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Like I said, nobody knows what's necessary to make it raceworthy on ovals. There is no kit. Because there is no kit, nothing has been put on to test it. There are plenty of surprises that CAD-CAM can't rectify. See Gordon Kirby's column on champcarworldseries.com about the hits and misses and fixes with the DP-01 for road courses.
So in other words, you don't actually have any evidence whatsoever to support your allegations that the DP-01 is not suitable for ovals, in spite of the actual fact that the manufacturer and the series specified and designed it to be oval capable. You also did not actually answer the question -- what would this so-called "kit" be comprised of? Just because the IRL Dallara and Panoz cars were NOT originally specified or designed to run on road courses, and had to have "kits" costing near $200k to remediate, does not mean that Champ Car and Panoz made the same mistake.
I did read Gordon Kirby's article, and it in no way does it support your negativity -- in fact it was extremely positive.
The whole point of the testing was to make sure that issues with the car would be ironed out before delivery to the teams, unlike previous cars.Quote:
"Mechanically, I can't think of any changes we had to make," Marshall observed. "We had absolutely no issues with the suspension and steering, and the engine and turbo did absolutely what they should without any problems. Nor were there any surprises on the aero performance."
"During testing we changed some configuration of how the bodywork goes together to make it easier to put a sidepod on the car in the heat of a race weekend," Marshall commented. "As you know, they come on and off the car an awful lot during a race weekend.
"We changed some things a bit rudely in testing and then we came back and changed the molds so we could do it properly. In some detail like that, the production car will differ from the prototype."
My allegation is that CC commissioned the car, CC is running all road and street circuits, as it sits there right now, nobody has made a kit to try to convert it to ovals, so nobody knows if it'll work or not.
And please provide a link where the IRL road-course kits cost $200,000.
In other words, you hope this is true, because otherwise the car is a threat to the status quo. It's a race car built by a company that has previously built race cars, including IRL race cars, so of course it will "work". You still haven't provided any clue as to what this "kit" might consist of. I can allege that you stopped beating your wife, and it would make just as much sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by indycool
Since the league carefully put out the PR that it was much less (as you should know), we have only the word of industry folks, and they are not published.Quote:
Originally Posted by indycool
IC, you cannot state that this car isn't oval capable. You are not at Panoz, and you have no idea of the specs and aspirations were of CCWS when they commisionned the building of this car. Lets put something in print right now. Panoz can answer your questions but common sense dictates that Champ Car would have an oval package option that isn't tested yet. Champ Car up till this year always had an oval in the series, so I would suspect they would keep their options open.
To demean this car as unsuitable is just to be obstinate for the sake of being that way. Panoz I am sure has an idea of what they would need to bring out an oval package and they likely have all the engineering ground work ready.
If the IRL wants the DP01, they will not have a problem with it on ovals I am sure. No more than they had problems with the Dallara's and G-Forces on Road courses. It isn't rocket science. Your argument of the fuel buckeyes is just a facetious attempt to justify this argument that the DP01 is flawed for oval purposes. The Buckeye can be on either side very easily, for the fuel cell location would be unchanged behind the driver. A different air box engine cowl is a mere redrawing of the plans and putting the buckeye on the other side and mounting the hose on the other side. We are not reinventing the wheel.
No, if the IRL doesn't buy the Dp-01, I would perfectly understand, but to say it is unsuitable would be a joke. The car has just been unveiled. The testing and set ups are being done to ready it for the Champ Car customers. I am sure Panoz has thought ahead. If the IRL goes elsewhere for a race car, it is for political reasons, not the suitablity of the DP-01. There is no evidence to suggest the car isn't capable of only turning left....
Mark, my point is, there is no evidence that says it can, either. It is obvious that the Dallara and Panoz IRL cars would need work to accommodate road racing. With long lead time, they did it with kits. All we get, among all the overdone hype of the DP-01 as being God's gift to the racing world, is statements it can run on ovals. When it tests a kit on an oval -- and I think that's a long ways away -- then I'll judge it.
One more time -- what would this "kit" consist of?
It's a lot harder to convert an oval-only car that was never designed to run on a road course than it is to convert a car that was designed and spec'd to do both from the start. You know it, but, as Mark so rightly pointed out, you are just being obstinate.
IC, turning left all day is pretty easy. The only changes to any race car would be to put wings or undertrays on it to take some downforce out. Like Grungex says, a car set up with a left offset is the car that needs the engineering, not a road course car....
The DP01 could be made to IRL specs to run on ovals, it would take some redesign on some parts, e.g. there is no reason why the bare chassis and underwing could not run on an oval.
There's no real reason you couldn't run it as is on most ovals. Stick a spool in it and stagger the rear tires, done.