This is a compact drag-racing strip, suitable for locations like city centres etc.

The idea is very simple - two giant 'hamster wheels', side by side. Each one contains a drag racer and the race continues until the wheel has turned enough.

These could also be specially built drag racers, the body of the car curved to match the curvature of the hamster wheel circumference.
-- hippo, Jan 08 2005

AND THEY'RE OFF! http://www.boston.c...8/hamster_races.htm
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 08 2005]

Automotive Chassis Dynamometer http://www.land-and...no/chassis-dyno.htm
[jurist, Jan 10 2005]

who is *they*?
-- po, Jan 08 2005


OK, at first, I missed the giant part (giant though it was).

If this was for actual hamsters (etc.), then, (applying my own text from elsewhere) it would be a serious advertising gimmick for a pet store to draw customers. A business could be formed that facilitates the contest at stores around the country, providing everything needed.
-- Mustardface, Jan 08 2005


What do you mean "until the wheel has turned enough"? isn't there a finish line?

wasn't there an extreme sport show which used a giant hamster ball?, and motorcycles would race inside.except it turned on an axis, not down a dragstrip.

I like ideas about giant hamsters. +
-- dentworth, Jan 09 2005


It was unclear whether this was for humans or giant hamsters. Or hippos. Does it matter?
-- wagster, Jan 09 2005


erm... I was thinking of it being for humans, but I don't want to stifle anyone's creativity.

[dentworth] - there isn't a finish line, because the "giant hamster wheel" doesn't actually move along, it just rotates around a fixed axle, like a ferris wheel. This is why you have to measure how much the wheel has turned in order to work out who's won.
-- hippo, Jan 10 2005


While it wouldn't be quite as much fun to watch, you could easily adapt the basic premise of in-city dragstip racing using a pair of automotive chassis dynamometers that are commonly used by tune-up and repair shops for "road testing". [link]

Aside from being able to hold a rip-roaring drag race in the space of a two-car garage, the big benefit would be that you wouldn't have to design totally new swayback cars to run on the track. Any car and driver could compete, which should translate directly into revenue. Distances covered and speeds and elapsed time would be easy to track on large overhead electronic displays clearly visible to the crowds.
-- jurist, Jan 10 2005


we could use the London Eye if it was a timed event or build another one in tandem I suppose.
-- po, Jan 10 2005


I thought this said 'Giant Hamster' and got thoroughly over-excited. I still like the idea however.
-- pooduck, Jan 10 2005


It does say 'Giant Hamster'.
-- hippo, Jan 10 2005


Yeah, but the hamster isn't in a harness, dragging a pair of big old tractor wheels or racing slicks around a long enough race course.
-- jurist, Jan 11 2005


I envisioned those balls that the hamster can travel around in.....not realizing this was about a stationary wheel. I think I like my interpretation better.
-- normzone, Jan 11 2005



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