F-1 - Whatever happened to these?

[jdbubb at verizon.net (Dan Bubb)]

From: "Greg Pallett" <greg.rocco@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Brendan Doyle" <lord_verminaard@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Dan Bubb" <jdbubb@xxxxxxxxxxx>; "Camron D. Crouse" <camron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Scirocco List" <scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 2:09 PM
Subject: Re: F-1 - Whatever happened to these?


> Even though I don't know much.. (or anything) about the old Group B racing
> cars, or the Can-Am series, I always was intrigued by them.  In group B the
> power and speed and technology was all growing so fast, drivers couldn't
> keep up!

Yeah, Audi's fault there. The first to effectively combine 4 wheel drive with turbocharging. 
Lot of spectators died in that era.

> My main impression about Can-Am  is that towards the end the cars just had
> ridiculous amounts of power.... and this was in the early stages of
> aerodynamics, wings, downforce, etc....

The original Can-Am had almost no rules and there were a lot of technical innovations, interestingly enough mostly from GM engineering via Jim Hall's Chaparrel. But most of it was dominated by McLaren Racing through using the latest reliable technology and good old fashioned preperation. As the cars got faster the rule book got thicker. Sometimes just to ban a car with technology that was "oo expensive" like the Chaparrel 2J sucker car.
Then Porsche and Penske came along with the 917/10 and 917/30 turbo cars and doubled the cost of a competitive car. 1200 HP and they weren't even intercooled! The mainstay aluminum Chevy big block at 800 Hp had no chance. So then they implemented fuel mileage rules that effectively banned the Porsches, but by then everybody had lost interest.
So much for unbridled technological developement.

> I really should find something to read about those two areas..
> 
> GP
> 
> 
> On 11/7/07, Brendan Doyle <lord_verminaard@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> Ya, just the opposite of NASCAR- the "poor man's" racing league.  :P Their
>> validation for keeping with pushrod V8's and carburetors is to "keep costs
>> down for racing teams".  Yeah right.  And just how cheap do you think it is
>> to make a pushrod V-8 rev to 9500+ rpm's at WOT for three straight
>> hours?  I'd love to see them generalize the rules a little more for all
>> types of racing- just to see the ingenious things people come up with that
>> sometimes work.  :)
>>
>> Brendan
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Dan Bubb <jdbubb@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: Camron D. Crouse <camron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; Scirocco List <
>> scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 7, 2007 11:36:57 AM
>> Subject: Re: F-1 - Whatever happened to these?
>>
>>
>> You mean the 6 wheels?
>> Banned.
>> Williams F1 engineering was developing a 6 wheeled car with 2 front, 4
>> rear that got rid of the huge barn door rear tires. Significantly
>> faster, but banned just in the nick of time. Just like the CVT
>> transmission
>> Williams developed that could handle 750 Hp. Banned right before it
>> could race.
>> Thank god the F1 rule makers ban these sorts of things so that the
>> "most technologically advanced racing series in the world" has NO
>> technical
>> relevance or benefit to the everyday world!
>> Dan
>>
>> From: "Camron D. Crouse" <camron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Scirocco List" <scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 11:03 AM
>> Subject: OT: F-1 - Whatever happened to these?
>>
>>
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/yr7c9y
>> >
>> > Camron from Vancouver, WA USA
>> > '86.5 Black 16V 2.0L
>> >
>> >
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "Fatal mistakes rarely happen, but funny things often do"
>