There goes another nail.
There goes another nail.
This IS a wx10 body. It has had a few tweaks here and there To fit various things. Myself and Jesse Shaped the original wx10 body. It took months to finish. I did this for very low pay. it was more to save the company. Because we needed a new body. The design was done back in 06 by a ford designer. We made a few changes to it over the years to what we finally ended up shaping into the wx10 body. I just can't sit back and let someone take full credit for my blood sweat and tears shaping this body. I'm sure some of you have done this. Its a lot of hard work.
Kevin T
I totally agree. i think he was managing. After reading one competitors post on the SR forum, apparently that view is not universally held.
The CSR displacement also has a weight of 1200 lbs, but reading between the lines of posts the turbo they had was heavier then they would have had the car down to without all the extra turbo stuff. Would be interesting to know the weight as run.
Ken
Hi Kevin, not to take away from the terrific job you did on the car. Are you telling me that the body that was in Windshear in March is the same body that was on the car last week? I see a lot of differences as well as a lot of similarities. The whole front end is different, for example.
It is a beautiful car regardless; you folks did a great job...and deserve credit for all your work. The fact that the car has evolved does not take anything away from the solid (and beautiful) work you did back in 2006. In fact, if you had not done a great job back then the car would not look as it does today.
It is good to see a West leading the field...using significantly different looking bodywork (as compared to WF-1). I hope next year sees a lot more Wests in race events. I have helped Garret with his West a little bit, and the car was a nice piece of kit; well thought out, solidly engineered and well constructed (top flight in fact).
I KNOW that you must have worked for pennies an hour to create and build the first body; it is a nasty, difficult, time consuming and challenging job that is very difficult to get it right; in this case, you did it right! A huge effort is required to build a new body from scratch. If you were paid a reasonable hourly rate for your efforts, you would probably be a long way closer to being a millionaire!
I also know that the car is significantly different under the body than the previous car; are you telling me you designed the new suspension, the carbon spar, the new front diffuser? Perhaps my previous comment should have specifically giving credit for not the body, but the parts that were under the skin.. that was my point.
Kudos for a job well done! You should be proud.
Tom Owen
Owner - Browns Lane and Racelaminates.com
I'm talking about the west wx10 body. We shaped it in 08. the design was done in 06. it was just on paper at that point. I have studied the pics of the level 5 car many times. I do see some differences to the front. The splitter looks different. But i see a large majority of the body being wx10 as shaped in 08. i'm in the dark as much as the rest of you. I wasn't working on the level 5 car. I was stuck in the northwest building chassis. All i know about on the inside is what has been posted on the forums.
kevin T
So you built the body back in 2008 as it was designed in 2006.
Sure looked great then, looks great now.
Thanks for the clarification.
Last edited by brownslane; 09.24.12 at 7:10 PM.
Tom Owen
Owner - Browns Lane and Racelaminates.com
I think it was just a pacing thing to make sure it was going to last. I don't know him personally, but I think you probably have to be pretty decent to win 5 or so National championships, 12 hours a Sebring in LMPC and a podium at Lemans.
Ken
As much as I love a good wheel to wheel battle, it was awesome to see the turbo car finish the race at the front. Remember, for the past number of years (four or five) there has been a turbo at the track, but never lasted at all. So to see the turbo car dominate was incredible to me. Especially as the car has only been assembled for a few weeks. An incredible achievement.
So, even though the race was not a wheel to wheel battle, remember that you saw the end of normally aspirated (and Stohr) dominance. And remember that the track was really slippery! For somebody to drive the car faster than was needed and break it (or throw it in the fence) would have been a great shame (and embarrassment)...
For my money, it was a great show.
Next year, imagine the front couple of rows with turbo cars.....now THAT would be an incredible show!
The BOD have a huge challenge now, even more challenging than before. How are they gonna build a new sports racer class structure and accommodate THIS car as well? Or will they just "adjust" the car out of existence? I sure hope not
Best, Tom
Last edited by brownslane; 09.24.12 at 9:00 PM.
Tom Owen
Owner - Browns Lane and Racelaminates.com
I wasn't saying Scott should have flogged the car to death.
What I was saying is that even driving the car in the middle of the track in the corners, and leaving several feet entering and exiting each corner, the car was still dominant.
Very impressive car and a smart drive.
what do you think the chances of seeing another Turbo are? run of the mill "wealth" doesn't seem like it'll get it done, seems like you'd need payday loan super money to make it work. Or they can simply move on and let out the design for others to copy.......(doubt it)
a reliable powerplant is in the works, and it isn't nearly as expensive as you might think....
Tucker just bought the West company so does that mean he is going to start selling copies? Any guesses as to what a price would be? I will start saving up now!
John Paul,
Bootz has shown up several times, perhaps he will figure it out. Loshak had his almost ready to go, but he didnt think Tucker would show up with one. Figured it was a rumor. He apparently was pretty close. This all from a post on SR forum. I think some people were waiting to see if it could work.
Ken
hopefully they'll get it done. The difference between Tucker's car and everyone else was staggering. There is no comparison. He walked away from them on the straights like they were standing still.
It'll be interesting to see how West will now be marketed. Will they be offering these cars for sale???
I suspect Stohr will step it up as well.
i think what kevin is trying to say is that we started with a flat table, mdf and foam, and the cars body changes by 5% and suddenly it is a new car???? most people would only notice the bumps for the new suspension as being different. funny thing is those changes were slated for 08, but eric ultimately decided he didnt have either the money nor the time to do both body and suspension. i had the push rod suspension already done as a preliminary design in solidworks, and sent him photos of body bumps pretty similar to those on the level 5 car. remember, eric is working closely on this project and many of the ideas are actually quite old. the trail off of the front fender looks nice. i mentioned to eric that it would improve aero to the rear if we transitioned them earlier, but at that point i had already made more changes then he was comfortable with and we were getting behind schedule so he made the call to stick closer to the original design. i never mocked it up, but wish i would have, as it looks better now and i am sure eric would have liked it if i had. kevin and i have been there since the beginning, we just now work behind the scenes. the front diffuser is actually finally done to the design that was sent to eric back in 08, at least for the top surface. not sure they changed the bottom surface as of yet. i am sure i will hear from reliable sources soon(current wx10 diffuser bottom surface is completely my design). i am actually happy to see what the wind tunnel taught them... we were not too far off, remember west had the highest trap speeds by a fair bit in the debut season of the wx10 at the runoffs. the last Stohr fb car i rebodied hit the track with a 12mph increase on the back straight at Portland, my "hand" tunnel is not too far off imho. i think it is more appropriate to congratulate the level 5 team and its associates on a top notch program to refine such an awesome machine! good job guys
Anyone know the expected life to one of those Turbo engines?
Curious how many total mile were put on the engine.
Curious as to how much boost as well.
Jimmy Hanrahan
jimh3063@yahoo.com
Read the DSR threads over on the SR forum. Ed talked about some of the testing on the dyno and the car. No boost or hp numbers though.
Ken
Same problems as all the rest of the GSXR's they still drop valves. I beleve they said there where two motors that drop valves.
West just posted a video of the testing that Colin Braun did the week prior to the Runoffs. 1.55 and change. Looks like they had their beacons set in a different place to be able to come into the pits after a hot lap.
If you look around the site, they have some pictures of the new suspensions and such too. Nothing with the 3rd spring attached that I could see though. You have to follow a link to the WX10-CR. The picture of the cockpit "sharkfin" was interesting. What is that for? More like a "Sac Slicer" that a "sharkfin".
http://www.westracecars.com/multimedia/
Ken
I'm guessing the "sac slicer" keeps your legs from flopping around or something, maybe just something to keep your knees in place - easier to keep your feet on the right pedal?
I can see that ending badly at some point, though!
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