The end appears nigh (yet again)

[Rachel Richards]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...702-21bk0.html

Ecoboost Supercars just doesn't quite have the same ring to it....

I suppose, in the future the Ikea-Car rules will be amended to let you run whatever engine you want...





Especially if it means holding onto a struggling marque.




.

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by Rachel Richards

Ikea-Car rules

So instead of just the front splitter being held on by allen key screws the whole CotF is is it

[Rachel Richards]

Originally Posted by PVDA

So instead of just the front splitter being held on by allen key screws the whole CotF is, is it

Yep, it's the all-singing, all-dancing (with the stars) Mr Skaife's wonderful new Flat-pack race car*







*Guaranteed to cost much less than your last one...

[mountainstar]

The V8 isn't going anywhere yet and it appears that article is merely based off of a personal opinion.

[inpitlane]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

The V8 isn't going anywhere yet and it appears that article is merely based off of a personal opinion.

But the personal opinion of a significant player in the game. The headline was a touch misleading as he did say the V8 would continue as a niche engine, but as a mainstream offering the V8 is pointless.
It's outdated technology, wasteful and inefficient in it's present form.
If Australian motorsport is to remain in any way relevant, then it needs to do what the ACO and F1 have done and embrace and encourage smaller more sophisticated engines.
A pushrod 5 litre V8 is as outdated as cross ply tyres and 8 track cartridges, We drove a small turbo diesel in France recently and it was not only economical but more than quick enough for road use.
That new 1 litre Ford Eco-Boost engine is a thing of beauty.
The holy grail of any high performance engine has always been 100BHP per litre, well this engine has about 30% more than that in road trim.

[peckstar]

I'm trying to work out what Rachel means when she says the end appears nigh.

end of what?

[alfacors]

Originally Posted by inpitlane

The holy grail of any high performance engine has always been 100BHP per litre, well this engine has about 30% more than that in road trim.

100hp per litre in Naturally Aspirated form is the benchmark

[NZSTfan]

yes i am sure its true for road-cars....i mean who wants a gas guzzling donk under the bonnet when you can in fact get pretty good performance from either diesel and petrol engines with some forced induction.

But for the race track the V8 will live on for some time i think. its all about the sound, the feel and the whole package that brings fans in their droves to supercar and supertourer events in Aus and NZ.

Maybe, just maybe one day V8SC will use a 2.4L force-fed V8 to meet in the middle?

I suppose the same can be said for F1. This year they are still using small V8's but next year (and please correct me if i am wrong) they are going to a 1.6L Turbo....and thats at the pinnacle of motorsport!

I dont think there is ever an end in sight (maybe for certain engine configurations) as motorsport will always be with us and will develop with the times. Just like the introduction of E85 into V8SC was an evolution that was supposed to mirror what was happening in the real world of motoring.

Who knows, maybe one day will see a V8SC running very small block V8 engines with super/turbo chargers etc, with DRS and KERS......now that would be interesting to watch

[Rachel Richards]

Originally Posted by peckstar

I'm trying to work out what Rachel means when she says the end appears nigh.

end of what?

http://youtu.be/Z0GFRcFm-aY


I personally blame Bob Jane for blueing with CAMS, Tony Cochrane for starting all this V8 SC nonsense, CAMS for arguing with Bob, then selling the farm to TC, Julia Gillard for lying,
Bob Brown (poor bloke has never been the same after Whitney’s sad passing) for duping the lying trollop PM into this Carbon Tax nonsense, and Nick Xenophon, because he has a funny name…


Oh and print journalists for writing stories designed to kill off V8 engines (all just a little bit of history repeating)

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Rachel Richards

http://youtu.be/Z0GFRcFm-aY


I personally blame Bob Jane for blueing with CAMS, Tony Cochrane for starting all this V8 SC nonsense, CAMS for arguing with Bob, then selling the farm to TC, Julia Gillard for lying,
Bob Brown (poor bloke has never been the same after Whitney’s sad passing) for duping the lying trollop PM into this Carbon Tax nonsense, and Nick Xenophon, because he has a funny name…


Oh and print journalists for writing stories designed to kill off V8 engines (all just a little bit of history repeating)

Well of course, the world is going to end of this year!

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by Rachel Richards

Oh and print journalists for writing stories designed to kill off V8 engines (all just a little bit of history repeating)

Not sure if you're old enough to remember the old V8 til '98 campaign Rachel??

and that was 1998 not 2098 by the way

[Rachel Richards]

Originally Posted by PVDA

Not sure if you're old enough to remember the old V8 til '98 campaign Rachel??

and that was 1998 not 2098 by the way

Now Paul, you know full well how old I am, and I take great offense at your post...

I suppose it could have been worse, you might have said 1898...

[bluesport]

Don't worry, there'll still be V8s in the B12hr........everyone can get their yearly "fix" there.

[david5]

Ford Australia killed the Ford V8 in 1983, that worked well for them.

[chavez]

Originally Posted by david5

Ford Australia killed the Ford V8 in 1983, that worked well for them.

Of course during most of the time the Falcon was without a V8 it outsold the Commodore.

[I Rosputnik]

If everything fails there's always S2000...



Nah, it may work over here in Europe, but I don't see Australia or New Zealand taking to them. I hear that the Mustang is coming to RHD markets in a few years time, so maybe that might be the future of V8 racing?

[Goat Boy]

No turbo car is ever going to sound as good as a V8 (or V12 for that matter) race car. Even if the Skyline sounds mental when it's tweaked to 1200bhp it still sounds like a Japper, in the same way a Honda will never sound as good as a Ducati. Or be as cool. Even if it goes better.

For the normal street car there probably aren't many places outside the US where V8's are commonly sold, they tend to be in luxury cars and luxury car buyers know what they want generally so I simply can't see things changing very much from where they already are.

But race cars? The V8 will live forever (or until all the petrol runs out and we have to go back to horses), mark my words...

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by chavez

Of course during most of the time the Falcon was without a V8 it outsold the Commodore.

I can't seem to find the figures (ABS data goes back only to 1994) but I seem to remember Commodore being top seller on a yearly basis for about 20 years starting from the early 80s.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by Mixer

I can't seem to find the figures (ABS data goes back only to 1994) but I seem to remember Commodore being top seller on a yearly basis for about 20 years starting from the early 80s.

Wasnt the falcon advertised as car of the decade during the mid 90's because it had been on top for ten years, ie to the mid 80's

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by peckstar

Wasnt the falcon advertised as car of the decade during the mid 90's because it had been on top for ten years, ie to the mid 80's

Sorry, I stand corrected.

GM had the best seller between 1950 and 1981!

Falcon was best seller for 7 years from 1982 to 1988. Ironically these would have been many of the no-V8 years. What XD to EB?

Commodore was then best from 1989 to 2011. A remarkable run.

[b195]

Originally Posted by Mixer

Sorry, I stand corrected.

GM had the best seller between 1950 and 1981!

Falcon was best seller for 7 years from 1982 to 1988. Ironically these would have been many of the no-V8 years. What XD to EB?

XE to EA, so close. It was the introduction of the VN towards the end of 1988 which then saw the Commodore retake #1 in 1989.

And yeah, it closely matches the years without the V8, the V8 disappearing around 82/83 and returning in 1991.

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by b195

XE to EA, so close. It was the introduction of the VN towards the end of 1988 which then saw the Commodore retake #1 in 1989.

Scary that the VN could retake anything, unfortunately it only showed how crap the EA was!

[aussiemuscle308]

Originally Posted by inpitlane

A pushrod 5 litre V8 is as outdated as cross ply tyres and 8 track cartridges,

hasn't stopped NASCAR

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by aussiemuscle308

hasn't stopped NASCAR

Don't feed the trolls, it only encourages them.

Pushrod engines have many good features, being generally smaller, less top-heavy and being less complex to make and maintain than OHC engines.

There will be differences also in the driving characteristics of the engines, case in point most recent Ford vs Holden reviews of the NA V8s show the Holden pushrod motor to be more torquey down low.

[inpitlane]

And where would you buy one of these pushrod V8's in this day and age?
There's nothing wrong with nostalgia but it's 2012, we need to move on.
Can anybody possibly compare something like an Audi S4 4.2 litre DOHC engine with an old fashioned pushrod V8?
Yes they have good low down torque but that's all. When was the last time an F1 engine was pushrod OHV? How many Le Mans have been won by pushrod V8s?
It's an outdated design and when Nissan debut their 4.5 DOHC next year it won't be long until both Ford and Holden demand that they use their DOHC engines as well or restrict the Nissan so it can't win.
That's if they decide to stay at all.
Certainly Ford are looking increasingly unlikely.