For or against the proposal
This was posted on the F500 forum on Friday the 13th
Those individuals for or against the proposal, to include 600cc MC engines in the F500 class, have two questions to ask themselves:
1. Will including the 600cc motor be good or bad for the class? (Philosophical question).
2. In what form will the motor be accepted? (Technical question).
If your answer to question #1 is BAD end of story. Let the CRB know your feelings and if possible your reasons why. But in any case WRITE and voice your opinion. Same thing is true for those who think it would GOOD.
If your answer is GOOD, then we move onto question #2. In my opinion, this is a technical issue and can be addressed effectively by the Advisory Committee and the CRB with input from F500 members. We may not always agree with their analysis/recommendations but I believe everyone involved has the best interest of this class at heart.
As I’m undecided at this point I’d like for people who are for or against the 600cc motor to layout your reasons why it would be good or bad for the class as a whole. My understanding of the original intent of the F500 class was to provide a relatively inexpensive entry level form of racing. So, how would allowing or not allowing 600cc motors into the class change or modify the class philosophy?
The technical aspects of implementing the proposal, if it’s adopted, is a different subject. If we can get a good explanation of the pros and cons it may help some of us to get a better understanding and help us make up our mind.
Ted Simmons
Voting NO unless convinced otherwise
This was posted on the F500 forum on Saturday the 14th.
Let me try to put into context my post above.
I spoke with a member of the CRB on the same day (13th) I posted the above comment. The CRB member shall remain anonymous at this time just in case I’ve totally screwed up the information he tried to convey. He did not request anonymity, but I feel he deserves it since I didn’t get his permission to quote him.
As I understand it, this is how a proposal is handled:
1. A proposal is sent requesting a GCR change or modification to the CRB. This has been done by Jay Novak.
2. The CRB is tasked by the BOD to review and make a recommendation for or against, with or without changes, and/or modifications to the original proposal.
3. The CRB will refer the proposal to the respective Advisory Committee for input. In this case I believe that to be the Formula Car/Sports Racer Committee.
4. The Advisory Committee will decide if the proposal is a GOOD or a BAD idea. I asked if there were specific criteria used by Advisory Committee members to make this judgment call. Guess what? It’s a subjective call made by each individual Committee member based on his or hers own evaluation of the facts as they see them.
5. The Advisory Committee submits their evaluation of the proposal to the CRB. It is either recommended as is or with changes, or not at all.
6. The CRB will meet and evaluate the Advisory Committee’s recommendation and either submit it to the membership at large for comments over a 30 or 60 day time period or kill it without comment.
7. At the end of the comment period the CRB will recommend to the BOD to either accept or reject the proposal. This step has a deadline of mid to late June 2009 for any proposal for the 2010 competition year.
8. The BOD will then make a decision.
In my opinion it is time for people to lobby for their position by writing to the CRB and voicing them here on the (F500) forum. I don’t know how many Advisory Committee members read this (F500) forum but it may be more then we suspect. By voicing your opinion here you may be able to sway a Committee member’s recommendation or at least convince some of us who are on the fence. If the arguments can be found in one thread it’s easier for someone (Committee member) to maximize their time in getting the information they need to form an opinion. Think of it as lobbying for your position without having to pay a lobbyist.
Although I’m undecided, I’m leaning towards voting NO on the proposal. However, it’s for entirely selfish reasons. Since I already have a really nice F500 with more invested than I like, I’m reluctant to add more dollars to make the conversion. I estimate it will take $8500 to make a competitive conversion using my existing chassis. That includes a 600cc motor, the things necessary to make it run e.g. exhaust, fuel pump etc., and chassis modifications to accept the new motor. Somebody tell me why I should vote YES.
Ted Simmons
600cc motor cost estimate
'09 600cc GSX-R $2400
Used motor + rebuild $900 + 1200 = $2100
Wire harness $350
Exhaust kit + welding $600
Power Commander $350
Fuel Pump $90
Fuel filter (10 micron) $100
Remote oil filter adapter $25
Braided lines (oil and fuel) $75
AN adapters $100
Custom oil cooler $300
Custom air box $350
Custom oil pan $400
Sub-total $5130 new motor
$4830 used motor
Chassis modification $4000
Total $8730 new
$8430 used
The chassis modification may be less, not sure how much would need to be changed. I don’t think anyone has a clue yet what it will take. Maybe after Jay modifies Chris Ross’ KBS we’ll have a better idea. I don’t want to start a chassis modification and run out of funds, so I always estimate high on chassis structural changes. And I don’t want to miss any of the racing season if it can be helped.
The motor costs are based on actual receipts I have from a previous install of a Yamaha R1 in a DSR chassis. I paid more for the motor but will use the cost quoted by Chris Ross. There are miscellaneous costs for small items I didn’t feel like adding up.
600cc motor to be slower than Rotax
Hey Russ,
This was posted on the F500 forum today 6:50 PM.
... in my discussion with the CRB member he stated emphatically the 600cc motor, if approved, would have a handicap of weight and IIR. The handicap would ensure the 600cc powered car would be slower. He would not commit to how much slower – but SLOWER than the Rotax. He referenced the testing done for the inclusion of the Zetec motor into FC. Some digging around on the Apexspeed forum showed this to be in the neighborhood of 1.5 – 2.0 seconds. This would be adjusted over a period of time after much testing and analysis. The testing and analysis timeframe quoted was not months either but maybe over two racing seasons.
I may have this totally messed up but that's what I took away from the discussion.
Edit: To answer your question about being compelled to convert to 600cc motor.
No, not at all. In fact I believe a well tuned Rotax and properly adjusted CVT will out perform the 600cc motor. When approaching the start of a race in a mixed run group (FV, FF, and F5) it still surprises me how fast a CVT will accelerate. Typically, except for the top National FF cars, we can move past most them with ease.
I will admit to really liking the sound of a motor turning 16,000 rpm.:D