Your Sports Sedan

Ok, you're going to build yourself a Sports Sedan for Natonal competition.

A) What sort of body shape will you use?
B) What sort of engine would you use?

Remember, the sky is pretty much the limit here...but try and keep things within reason :)

but try and keep things within reason :)

Nah, stuff that. I want to put a Douglas DC3 engine in a Festiva ;)

Well if it's it under 6 litres and in the front half of the car, then that would actually be legal!

This is a tough question Crash. Are you building your dream car for the fun of it or are you determined to win and going all out to build the most competitive car possible. A leading Sports Sedan competitor was talkking to me about this several years ago and he commented on how many people build a space frame Sports Sedan from scratch and then go and put a Falcon or Commodore body on it, just because that's the sort of car they like. If they in it to win it however, they would go for something with similar wheelbase, track etc. but much lower roofline and far more aerodynamic silhouette. Supra, Rx7 or 300ZX being the obvious choices.

A point I would add to this is look for a car with heavily protruding bumpers, because the rules allow the airdam and wing to go beyond the bumpers by a small margin, therefore with the protruding bumpers the wings would be well beyond the bodywork and thus far more effective, all else being equal. This kind of aerodynamic advantage can be used two ways, you can run the same wing settings as everyone else and have the same straight line speed and more corner speed or you can run less wing than everyone else without losing corner speed, whilst gaining straight line speed.

If all out absolute competitiveness wasn't the goal however, I would be inclined to do something really different. Choose a car that no one else would consider and you''ll stand out from the crowd or just choose your favourite car and make it however you like.

A beautiful class, the Sports Sedan. Originating out of the need to have somewhere to run the Appendix J cars of 1964, they grew and grew, loose rules giving rise to some combinations that would stagger (the Laws brothers' Holden-powered Mini, the Brock A30-Holden, Bryan Thomson's VW1600 Chev and also his Mercedes-Chev 4-valve) the imagination.

That's the point, the imagination can come into it, so let's encourage it!

But an engine from a DC3 in a Festiva? Now there's a problem David didn't mention with that... it's not from a CAMS-recognised production car... quite apart from being over six litres.

But fear not, there are many engines not used that could be used, and how they are developed, as the rules say that the block must be 'derived' from the CAMS recognised prod. car... what does that leave to the fertile mind?

There's some lovely engines around these days, too.

This sound like fun, do we have enough money to build a different car for each meeting?:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

An R34 skyline body with the twin turbo 2.6 six cylider motor with two of the biggest turbos that you can get. That should keep the V8 brigade quiet for a little while:p

Series six Rx7, with a 20B tripple rotor in it:)

I'll go turbocharged, around the 3-litre mark. David - I want to stand out from the crowd. I'll use a Lexus IS200 body.

I think I posted this topic after chatting about Ricciardello. I think that car of his, and Kerry Baily's Zed are two of the most beutiful cars going around. The Alfa has an awful lot of F5000 technology in it, heck, it even has a monocoque chassis!

Ivan Mikac has a Series 4 RX7 with a tripple rotor 20B, peripherial ported engine...and the car literally weighs nothing, it would be the next best thing to a DC3 engine in a Festiva :)

Also, how good does Barry Jameson's new Jag look? Now that is one low riding piece of kit, even with the seat stuck to the floor, the drivers head just about touches the roof!

Camaro 6ltr, oh yeah baby!

And you could fit disc brakes to it too! :)

This would upset Patterson, of course, he'd prefer it to be a Group N car...

Without the discs... hmm, memories of the Jane Camaro replica at Lakeside... not nice!

What about a Silvia, there aren't any racing yet. They have a very low silhouette, they're pretty sleek, reasonably long wheelbase and wide track and great protruding bumpers.

Now what to power it? Well many would go for a jap turbo or rotary, but I'm an old fashioned type and I'd have a 350 Chev out to 6 litres.

what about a Ford Cougar (the current one) with a 6litre Chev :)

I know every man and his dog have Chev engines, but how far do you think the Ford Clevelands and Windsors are behind??

Just to be different, how about a Volvo S40 with a 3 litre Ferrari V10 Formula One engine, therefore its safe, reliable and should be competitive as its not to big.

Also, is the sports sedan championship on TV this year. Last year when they supported the trucks they had heaps of TV, but i haven't seen any this year. Aren't they supporting V8 rounds, if they are shouldn't they be shown on Trackside.

Also, is it just me or are there less sports sedan races now. A few years back nearly every meeting had sports sedan races, now there isn't as many, shame, the Sports Sedans and Historic Tourers provide the best racing in the country.

Originally posted by Crash Test
I know every man and his dog have Chev engines, but how far do you think the Ford Clevelands and Windsors are behind??

Usually half a lap.

But they are at least eligible, unlike the Ferrari F1 engine, which does not fall within the rules. The block, I repeat for the sake of the fertile imaginations, must be derived from a CAMS recognised production car.

Even the most fertile could not say this of the F1 engine...

A certain Improved Production car I know borrows much technology from a prominant Super Touring make, which in turn takes a fair bit of technolody from that marque's F1 effort...

Usually the best of the Ford punters in the ASSC is Phil Crompton, and he has scored a few podiums in recent times....then again, he would find it a bit tough to keep up with Ricciardello, Baily and Co.