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"I have yet to hear anything from you that says a Pro Stock is mechanically simpler than an Indy car or that it takes less work to keep the performance consistent."
May I try?
A current Pro-Stock racecar is a front engined, beam axled (front and rear), racecar that has a relatively high C.G., lot's of weight in the driver protection system (roll cage), a push rod 500 CID. two valve engine maaking about 1800 to 2100 HP.
Other than the size and power of the engine, so is every early FORD pick-up truck, as is just about every current sprint car.
The chassis are steel, tube framed, triangulated structures with little torsional stiffness, some longitutinal beam stiffness...again, about the same type of construction of your average sprint car.
A Champ Car is a very stiff (both torsionally and beam, in all axes) carbon fiber skinned, aluminum honeycomb (except when ballistic Kevlar is used for impact and penetration) chassis that serves as a very stiff platform for complex front and rear suspension systems. The engines, are 17,000 RPM race engines that put out over 340 HP/liter.
The cars are designed to be driven on ovals, where steady-state torsional forces are generated for several seconds, four times a lap, and alternating torsional and bending forces on road courses.
The intent of the Champ Car chassis is to provide an almost infinately stiff platform so that each corner (suspension) is capable of predictable load inputs and response, and the chassis doesn't act like a fifth spring.
I could go on, but my fingers are getting tired, and I don't think that I'm going to get an informed response by you Franklin, so think what you like, and when you actually design and build something, we'll talk again.
[This message has been edited by cmd (edited 20 April 2000).]
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