ex russell cars

[R S F]

Anybody know who bought all the old russell school cars and where they went?

[Ted Idlof]

Ricky,I have no businessw repeating rumors, so take this all with a healthy grain of salt. I had heard they were going to Australia. Then I heard that they kept them for awhile while they sorted out the new cars. But I know 2 guys who have gone thru a 2 or 3 day Russell school recently and were in the new car. So, I think we (you for sure) would have heard if they were going to be dispersed into the general population or sold to someone in the US. You should probably ignore all this and just call Russell directly and see if you can sell some parts.

[FF3]

I stopped by Infineon this past Monday to see what is going on with the Russell Program (I only live about 45 minutes away, but have not taken the time to stop by since last Fall). The old "white" Russell cars are still at the School, and are in regular use for their school programs. They have (as of a week ago) only 10 - 11 of the new cars assembled due to parts delivery issues, or so I understand. I also understand they are short on driver sign ups for the "new" Russell Racing Series, as it is rather pricey. It was to have started this weekend I believe.

The new car is really slick looking, built by Lola with a Mitubishi motor. They plan to run it at about 230 HP, but it can be tuned to 300 HP, or so I was told. For 300 HP, the car looks to be seriously under tired ... more so than the ProMazda car. The cars look sturdy, and are supposed to be fairly straight forward and predicable to drive. Five gears, with the only in cockpit adjustment to screw up being the brake bias. If I had a spare $100K plus, I'd run the series even at my ripe old age.

Importantly, it seems like most, or a lot at least, of the old Russell instructors are still around, which is good, as they are good guys and good driver coaches as well.

Franz

[R S F]

Thanks for all the info. I was just wondering.

[SonicDeathmonkey]

When I was up there a month or so ago all the "old cars" were just sitting around gathering dust. I got the impression by the way they were being stored and talking to the instructors that there were just hanging around until they found a good spot to bury them in some secluded hill in the wine country.


From what I could tell you're right, they retained most of the old instructors. Tyler is still there, Ric McCormick is still there... And the new cars are AWESOME. They may have had trouble tuning the 4G63 at first (another rumor I've heard) and getting parts, and they may be a "tad" pricey but the cars are great.

[mousecatcher]

For 300 HP, the car looks to be seriously under tired ... more so than the ProMazda car.

That was the very first thing I noticed! A bystander -- can't remember if it was a mechanic or an instructor, but in any case it's just hearsay -- said this was intentional. I don't recall the reasoning.

[Ted Idlof]

seriously untired.......said this was intentional. I don't recall the reasoning.

I heard that too. It's supposed to be a developmet method; make the car harder to drive at the limit. I think the theory is that these cars are strictly training aids for kids moving on to bigger and more expensive machinery; they're not for the 50 Y.O. lawyer racer to kick his doctor friend's butt once a month for grins like the old cars were.

[FF3]

That makes perfect sense that they are intentionally undertired. The ProMazda cars are as well (though not quite as much), and they also have less down force than is needed, realtively speaking. The ProMazda cars when driven by the kids (i.e. Marco, Rahal, the Kleirn brothers, etc.) were just great to watch as they went through the corners ... you would see both sides of their cars at least as these young guys with their cat quick reflexes would be playing catch up with them. Neat stuff, and boy were they ever learning to drive. I don't think my reflexes ever were as quick as theirs though, except maybe in Viet Nam when someone would yell "Incoming."

Franz

[SteveLevin]

I just happened to be hanging out at Russell (my wife was taking a car control class there) when they were just putting together the first car (my question being..."what IS this...it appears to be neither fish nor fowl") and I had a chance to poke around and chat for about an hour with the folks there, and they indeed said the reason for the hard compound tires was to make it more of a challenge for the drivers. A number from the F3 "base" car were made not just for the drivers, but to make the cars easier to work on. One of the goals they were looking for was to reduce mechanic overhead by 20%.

Steve

[R S F]

Can anybody tell me how close the russell cars are to standard fm chassies? Can a standard body fit them? Id like to redo all my molds and would like a car to use to make the bodys fit better. And i may be able to weasle a frame from the school.....Rick

[Cole Morgan]

The ProMazda cars when driven by the kids (i.e. Marco, Rahal, the Kleirn brothers, etc.) were just great to watch as they went through the corners ... you would see both sides of their cars at least as these young guys with their cat quick reflexes would be playing catch up with them. Neat stuff, and boy were they ever learning to drive. I don't think my reflexes ever were as quick as theirs though, except maybe in Viet Nam when someone would yell "Incoming."

Franz

Most of the reason for the cars sliding and the driver having to hustle them through the corners sideways was the fact that the Pro Series ran Bias-Ply Goodyears until this year when they switched to radials. The cars look much more like Indy Lights, Atlantics, and IndyCars through the corners now. I have been told by some drivers and teams this year that you have to set the car up with a slight understeer to turn quick laps.

Sorry for the thread hijacking.

[Michael Edick]

Can anybody tell me how close the russell cars are to standard fm chassies? Can a standard body fit them? Id like to redo all my molds and would like a car to use to make the bodys fit better. And i may be able to weasle a frame from the school.....Rick

The major difference between the 2 frames is the roll hoop...it's taller on the Russell cars to allow for taller student drivers...other than that, it's the same frame...I've quoted building them for both companies...