IIRC the other teams had to vote to approve Ford's ability to race the car before road car production had started. I think the BMW M8 raced for at least a year before the 8 series road car actually came out. Remember the V8 powered BMW Z4 they used to run? A v8 was never an option in that car lol. I think it would be easier to point out the GTE/GTLM cars that are similar to the road cars than all the ones that are drastically different.
I never understood that. What's the point of allowing someone to circumvent the rules, so that it can beat you ? I gather some money changed hands...
Yup, they wanted more entries for the show. No sense in racing if your not competing with your real opposition in the showrooms. IIRC the rules did allow different engines from the mfr; ala, for example, Toyota's (truck) V8 in NASCAR that is not available in a car. However,that's different than something that just plain isn't available yet. Yes it would. But that's racing. Maybe, maybe not. I bet even the NGT's victory (and perhaps a 1-2-3) was in the cards for it's 50th anniversary. Everybody benefited by the additional eyeballs (potential customers) it drew to it's 50th Anniversary "show" (don't forget about the BoPing) that the NGT created (as above), that's why it was voted in. One always has to think outside the (box) obvious. One always has to keep in mind top level pro "auto racing" is no longer a competitive sport. It is now primarily.....nay.....solely.....the business of entertaining, live, rapid billboard, infomercials. Nothing more, nothing less. I get more pleasure these days out of amateur club racing. (SCCA here in the 'States) At least I know it's real sport; They're trying their hearts out.....
Is this a test? Trivia? None that I am aware of....is there any that I don't know about? Anyhow, I don't know of any other(s) that is/are: entertaining, live, rapid billboard, infomercial(s). (note my use of "entertaining" as one of three adjectives describing the noun "infomercial" in no way implies that pro auto "racing" (tee-hee) is special in being entertainment. Being, in itself, an infomercial, rather than an entertaining, live, rapid sport, is)
Looking through history, any sort of top level racing which Porsche has gotten involved with, they have always had an inherent advantage in the rules. BHW
THIS Dan Binks? BTW, the only parts which have commonality are the power steering rack and pump. The cars have been running like that since 2001. Nothing illegal, they pass tech inspection every race. Image Unavailable, Please Login
It was actually set back in the chassis as were those of Aston Martin and other front-engined cars. If you look at a side shot of the Aston Martins it looks like the driver is in the back seat. I have photos that show the location of the Katec V-8 engines in the C5-R, C-6R, and C-7R, as well as the Aston Martins of Prodrive. No cheating, all within the regulations. If you'd like me to post them I will.
Here is a photo of the Katec V-8 in the car. Image Unavailable, Please Login Here is a side shot of an Aston Martin Image Unavailable, Please Login And here is a Ferrari 575M Image Unavailable, Please Login Notice how far back the driver sits? It's because the engines are moved back.
Here are some shots of both the Aston Martin and Corvette during an engine swap at Road Atlanta. 009 Aston with engine out, note where the drive shaft bolts to the crank... Image Unavailable, Please Login Aston Image Unavailable, Please Login Aston 007 Red Lipstick car after engine swap Image Unavailable, Please Login Corvette Image Unavailable, Please Login Buttoning up the engine Image Unavailable, Please Login And here is the steering rack and associated hardware... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you. Though this thread is months old, Gatorati(sp.) contended that the Corvette engine 'is at least in the same place' as the road car's, while complaining that Porsche's is moved to be a mid-engine. I'm failing to find a distinction that makes one worse than the other. ALL the cars are made to regulations, yah?
The axles are the reference point. The Porsche started with the engine behind the rear axle. Then moved it ahead of the rear axle. Front engine cars have always had the engine behind the front axle and ahead of the driver.
Gotcha. I wonder how current weight distribution on the 2 cars vary from stock. While not arbitrary, the axle reference point seems, uh, argumentative maybe, in cars with, as you point out in the Corvette, just 2 stock parts.
I don't understand what you're trying to state. Are you saying teams that don't have a certain percentage of stock parts are cheating? How many stock parts are used in the Aston Martin entries? The Porsche entries? The Ferrari entries? They have racing series for cars with mostly stock components. ALMS and ACO have classes for cars that generally look like what you see on the dealer lots and only need to approximate those offerings in terms of engine type, engine location, body style, etc. I have photos of the internals of almost every entry in ALMS and ACO classes. I can post a couple dozen if you would like to see how "stock" a Porsche entry is in reality for example.
All I'm saying is that in a class with the name of the car being about the only thing in common with a road car, where the engine is in reference to the axle isn't a point which the aforementioned Gatorati seems to make, has much validity. Having not reviewed the entire thread, apologies if that wasn't his argument. Got no beef with you.
