CART ENGINE CHNAGES OVER THE NEXT 3 YEARS WHY?

[Robin Plummer]

Read this below taken from Autosport's site. The only question I have is why bother, what is wrong with the current car's they seem fine to me. Is this an attempt to make them a lot slower than F1?

"The Champ Car series is to have power outputs reduced by up to 200bhp over the next two years, but an effective method to slash the power is yet to be firmly established.

The engine manufacturers involved in the series - Ford, Mercedes, Toyota and Honda - have proposed that the turbocharger boost be reduced from 40 inches of mercury to 38 next season and 34 in 2002.

The proposal has yet to be accepted by CART’s franchise board, although the board has agreed to the reduction in power.

CART acting CEO Bobby Rahal has put forward a plan for the introduction of air restrictors and claims an agreement between the teams and the engine builders will be announced shortly.

The changes are part of a move towards the new set of engine regulations which will be introduced in 2003 and will see the end of the stalwart 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine format. The favourite to take over is a 1.8-litre turbo V8 unit with 55 inches of boost."

[Heeltoe6]

Because speeds are too high on the ovals. On superspeedways, it's plain dangerous, and on the short ovals, it makes for parades.(although the aero package is a huge part of the latter as well). The drop in boost for the next few years is a quick fix until they get the 1.8L turbo, when they can run low boost on ovals for safety/passing, but run high hp on road courses where it's not a problem

[Liz]

I'd rather get rid of the ovals, especially the superspeedway NASCAR tracks, and leave the boost alone. But what do I know? I just hope it doesn't ruin the road racing.

[Crash Test]

You see folk, if you get rid of the ovals, you'd be left with F3000....

It's kind of like telling sports cars to get rid of Le Mans because it is a danger. Sports Cars are Le Mans.

It's also like telling Touring Cars they can't race at Bathurst because it is a danger. Touring Cars are Bathurst.

I could waffle on all day down this path. If you take the ovals out of Cart you'd be left with a carbon blob open wheel series, exactly the same as the rest of the open wheel sereis in the world....

OK, back on topic

If they bring in smaller engines, will they give the cars their wings back?

[Dave S]

Don't know about the wings, but maybe the 1.8 Turbo makes sense. I believe they would still have the same boost, with reduced top speed, meaning that they would still have the instant torque for fast lap times on the road circuits. I don't really care too much for ovals either Liz, but CART is adamant to remain the fastest open wheel series in the world, meaning they have to stick with the Super's & run at least fast enough to retain the title. Also, with Bernie's choke hold on the major road circuits in Europe, etc., that only really leaves ovals for the European fans, at least for the present.

[kuchi]

i thinkthe problem is that if Cart agrees to run with samall engine for safety, they might as well consider the aero problem. If you have less hp, whats the point in having all the wing restrictions?. Well i guess we will wait and see.

[Robin Plummer]

Well as far as I am concered nothing should be changed. Motor Racing is surposed to be dangerous, that's why the drivers get paid loads. Just ask Michael Andretti!

Recently when asked what he thought of the current F1 cars Stirling Moss said "They are TOO SAFE compared to my day, all the risks have gone out of it. Drivers think nothing of having a big crash because 9 times out of 10 they are ok"

No I know we lost two drivers last year and another in 1996 but if you look at the 50's,60's and 70's it was much more dangerous at slower speeds.

Top Fuel Drag racer cars often exceed 300mph, and as long as they don't hit the wall they are ok, so what's wrong with doing 240mph down a back straight in a Champ Car?. The drivers want to do it...

[Dave S]

No, the drivers DON'T want to do it. After Mich. Tracy stated that his speeds were too high at the end of the back straight. A view shared by other drivers as well. You also can't compare a Top Fuel pilot with CART drivers. A Top Fuel run requires seconds at the edge as compared to having to keep that level for 500 miles.