Quarter Mile Calculator
Estimate a car's quarter-mile elapsed time (ET) and trap speed from its horsepower and race weight, or work backwards from a time slip to its horsepower. Results use the well-known Hale and Fox drag racing formulas.
Include the driver and fuel
Typical 12–18% manual RWD, 15–20% automatic, 20–25% AWD
How to use the Quarter Mile Calculator
- Choose what to find: ET and trap speed, or horsepower from a time slip.
- Enter the race weight including driver and fuel.
- Enter horsepower (crank or wheel), or your ET or trap speed.
- Read the estimates from both formulas and compare other power levels in the table.
Quarter-mile formulas
| Formula | Elapsed time (s) | Trap speed (mph) | Horsepower |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hale | 5.825 × (W/HP)^(1/3) | 234 × (HP/W)^(1/3) | W × (MPH/234)³ or W × (5.825/ET)³ |
| Fox | 6.290 × (W/HP)^(1/3) | 224 × (HP/W)^(1/3) | W × (MPH/224)³ or W × (6.290/ET)³ |
W is race weight in pounds (car, driver and fuel) and HP is flywheel horsepower. The cube root means that doubling power does not halve the ET: it cuts it by about 21%.
Estimated ET by weight-to-power ratio
| lb per hp | Example | Hale ET | Hale trap speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 3,000 lb, 150 hp | 15.81 s | 86.2 mph |
| 15 | 3,000 lb, 200 hp | 14.37 s | 94.9 mph |
| 12 | 3,600 lb, 300 hp | 13.34 s | 102.2 mph |
| 10 | 3,500 lb, 350 hp | 12.55 s | 108.6 mph |
| 8 | 3,200 lb, 400 hp | 11.65 s | 117.0 mph |
| 6 | 3,600 lb, 600 hp | 10.58 s | 128.8 mph |
| 4 | 3,200 lb, 800 hp | 9.25 s | 147.4 mph |
These are idealized numbers for cars that can put their power down. Street tires and hard launches often add several tenths.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate quarter-mile ET from horsepower?
The Hale formula is ET = 5.825 × (weight ÷ horsepower)^(1/3), with weight in pounds including the driver. A 3,500 lb car with 400 hp has 8.75 lb/hp, so ET ≈ 5.825 × 2.061 ≈ 12.0 seconds.
How do you estimate trap speed?
Trap speed (mph) ≈ 234 × (horsepower ÷ weight)^(1/3) by the Hale formula, or 224 × (hp ÷ weight)^(1/3) by the Fox formula. The same 400 hp, 3,500 lb car traps about 113.5 mph by Hale.
How do I calculate horsepower from my time slip?
Rearrange the formulas: HP = weight × (trap mph ÷ 234)³, or HP = weight × (5.825 ÷ ET)³. Trap speed is the better input because it depends mostly on power, while ET also depends on traction, launch and shifting.
Should I use crank or wheel horsepower?
These formulas were built around flywheel (crank) horsepower. If you have chassis dyno numbers, convert to crank by dividing by (1 − drivetrain loss), commonly 12–18% for manual rear-wheel drive and more for automatics and AWD.
Why are the Hale and Fox results different?
They are empirical fits to different sets of real drag strip results. Hale tends to be closer for well-prepared cars with good traction; Fox gives slower, more conservative times typical of street cars on street tires.
How accurate are these estimates?
For a typical car with decent traction they are usually within a few tenths of a second and a few mph. Gearing, tires, launch technique, altitude, temperature and aerodynamics can move real results noticeably.