Swift's Proposals

[Scheckterfan54]

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153344&id=52534855847&l=e502022a11

I like these a lot better. IMO, all of these look like RACE cars.

[DanicaFan]

The one looks like the batmobile... :D

[Mark in Oshawa]

DF, the one does..but the proportions of all the models are RIGHT. It LOOKS like an Indycar...long, mean and fast.....

[DanicaFan]

Other than the concept car #3, I like Dallara's chassis better than Swift.

[garyshell]

And again I really like the idea of the added body work in front of all the wheels. And I like this for two reasons. First it will make the cars much safer since it will be much less likely to launch. Second I think it will make the cars MUCH more competitive on narrower road courses like MidOhio. Drivers there remember all too well Michael Andretti's tumble into the "kitty litter" at the end of the back straight. With this sort of body work that fear will be gone and we would get to see the sort of rubbin' that the fendered cars do at that great track. I think it will make a huge difference.

Gary

[I am evil Homer]

If you want rubbing watch Nascar...it's called open wheel racing for a reason.

[indycool]

Agree with you, Gary. Conceivably, one chassis could be better on ovals, the other on road courses. It happened with G Force and Dallara in the early days of the IRL, before Panoz fell off the map.

[Chamoo]

Agree with you, Gary. Conceivably, one chassis could be better on ovals, the other on road courses. It happened with G Force and Dallara in the early days of the IRL, before Panoz fell off the map.

Of course, that was the case with the Panoz and Dallara, but much of that could be attributed to the fact those cars were designed for turning left over and over. Now we have designers building cars that are designed to do both.

Of course, there will be one that is better then the other in the long run, but I think these chassis' could be built pretty closely.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Interesting, when I found a link on a blog to 16th and Georgetown (yet another blog) they had a poll on the Swift vs Dallara. 268 votes cast when I voted, and Swift was 82% favourite. The public has voted I think....which means of course Dallara will be sole sourced because the IRL never learned one thing in the last 16 year about listening to the general public....

[garyshell]

If you want rubbing watch Nascar...it's called open wheel racing for a reason.

Hmmm, ever been to an ALMS, Grand-Am, SCCA event? There is a lot of rubbin' there as well. I think even more than you see in the taxicabs.

So, tell me, what's wrong with making it safer for the drivers to run side by side without having to worry about interlocking tires and launching. At one time F1 had body work in front of the front wheels and folks had no trouble still calling them open wheel. So what is so different with this concept?

Gary

[Scheckterfan54]

I would love to see what would really happen if the cars had the "wheel protectors" and they touched at 225mph in turn three of chicago...I have a hard time being convinced that the briscoe incident would not be repeated. I am not a mechanical genius, or even that smart...but that is a piece of body work that would probably break off.

[Mark in Oshawa]

If you want rubbing watch Nascar...it's called open wheel racing for a reason.

Incidental contact shouldn' t mean someone is in the fence at 230mph flying like a frisbee.

[bblocker68]

The new Swift chassis looks sexy. I like the diffuser implementation to enable a trailing car to retain good downforce levels.

The Dallara chassis....................looks like a Dallara. The red versions looked like concepts that were drawn up in the 90's.

Looking forward to seeing the Delta Wing.

[DBell]

The new Swift chassis looks sexy. I like the diffuser implementation to enable a trailing car to retain good downforce levels.

The Dallara chassis....................looks like a Dallara. The red versions looked like concepts that were drawn up in the 90's.

Looking forward to seeing the Delta Wing.

Pretty much what I was thinking. If the series remains a spec series though, I'm not going to care which design is chosen.

[Andy Traxel]

A couple years ago there was an interview with Brian Barnhardt in Race Car Engineering about this subject with renderings of proposals from various parties. Some had bodywork in front of the tires. I remember one looked a lot like the sportscar noses some F1 cars sported in the late '70's. A comment of Barnhardt's I remember about them was that tires increased overall drag a lot. Adopting bodywork that would shroud the tires would means they'd have to find ways to reduce speed.

Andy

[seamusoldfield]

I like it. Soooo much better than the current car. It's almost ALMS-esque. Looks good. Build it. Today.

[nigelred5]

I like the one that looks more traditional in photos 2 and 12. I just don't like the whole speed racer look.

[gloomyDAY]

The Swift is the best option for OWR in America, unfortunately, it will not be chosen by the morons who run the IRL. Instead they're either going to opt for something fat, hideous, shaped like a dildo, or a combination of the three.

[Jag_Warrior]

A couple years ago there was an interview with Brian Barnhardt in Race Car Engineering about this subject with renderings of proposals from various parties. Some had bodywork in front of the tires. I remember one looked a lot like the sportscar noses some F1 cars sported in the late '70's. A comment of Barnhardt's I remember about them was that tires increased overall drag a lot. Adopting bodywork that would shroud the tires would means they'd have to find ways to reduce speed.

Andy

This one?
http://www.autoracing1.com/Images/2005Misc/MenardsPrototype.jpg

If the engines are only going to have 500 hp or so, maybe they won't really need to find ways to reduce speeds (on ovals). Lighter, sleeker and lower horsepower might put them in the sweet spot.

BTW, I think the Swift "Batmobile" design is pretty interesting. With some tweaks (designs seldom look exactly like the finished product), they could certainly distinguish that from all the other generic formula car designs.

[anthonyvop]

At one time F1 had body work in front of the front wheels and folks had no trouble still calling them open wheel. So what is so different with this concept?

Gary

Nobody called them open wheel cars. They called F1 what it is. Formula Car racing.

[Rex Monaco]

I really like the idea of the open cowl. It harkens back to '60's.

[nigelred5]

works for me. Even F1 cars had exposed engines well into the 70's

[call_me_andrew]

Put a cover on that engine! Damn hippies.