No. The Panoz chassis is only eligible for the Indy 500, and I'm not even sure it will be eligible for that in 2009.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
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No. The Panoz chassis is only eligible for the Indy 500, and I'm not even sure it will be eligible for that in 2009.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
So V6? I cannot see such a turbo engine for IRL being more than 2.5L. And what rpms, maybe somewhere 10k-11k (as is now). The power limit for speed/safety issues on ovals was proved to be around 700-720 bhp. For road and street courses of course power can be increased to something like 800 bhp or even more without speeds reaching somekind of dangerous levels.
Why not make the engine design more open for the builders? Instead of saying it has to be a V6, just give a displacement limit and a cylinder limit and let the manufacturers decide what kind of engine they want to build.
I hadn't heard that Dan Davis retired, thanks for the 411 on that, Jag. Davis did a great job during his time there, hopefully he'll remain as a consultant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
I think for a manufacturer to be viable in coming on board they should be selling cars here in the US. Not sure why Fiat would go for it. But BMW could benefit, as well as Audi (more than VW, I think). it would be nice to have a variety of world manufacturers to spice it up a bit, with at least one domestic manf.
ExactamundoQuote:
Originally Posted by DBell
Years ago, a fellow from Cosworth posted here every now and again. Other than him, the only other person who I believe could (reliably) address that would be Hoop98. Certainly there have been small displacement, race bred turbo 4 and 6 cylinder engines in the past that could easily hit 700-800hp. In the case of the BMW and TAG-Porsche F1 units of the 80's, 700-800hp would have been nothing special. I don't know what boost levels they ran, but I know the fuel mixtures were exotic, to say the least. Assuming they stay with ethanol, what size V-6, spinning how fast, with how much boost would be necessary to get that 700-800hp???Quote:
Originally Posted by fan-veteran
I think what the IRL is going to have to balance is performance vs. cost. For about $15 million per 2 car team per season, they could run F1 spec engines (based on some Cosworth numbers from a couple of seasons ago). We all know that's not realistic for the IRL. So what is? I don't know... something close to the million or so that they have now? Don't know. And if you allow the manufacturers to subsidize teams with discounted engines, what happens if & when a manufacturer leaves? What happens if they only want to subsidize certain teams and not others? What happens if the top manufacturer only wants to supply the top (or certain) teams? For whatever reason, the IRL chose to follow CART's engine lease path. Depending on who and how many sign on, it'll be interesting to see how this issue is dealt with too.
I'm not sure what Davis' future plans are. I agree, he did a very good job while heading up Ford Racing. I never met him but I've not heard anyone at Ford say a bad word about him. He (and Ford) put up with a lot of crap from Tony George, CART and Champ Car over the years. It's interesting that both he and Robert Clarke retired within a month of each other. Their jobs must have been like working with people set on committing suicide at every turn.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaparral66
Anyway, Fiat's interest would likely revolve around the Alfa Romeo brand, which is supposed to be making a return to North America in 2010 or so. Fiat Group is already here with Ferrari and Maserati. I've heard BMW linked to the Fiat Auto/Alfa return. I've also heard Chrysler linked to that return. Who knows?
In global automotive, several interesting things are taking place. Porsche's takeover of VW/Audi should soon be complete. How that might affect racing programs at either concern is unknown. At the same time, VW wants more share in the U.S. and is expanding its presence in North America by building a plant in Tennessee. By 2011, one (or more) of the Big 3 will either be much smaller than now... or dead. That should affect NASCAR more than the IRL... but who knows what the fallout might be?
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by DBell
Who will pay that diversity? :)
V6 Turbo's? WooHoo, the Buick is making a comeback :) Someone get John Menard on the phone. He loved those things!!