I was reading this post: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=135522421&postcount=52 I wondered if this was true? Is the gearing changed on the legalized F1s? Also does anybody knows what all was done to the legalized cars and how many we're done.
The only thing I can offer is iirc the passenger seats were removed and some hideous front and rear "bumpers" were added.
??? I saw pictures of Legalized F1s in the USA and they had normal bumpers and still had the passenger seats...
Right. What I remember hearing was that Ameritech had to do all that stuff to the cars and then the new owners ended up just converting them back once they were in the States. I'll have to find the article that covered that, I think it's an older Road and Track one.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=135522421&postcount=52 "The US legal version of the McLaren F1 (federalized by AmeriTech) didn't fare nearly so well. It only did 11.6@125 mph in the 1/4 mile and top end of 217 mph bouncing off the rev limiter (why was the gearing changed?)," -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The only time I read about a top speed run of Mclaren in the US soil is in Road & Track, driven by Mario Andretti. I don't recall him saying 217 is the rev limit, although he did say that the car is surprisingly quite unstable at 200+ mph. If you recall the 231mph test by Mclaren, they did release the rev limiter on top gear, hence the car's true aerodynamic top speed is measured at 231 mph. It could be true that a really standard F1 is rev-limited to "only" 217 mph.
Mclaren F1's now fall under the Show or Display laws which dictate conformity to EPA regs but do not require conformity to DOT. The old cars that were DOT modified (to have seats removed for example) were possibly changed back, illegally, by their owners. Those cars have no restrictions on mileage and where they are driven like the Show or Display cars do.
I know the difference between the two, im actually in the process of bringing a car from europe under show and display. I was mentioning this because I saw pictures of cars which I know are DOT certified yet didn't have those bumpers or seats removed like Caplax said.
To be US certified back then, they had to have those boxy bumpers and no passenger seats. The owners converted them back as soon as they were certified. I have mentioned this in other threads about McLaren F1's. Check out the thread on Other Off Topic about me changing my profile pic to a McLaren. The F1 belongs to a friend of mine and he tells how his wife rode from New Jersey to Texas on beach towels in the seat well before he had the seats installed.......
Was it the same silver car that was profiled in Road & Track way back when? I remember reading the story, just curious if it was the same car. I know I've got that issue, somewhere..
Same one. Ameritech was the company who had it federalized for him. BTW, about the performance results they posted. The car was in Arizona and the day they tested it, it was over 104 degrees. Thin air+hot temperature=drop in performance. Road and Track also burned up his carbon fiber clutch and would not replace it or the set of tires they ran off of it. They finally replaced the tires but would do nothing about the clutch. They also peeled off the God is Awesome decal that he puts in the driver side quarter window panels and tried to pry off the Ichthus (fish symbol) on the rear of the car. They said that their readers might take offense at it. He said he will never let Road and Track test another one of his cars. When I got to test the car here in the metroplex, the temp was in the 80's and we did the acceleration test at Texas Motorplex, www.texasmotorplex.com, in Ennis, an all concrete dragstrip know for its traction and high speeds. This is the same dragstrip where Eddie Hill ran his first 300 mph top fuel run and ran the first 4 second quarter-mile(4.990 in April of 1988) and where many national records continue to be set each year. The strip surface is as smooth as a billiard table and the traction will jerk the rear end right out of your car if you are not careful. We tested 2.8--0-60 on one run. One run only but it was perfect. Most tested 3.0 to 3.2. Ran the quarter in 10.81 to 11.26, depending on driver and amount of tirespin. Did I say I had a blast and still do every time I remember doing it????
