Indy Lights info?

[Richard Hybels]

I'm sure I'm not as knowledgeable as most here having only ever driven an FF and I don't want to get into a pissing contest but listen to Pare and Lathrop:

"I'm always amazed by the guys with more money than brains that buy cars that are waaaaaay beyond their capabilities - makes you wonder how they ever made that sort of money in the first place!............"


"Remember that these cars will easily do 190. You can easily build an engine with 400 plus hp. At that speed they have 2400 lbs down force in the low down force setup."

Pare:
"The cars are ass-end heavy, which made them a bear to drive fast - you really had to be on top of things. Couple that with the torque, and we had fun making bets at the start of every season as to which ex-F.Atlantic (or Super Vee) driver would stuff it first (especially at Phoenix at the start of the year). Breath the throttle at all mid-corner as you can do with an Atlantic, and you'd lose a ton of rear downforce faster than you could think!"



I don't know any of the posters here but it seems they better be damn good to tackle these 190 mph cars and they may well be.

[Charles Warner]

I don't know any of the posters here but it seems they better be damn good to tackle these 190 mph cars and they may well be.

No one is saying you don't have to have the experience to drive these cars, which is Richard's point. But, with appropriate experience they are no more dangerous than the FF - and often the FF is far more dangerous due to construction. And, Yes, there are some of us with that experience.

[Rick Ross]

Hi Richard,

I agree that the Indy Lights cars are potentially quite fast and as such demand a certain level of driver skill and responsibility. I am sure that they are not for everyone. The high speeds obtained by these cars could obviously result in some rather large magnitude impact forces.

My point was just that in many possible impact scenarios it is likely that the Indy Lights driver would be much better protected than the driver of any tube-frame formula car such as an FF, FC, etc. Modern carbon fiber tub designs offer far superior driver protection, especially in regards to cockpit intrusion and side impact.

[Scott B]

and here....first drive at 200 mph was in a Ferrari 512M (lemans prototype) at PIR on the old track with the back straight that came back to the oval from way out in the desert...that was when the cars were still the standard...1970... It is just like anything else, after a while it becomes normal...just have to look way ahead, and be considerate of other drivers.

Scott B

[R. Pare]

Granted, a decently designed carbon tub should be safer than a tube frame of the same size - and the Lola Lights car WAS a good design with the mandated oval-track survival necessities - but don't assume that ANY carbon tub will give that sort of level of protection.

The chances of getting hurt in a crash are directly proportional to the chances of HAVING a crash!

And "slight" bobbles in these cars will bite you a lot more assuredly and faster than the same "slight bobble" in an FF!

[ric baribeault]

actually your chances of getting hurt in an open wheel car are something like this:

Stupidity(yours, or somene elses) x speed - luck x rate of deceleration.

as someone in medicine with a background in engineering...i'll take the carbon fiber tub any day. and also i might add, as someone who was substantially injured in a FF 20 years ago at a whopping 105mph. i think charlie backs out of his driveway faster than that.

[dalz]

Great thread...

Do any of you smart guys have an idea of how the current Lights car (formerly Indy Pro Series) stacks up to the Lights car being talked about here? Speed/skill to drive/advanced in any way?

BTW the 2nd generation Lights car, a very handsome Lola from about '93 to '96, was last seen in a Mexico-based series with V8 engines installed. Caught a race on Speed Channel once. They were going very, very fast.

Dale V.