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Old 22 Jan 2019, 09:02 (Ref:3877646)   #1
zefarelly
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Over development, specifically engines.

This could run and run, or quickly die, depending on how deep in you are, or whether you give a sh**!

It's patently obvious even to someone who can barely check tyre pressures, that development of historic cars has been on an ever increasing climb in the last ten years or so, largely down to the kudos of success at certain high profile events, the influx of professional teams/drivers and their significant business interests, all fuelled by a new wave of corporate racers, who like the lifestyle aspect and possibly value compared to modern racing? (I'm guessing there!) Whatever the minutiae, the demographic has changed considerably.

I've just been reading through a pile of old race tech magazines from the late 90's and early 2000's, which, whilst cutting edge then, seem almost normal now. That's entirely acceptable if you're running contemporary cars, but surely not for historic racing.

One article from late '98 was about v10 engine development with John Judd, their engine was competitive at the time, another about NASCAR v8's from early 99, so Much of the articles mirror exactly what is happening with 'modern' historic race engines. I won't single out any one engine as it's happening to virtually all of them, there are half a dozen or so prominent European engines and a few US ones. I may only be near the bottom of the engine development ladder but I do know a few facts!

Without boring the pants off everyone, the crux of it Is increasing crank speed to make more peak power, often at the expense of efficiency and 'quality' of combustion, so doing anything to maximise intake volumes ( radical cyl head modification and cam profiles) then doing whatever is necessary with all the internals to make it cope with increased revs and stay together. What's happening to the rest of the car to cope is another chapter!

Hogging ports out and reprofiling valves etc is nothing new, but new cast and heavily redesigned cylinder heads to give even more flow and allow massive valve lift isn't quite right IMO, whilst cam profiles are 'free' in App K there aren't many period cylinder heads that allow very high lift (About 11mm is a normal limit) and the key to making big power at higher revs is out and out flow, via heads and cams, the gains outweigh all the inefficiencies in combustion resulting from a loss of swirl/tumble and having to use crazy ignition advance curves ( or programmes!!!)

Whatever you think of that, one inescapable fact is friction. There is no way revolutions per minute increasing by 20-30% or even more, is a viable or reliably possible option without significant change to major engine components, in size, dimensions and weight. None of which is permissible, even in most club racing series. Let alone as homologated. Materials is another consideration, alThough coatings aside, most exotic materials have been around as long as the chassis plates.

The word FIA is bandied about everywhere, yet only a small Minority of races and series are actually FIA sanctioned . . . . Perhaps it's time the use of the phrase was outlawed?

For a vast majority of series, If 'modern' engines (and everything else for that matter) are so common place and acceptable, maybe it's time to just say f*** it, anything goes. At least that may preserve a few genuine old cars.

The horse bolted, ages ago, the gates hanging off . . . . So I guess the question is, Is there any desire anywhere, or any point in fitting a new gate, and finding a replacement nag, or do we just accept an open gate policy with a millennial spec quadruped!
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