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How does a transbrake work on a race car?
My partner’s father is a big fan of drag racing, and owns a drag racing car of his own. Whenever I’m over at their place and they start talking about this stuff I’m instantly lost. Could you explain what a transbrake is? How does a transbrake work on a race car? They talk about this thing a lot.
Matt Terzi · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
No worries, we totally get it! And yes, we’re more than happy to explain transbraking.
Back in the day, drag racers with automatic transmissions in their muscle cars had a big problem—they were never as fast off the line as a car with a manual transmission, because their engines couldn’t reach enough RPMs (revolutions per minute) to compete.
To get around this, they would hold the foot brake and the gas pedal at the same time. But this wasn’t super effective, as a car’s drum or disc brakes simply aren’t strong enough to stop a drag-worthy car’s engine from propelling the wheels.
That’s when engineers came up with the ingenious concept of a transbrake. A transbrake uses a solenoid—a sort of electronic valve—to trick the transmission into thinking it’s in first gear and reverse at the same time. It sounds dangerous, but the driveshaft is locked and power isn’t going to the wheels.
This effectively keeps the car in place while the engine ramps up its power, similar to holding in the clutch in a manual and pushing the accelerator. And when you release the transbrake button, you take off like a rocket ship.
You may not be able to impress the inlaws with auto racing lingo, but you can help them save hundreds of dollars per year or more on
car insurance
by telling them to download the Jerry
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- Gregory R.
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Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.
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