having a little fun and it's easier to roll race going down highways would be my guess.

I stop on the highway all the timed to launch.... what are you talking about ?

And leave NASCAR alone. Those drivers get to nail some pretty hot babes. So what if its their sister!

 

[kneedragger241]

Because racing from a roll is a good display of how much power a car makes. There's too much room for error in drag racing to determine who's got the more powerful / fastest car.

So it's about the car, not the driver.
Eliminate the possibility of driver error and you might as well just present dyno sheets to each other and call it a day.

 

[Invictus]

So it's about the car, not the driver.
Eliminate the possibility of driver error and you might as well just present dyno sheets to each other and call it a day.

Is there a reason it bothers you so much?

 

[kneedragger241]

It doesn't really bother me as I tend to be a "to each their own" kind of guy.
The question was posed to produce responses that would help me understand something I don't really get.

If I were to be bothered by anything, it would be the focus on what the machine can do and not what skills the driver has. The focus on the machine seems to go hand in hand with people being obsessed with what mod to buy next.

If I had a handful of cash, say about $300, I'd take a track day or driving school over a blow-off valve in a heartbeat.
But that's just me.

Like I said, to each their own.

 

[opt_ms3]

lightly modded, the ms3 is a high 13-sec car from a dig with a good launch. From a roll, the ms3 turns into a 12 second monster.

nuff said.

 

[hectik1]

Evens the playing field.

My brothers Evo murders me from the line (no thanks to the boost limiters).

If we race from a roll, he loses everytime.(nana)

 

[mo08ms3]

It seems to me that most street racing is done from a roll because getting side by side at a red light with the right conditions is quite uncommon in real life. I personally don't care about track times or quarter mile times but I like my car to be fast when I am driving around and need the speed or when I am on the freeway and want to smoke a jackass who pisses me off.

 

[msp_rad]

So it's about the car, not the driver.
Eliminate the possibility of driver error and you might as well just present dyno sheets to each other and call it a day.

i agree with you, nobody wants to race from a stop anymore..... i think its much more interesting

 

[bjjer]

Im involved in more "roll races" a lot more than dig races because driving around town or the freeway im trying to pass and some idiot decides he wants to suddenly speed up after a few blocks of grandma driving and I got myself a roll race (which I usually win(glare)).

 

[stockms3]

i agree with you, nobody wants to race from a stop anymore..... i think its much more interesting

shut up konrad

 

[zim]

racing from a roll is a power race. the ms3 is not a drag racing car anyway. **** launching fwd.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

racing from a roll is a power race. the ms3 is not a drag racing car anyway. **** launching fwd.

... said the guy with a quarter mile trap time and speed in his prof... rofl

I kid, but I just had to point that one out.

 

[aaronc7]

i think people also like it because its lot less obvious and draws a lot less attention than peeling out at a stop light racing or something

 

[Moxhair]

racing from a roll is a power race. the ms3 is not a drag racing car anyway. **** launching fwd.

Even in autocross and road racing there comes a time you need to launch the car. I have no issues getting this car off the line at the track.

 

[08cosmic3]

Launching from a dig is also much harder on your car. Wheel hopping, spinning your tires, and yanking gears. I want my car to last so I try to stay away from hard launches.

 

[LukeP]

Launching from a dig is also much harder on your car. Wheel hopping, spinning your tires, and yanking gears. I want my car to last so I try to stay away from hard launches.

Agreed 100%. Spirited driving from a roll, with or without someone else who wants to have fun. Hard launches are just needlessly expensive.

Also, for drag races you might as well just look at whose tires are wider and has treads that make more surface contact.