The Formula Speed 2.0. An "Everyman"’s Race Car
[FONT=Monaco]If you’ve been paying attention to the development of this [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]space age club race car[/FONT][FONT=Monaco], you know that [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]WorldSpeed[/FONT][FONT=Monaco] has been working overtime to fine tune it. Up til now, they have used a select few seriously fast dudes to do the beta-testing and without really trying, gotten the test times down about 2 or 3 seconds under the standard Formula Mazda track records. So they should be done with testing, right and why would they call someone like me?[/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]If you’ve read any of my “Postcards from the Back” (so called) race reports, you know I’ve done all of my on-track racing in [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]a standard FM [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]for the past 7 years. And you would also know that I’m too old, clumsy and left brained to ever be mistaken for “quick.” So you can appreciate my jaw dropping amazement when I got an EM from Mark Milazzo asking if I could come out for a half day of testing…………on them. What?? a real test driver role? I’m thinking NFW and immediately checked my calendar to make sure that April Fool’s day was past. No need to do that really since WorldSpeed is as serious as a heart attack about business. As my pappy used to say, “Son, don’t look a gift horse up the ass,” or something like that. So I just grabbed my gear and headed straight over to Infineon with no fricking idea why they wanted me to drive it. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]It was a typical open test Friday at Infineon with a moderate number of cars on track. A few brief showers came and went leaving certain parts of the track wet for short periods. Not enough to get scared although I did lock ‘em up a couple times on the downhill T-4 approach, once going straight off into the NASCAR chute. Ambient temp was pleasant and overall a good day to test. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]Visually the car is well put together; the fit and finish is excellent and you can tell that the design will make it easy to maintain that fine fit and finish. If you’ve raced a purpose built fiberglass bodied race car, you’ll know that’s no trivial point. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]The driver fit with the car was easy. I’m pretty average; 5-11 and 200#, so I can say there’s more than enough room in the cockpit. And the generic bead seat was more than good enough for a couple hours testing. You know how some guys complain about their headrest, top of the seat or some such thing creating problems with the HANS and/or the helmet? Not so here; just scooch your butt down, and forward and get ready to race or take a nap; your choice. [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]The cockpit felt like an old shoe pretty quickly.[/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]The pedals were fine too, but they quickly and easily adjusted them back to give me the same bent knee position I’m used to in my car. Getting in, I had to be aware of a top bar on the frame and get my feet under it, but once in position, there was plenty of room for my size 10 feet. I left foot brake, and it was a perfectly natural fit for me: my feet didn’t know they were not in my car.[/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]The [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]steering wheel [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]is top notch for a club car with the built in AIM data system dash. The AIM panel in my FM is on the dash, not the wheel, and sometimes it’s hard to read when the sun is in front of me. No problem with reading this dash in any sun position. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]To be perfectly honest, I was a bit disappointed that there was no blown rear wing. They explained that was old technology since F-1 is done with it, and they’re working on a driver controlled rear wing and KERS, just like F-1 this year. Just kidding, this car won’t be changing their techno stuff every season. It’s all about the driver………..like racing was meant to be. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]OK, I’ve been stalling long enough; you want to know about my driving experience. You want to hear that I instantly had blazing speed and that I sent the video and data immediately to Roger Penske, right? Well, to be perfectly honest, I spent most of the day trying to come to grips with the no-lift sequential shift system. As I previously mentioned and as most of you are painfully aware, I’m old, clumsy and think too much. The shifting drill on this car is way too simple and easy for me; I like things to be hard and take forever to learn. To give you an example, after 43 years of skydiving, I think I’ve finally given up, I’m not going to get any better. To put this another way, mastering the FM H-shift pattern takes some coordination and is more akin to the machinations of a golf swing than a no-lift sequential shift which is about as hard as pulling the lever on a nickel slot machine.[/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]Driving this race car couldn’t be simpler. No need for you hot-shoes to tattoo these directions on your forearm, because they’ll be second nature soon enough. But for us “checklist- Dilbert” types, here’s how you do it: 1) put the clutch in with the left foot, 2) grab the shift lever and pull back to put the car in 1st gear 3) push slightly with the right foot and head on down the pit lane, 4) relax the left foot til you see God and need to brake, 5) put your right foot down and keep it there as long as the devil dares you to 6) when you see the shift lights, grab the shift lever, (activating a micro chip that cuts the engine), and yank it back crisply to get it into 2nd (and Mach 1), 7) repeat step 6 as necessary (another 4 times max), 8) turn the wheel as necessary. When you get scared, 1) stab the brake with the left foot, and relax the right foot, 2) grab the shift lever and jam it forward and let go while tapping the gas slightly, 3) continue to turn the steering wheel as desired. Notice how little both the left and right feet do. So easy a cave man could do it, right? [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]Yes, but if you’re a wimp like me, you’ll be making a plethora of mistakes in the first few sessions; like 1) using the left foot way too much, 2) lifting the right foot on up shifts, 3) fiddling with the shift lever before you’re ready to yank or jam it. Truth be told, I like a little comfort lift on the up-shift. And I like to think about and tickle the shift lever before I use it. So between lifting and fiddling, the car was confused too much of the time and it wasn’t very smooth or fast. I have to re-program my FM muscle memory. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]But that’s just me. Toward the end of the day, I was actually getting it right a few times on the 2 long straights at Infineon and my speed was approaching my FM cool down lap times !!![/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]Overall, even at these cool down speeds, I could tell a few things: [/FONT]
- [FONT=Monaco]The acceleration was plentiful; actually just a bit scary, which partially explains why I wanted to lift on the upshift[/FONT]
- [FONT=Monaco]The car was quite balanced and had none of the usual FM understeer-oversteer devilry I’ve been used to. [/FONT]
- [FONT=Monaco]The steering was smooth with a quick but predictable ratio, [/FONT]
- [FONT=Monaco]]Brake pressure felt the same as my FM, which I’ve always been happy with,[/FONT]
- [FONT=Monaco]I may have had the brake bias a bit too far forward as the back end got a little sporty a few times in heavy braking, [/FONT]
- [FONT=Monaco]The mirrors were wide and took some getting used to; I would want to fiddle with them if the car was mine.[/FONT]
- [FONT=Monaco]The cockpit was so roomy; [/FONT][FONT=Monaco]I was actually too far down in it[/FONT][FONT=Monaco], which hampered my peripheral vision. Next time, I’ll adjust the seating to sit up a bit more. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]So, what were my first thoughts? Driving home, I was thinking that if I was a young stud, I’d be embarrassed at my lack of speed and discipline. But hey, I’m the guy who took a couple of years to find 5th gear in the FM. So I couldn’t figure out why they put a wanker like me in their car. I mean, after all, it wasn’t like I gave them several gigs of useful go-fast data. (I haven’t seen the data yet but I’m pretty sure the gigs will have me giggling.) Scratching thru my fragile egg-shell mind, I could only assume that they wanted a data profile on a wanker, so they could start to define the driver performance/comfort envelope. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]One thing that became apparent; this is an “Everyman’s Race Car.” It is sexy and fast enough to attract shifter kart champs as well as refugees from the high cost/super fast Formula Atlantics or Pro FM’s. But it is equally suited for the mid-pack budget minded gentleman racers. If I can drive it, enjoy it and feel confident that with some shift practice, I could comfortably push my personal driver envelope, anyone who belongs on a race track can appreciate this car. Needless to say it makes a decent alternative to a Radical as a track day fun car. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]Never mind my flimsy anecdotal experience here, take a hard look at the real selling points like the motor, interchangeability of parts and simplicity of setup, all made for the one man race team, the majority (and future) of club racing. Think about it; it takes 2 adults just to take the bodywork off a Sports Racer, never mind the budget for experimental parts. The FS 2.0 is the car that one guy can own, drive and maintain his ownself, without robbing the kids’ college fund !!! [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]The Formula Speed FS 2.0[/FONT][FONT=Monaco]; an Everyman’s Race Car. [/FONT]
[FONT=Monaco]PS; this has been an unsolicited review. [/FONT]
