V8Supercar - Car Of The Future (Merged x4)

[GTRMagic]

The larger issue here is that the branding this series has is intrinsically linked to V8's. Whatever CoT work is completed will have to incorporate a V8 engine, bespoke or unbranded, or sourced from a particular manufacturer.

How would other manufacturers view this kind of thing? If a carmaker does not have a V8 in their range, would they be bothered to enter a V8Supercar branded series?

It would be relatively simple, given enough $$, to build a V8-engined Hyundai Sonata, Nissan Maxima, Mazda 6, Toyota Avalon and so forth... but is there any benefit in such a thing for a carmaker, as the product they sell wouldnt have the kinds of specifications as the car being raced.

While some people get excited at the fact that the V8Supercar is really only a silhouette of the road car, the great unwashed pretty much dont know that... but if you were to start getting excited about an Avalon V8, and you cant buy one (whereas you can buy an SS/XR8 or HSV/FPV) would there be any point?

How would the conversion happen? Throwing out all the existing equipment, and rendering it worthless overnight? Sounds like a fun plan

[Pro Racer]

well if this happens i'll give it a chance but i think i will lose abitof interest.

why can't we just go back to a Group A/C formula, real cars, best racing in those era's and you would imagine now there would be more teams with bigger budgets so the racing would be even better.

[Rachel Richards]

Originally Posted by Razor

A production based touring car championship? I'm all for it. Just a stock standard road car with a roll cage, race seat and safety harness and that's it with the car modifcations. I wonder if the VESA heads and their endless wisdom would allow for it

Series Production, bring it on !

[Green Hornet]

Originally Posted by Rachel Richards

Series Production, bring it on !

Errr . . . we already have that - called the Manufacturers Championship in its latest guise, and nobody has gone to watch Series Production for years.

Compared to V8s all the other categories have very poor crowds so why would you advocate a change to that?

[F J Nedos]

Originally Posted by Green Hornet

Errr . . . we already have that - called the Manufacturers Championship in its latest guise, and nobody has gone to watch Series Production for years.

Compared to V8s all the other categories have very poor crowds so why would you advocate a change to that?

I dare say that if all of the major names (drivers, teams, sponsors) moved to a production based series, then the people would follow. That is what it seems to be about... marketing, names, profiles.

Will VESA want to break from a "parity" format? Doubt it... but it would be good. I still want to see way less reliance on downforce and way more rubber on the road.

The COT is already here in ways. You cant get a 5 litre holden or ford, the holden is shortened in length from the factory (and I am guessing the Ford is too), the interior is nothing like the factory car. By calling it COT, all you are doing is changing the marketing.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by F J Nedos

Will VESA want to break from a "parity" format? Doubt it, but it would be good. I still want to see way less reliance on downforce and way more rubber on the road.

I'll have to agree with you on that comment. Is anyone a fan of the reliance on wings? Most drivers are not fans of the idea of massive amounts of areodynamical grip. I remember a few years ago that Glenn Seton saying that his perfect V8 Touring Series would see the abolishment of big wings and areo devices in return for really grippy slicks and I agree with his sayings.

Originally Posted by F J Nedos

The COT is already here in ways. You can't get a 5 litre engined Holden or Ford, the Holden is shortened in length from the factory (and I am guessing the Ford is too), the interior is nothing like the factory car. By calling it COT, all you are doing is changing the marketing.

The FG Falcon has been shortened, in both length and breadth and has a lower roofline so it is in the same specific measurements as the BF Falcon and VE Commodore. So in every way possible, the COT is here in Aus aswell.

[Crash Test]

Except without a spec chassis design, which I think is what they are aiming at. Did I read somewhere that a Nascar COT spec chassis cost something like US$50K to build? There's no reason why you couldn't do a similar thing here, and wind up with something very similar to the end product that is already in use. $50K is less than an all fangled $330K new FG...

[chevy34]

Sounds like the SCCA Trans-am series to me?

[Crash Test]

Yeah, but as is proven by the current cars you can build a space frame car and still retain the basic look of the donor car.

[chevy34]

The last of the Trans-am cars where very good looking cars and there where Jags with Ford motors Talk of a Merc with a Mopar sounds like a good idea to me. And the last of the Rocketsports Jags ran a 4ltr 4 cam V8 on injection against the 311ci pushrod carb motors and won races so why cant Toyota and Nissan get in there or toyota could use the NASCAR engine as a base.

[Y.N.M]

Originally Posted by Crash Test

Yeah, but as is proven by the current cars you can build a space frame car and still retain the basic look of the donor car.

The current cars aren't actualy a spaceframe chassis. They still use the production car shell although shortened and strengthened in areas.

I reckon its just becoming too much about marketing for Ford and Holden. Most team's don't have the backing from them now anyway so I don't see why the cars become to distant from the production counter-parts should be a problem in that sense? If they think that people want to drive what the guys are racing that could be a valid point but i think that would only apply to a small percentage of the fans. Most true racing fans would probably much rather watch guys racing proper race cars than a road car with slicks! I know I would.

Racing should be about technology and the cars just as much as driver talent. Maybe a budget cap and technical freedom like Formula 1 is introducing would keep the racing close (although I think v8 is probably one of the closest categories you'll find).

Think the organisers better be careful or they could loose more than they gain

[RotorFan]

Preposterous. My interest is already low in V8 Supercars. This will be the final nail though.


Just go to S2000/improved production for fug's sake and be done with it. Its cheap, its relevant and provides great racing.

[dsg]

I like the COT idea, albeit with a few more freedoms in engine choice. Or another way of looking at it is as a more restricted class of sports sedans. Production cars work ok in rallying but on circuits I have never found them very interesting. I prefer to watch racing cars over road cars.

[profi]

Originally Posted by touring fan01

Spaceframe chassis. Silhouette body. Generic V8 engine and a load of fixed components (suspension, gearbox, diff, brakes, aerodynamics etc).

In other words they will all be exactly the same as each other underneath, clothed in panels to look like whatever model you want.

Welcome to the "Car Of Tomorrow" folks......

Thats how they are now, fabricated floorpan, wheelbase shortened, most panels are composite, both run a ford style head, 9" diffs.

I would like to see them allow more current technology freedoms. go more along the dtm line, that works you have the Mercedes and audi rivalry even though everyone knows that they are not...

To be honest a supercar is harder to pick visually (holden or ford) over a dtm car (audi or mecedes).

bring in more manufacturers and more fredoms is my thinking.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Crash Test

Except without a spec chassis design, which I think is what they are aiming at. Did I read somewhere that a Nascar COT spec chassis cost something like US$50K to build? There's no reason why you couldn't do a similar thing here, and wind up with something very similar to the end product that is already in use. $50K is less than an all fangled $330K new FG...

But you must remember Crash Test, NASCAR chassis only used for a couple of races per year, unlike V8 Supercars which are used all year.