Not that I watch left turn sedan racing, but where did Toyota get a pushrod V8 for their Camrys?
I think it was designed from scratch. I remember when they were getting ready to race trucks they were having a hard time finding a foundry in Japan to make the iron blocks. Dave
Designed by TRD. That is the major sticking point with the rest of the NASCAR teams. It's NOT from a production vehicle. To me it's very simple, if you let one manufacturer build a one-off motor for a series, let them all. Rousch and the others are upset because the have to work withen the limits imposed by a "production" layout. TRD had no such limits. They purchased all the other motors available, and took the best design qualities of each, and this allowed them to stay within the rules. A year ago or so I watched a very interesting program about this very problem. Darrell.
Absolutely correct, and Toyota's defense was that they didn't have an ohv V8 available in their production.
Just allow them all to use a current production engine of size Z ... solves the problem. Who cares how the valves are operated. Pete
It is easier to get high revs out of an overhead cam motor than pushrod motor, all other factors being equal. Dave
I know that . My point was why not change the rules and say: Ford, GM, Chrysler and anybody who wants to play these are now the engine rules: Must be production engine (10,000 minimum per year) of x cc size with a maximum of 4 valves per cylinder. Then it would be level playing field again. We must remember that when these current rules were created that these current engines were the top of the tree technology wise for an American v8 engine. It is now 50+ years later, lets update the rules to allow modern engines. Even Formula Ford has changed to a modern Ford production engine. No longer the Ford Cortina 1600 engine but the Ztec. NASCAR needs to do the same and then Toyota won't have to 'cheat' with a non-production engine. Pete
This is not NASCAR bashing but it really makes me wonder why as other motor sports have advanced technically in the motor design arena, that NASCAR has not budged from their stance. The small block design has been taken as far as possible so that now you have to cheat to get an edge. Modern cars all have embraced modern design, these include aluminum blocks, four valves per cyl., fuel injection-direct injection, distributorless ignition and more. So I beg the question, what is the real reason for keeping this sport continually confined to the days of Billy Bob and technically inept when compared to other motor sports?
Well you can think of it that way if you like, but it really is time for NASCAR to move forward. Heck why not restrict all teams to running a Model T Ford engine Pete
I agree, if Toyota cannot make their own block, they can't race, period. As far as nascar allowing DOHC or 4 valves, etc. I think that would send the costs really through the roof, and you would NEVER see an independent even TRY to make a race. Let's just bring the British Touring Car Series over here and see how they do at Daytona - wouldn't that be interesting ? Anyway, my rationale for the motor is; banning turbos after 1988 was supposed to lower costs, and it did anything BUT, in 1989 they revved to, what, 13,000 RPM's ? What are they at now, 19,500 or 20,000 ? At what cost ??
They would under my proposal. I reckon those pushrod motors cost a fortune. Can't see DOHC increasing costs ... if still production based, infact I see it lowering costs. They must have to do a lot of clever work to make those 'old engines' hang together at such high piston speeds, etc. When NASCAR started it was 'stock cars', that were very close to production cars, and they ran current engines. Why not run current engines now?. I know Ford and GM make modern engines, why not use them? Pete
FYI, the Toyota Camry is the only car/engine package in NASCAR representing a car made in the USA...the rest of the field represent cars made in Canada and/or Mexico...
Why should they change? The push-rod engines now used have to be detuned with restrictor plates to slow them down as it is...without the restrictor plates the current NASCAR field would go 250mph+ on tracks such as Daytona and Talladega!
Any change in rules/specs will increase costs and increase the gap between the best and worst teams. I remember reading comments from an F1 engineer who said if they would just leave the rules alone, eventually all the teams would figure out what the top teams are doing, competition would get much closer and costs would ultimately go down. Dave
