Typically, when an innovative idea comes along for drag racing, there is one company whose leader is the forefather of its design. One such seat at the innovator’s table belongs to Marty Chance at Neal Chance Racing Converters (NCRC). The company has innovated and continued to develop torque converter technology specifically for the highest of high-horsepower cars, including Pro Modified, Radial versus The World, diesel racing, and now, with some successful Top Alcohol Funny Car (TA/FC) teams. We spoke to Marty and his brother, Doug, about the converter design theories and entrance into this new market,
One of the competitors using a torque converter is California’s Greg Miner, with his Funny Car driven by Jake Guadagnolo. Jake recently won the recent NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Washington, and is number six in the hotly contested NHRA Western Region TA/FC points standings.
“We have been developing big-horsepower converters matched to very specific engine power characteristics for a long time,” Marty says. “Compared to our supercharged door car converters for forced induction door cars, the Funny Car torque converter NCRC developed is an entirely different piece to address a completely different power curve and load sensitivity.”
“In engineering, you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your design,” Marty says. “Now, the weakness of a torque converter is the slippage compared to a clutch that theoretically does not. The very definition of torque multiplication is that you can put ‘X’ amount of torque into the converter—and while it’s turning, you will get an increase in torque output compared to what went into it. This benefit far outweighs the slippage.”
Wholesale variations to the converter’s stator design and impeller blades for Neal Chance’s TA/FC applications include a first-of-its-kind split-blade pump impeller. This impeller has 35 percent fewer blades on the low-pressure side, and more blades on the high-pressure side. This design offers more slippage down low to provide higher engine RPM down track where desired.
Two competitors embracing torque converters for their TA/FC entries are Greg Miner, along with Kyle and Stan Smith from Kansas. Both teams have proven that using an NCRC torque converter in TA/FC is a formidable development for the class.
The strength of a torque converter design is that it multiplies your torque output. A converter is one of the rare places in engineering when you can…
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