USF4 Update

[Steve Bamford]

There was a call on Friday that I missed as I have been travelling. Any update other then the email I received with the minutes?

Wondering when our cars will be ready for testing. Also series fee?

[reidhazelton]

http://www.racer.com/north-american-...possible-delay

Doesn't sound good. No engine package yet, and the crash testing is not approved. Two things that seem like they would be the first steps in the process.

[Monty M]

This article says cars were to be delivered in Jan.

https://www.scca.com/articles/199854...endar-unveiled

I guess from the RACER link things have changed?

[Purple Frog]

I'm so glad the SCCA took over F4 in the US.
No reason to use an already existing chassis/engine package when you can charge more for the SCCA plan.
duh.

If they hadn't lawyered up against FRP ... Bob Wright would probably had cars testing at Palm Beach tomorrow.

[Steve Bamford]

I'm so glad the SCCA took over F4 in the US.
No reason to use an already existing chassis/engine package when you can charge more for the SCCA plan.
duh.

If they hadn't lawyered up against FRP ... Bob Wright would probably had cars testing at Palm Beach tomorrow.

I would have had a car delivered last September if the you know what hadn't hit the fan.

The car is still an inexpensive car overall for what it is, however when you look at the Series fee along with the entrance fees, tires, before any labour, hotel or transportation charges this is not an inexpensive series.

[Swift17]

Updated from another set of "....ears"

I was PM'ed (and thanks) by a person that was on the dial-in conference call that:

A Registration Fee per car was for the season $500.00

A Championship registration - an "optional ?" expense $7,500

And the entrant/event registration fees were in the total sum of $1,300.00-per weekend/$6.500.00 for the year that entitles you to participate in the five (5) three (3) races per weekends.

... and still F4 considering a "turbo motor" with a lease fee ( I believe to be capp'ed by the rules ?) of $ ________________

Tires are $984 a set

Whew .........

[mazda17]

So the motor doesn't make enough power and 2 months after they were supposed to start delivering them they have failed the crash test 3 times. Doesn't sound encouraging.

[RSS]

@swift17

You forgot to add the borrow an engine fee which i am sure will not start increasing each season.

[Wren]

http://www.racer.com/north-american-...possible-delay

Doesn't sound good. No engine package yet, and the crash testing is not approved. Two things that seem like they would be the first steps in the process.

To be fair, the HPD Twitter posted two hours ago that all the crash tests have been passed and production can start now.

The rest of it sounds like the disaster that everyone saw coming.

[mousecatcher]

I was told by a person that was on the dial-in conference call that:

A Registration Fee per ("car" or "team" he was unclear) was for the season $5,000.00

And the entrant/event registration fees were in the total sum of ("whoa") $15,000.00 for the year that entitles you to participate in the five (5) weekends.

Just what I predicted back in September. (approx $18k in entry fees for the year)

Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that would actually go F4 racing.

[reidhazelton]

Just what I predicted back in September. (approx $18k in entry fees for the year)

Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that would actually go F4 racing.

Problem is, with fees like that the pool of people who 'would actually go' gets smaller. Now, it's just another rich kid series. If the car cost was actually what it should be ($50kish, not with the engine lease thing) and the costs to run were comparable to FRP races, I'd likely be very interested when used cars come on the market in a few years. But, having to shell out $15k in just 'fees' is a deal breaker. How is this any different than USF? Wasn't this supposed to be the thing that 'saved open wheel racing'? Looks like it's just more of the same.

Way to go SCCA, way to go.

[NPalacioM3]

Problem is, with fees like that the pool of people who 'would actually go' gets smaller. Now, it's just another rich kid series. If the car cost was actually what it should be ($50kish, not with the engine lease thing) and the costs to run were comparable to FRP races, I'd likely be very interested when used cars come on the market in a few years. But, having to shell out $15k in just 'fees' is a deal breaker. How is this any different than USF? Wasn't this supposed to be the thing that 'saved open wheel racing'? Looks like it's just more of the same.

Way to go SCCA, way to go.

Not certain it is the SCCA. Since this is an FIA thing, they may have some guidelines to follow which the SCCA had to adhere to. Or maybe SCCA has to pay the FIA some portion of those fees? Who knows but one thing was sure from the beginning, this was never going to help open wheel racing here.

[reidhazelton]

Not certain it is the SCCA. Since this is an FIA thing, they may have some guidelines to follow which the SCCA had to adhere to. Or maybe SCCA has to pay the FIA some portion of those fees? Who knows but one thing was sure from the beginning, this was never going to help open wheel racing here.

Very possible, but it would seem to me if Gerhard Burger and the FIA put together a car at this price point, they would also want to keep the cost to run it in line with the cost of the car. Either way, it sucks now and your are totally right, this won't do a thing to help open wheel racing. Just more expensive toys for kids.

It's seriously messed up that buying the car in most series is the cheap part of the equation. It should not cost more to run the car for a year than it does to buy it. That is backwards.

[problemchild]

The leadership at SCCA are the ones that made the decisions to become promoters rather than sanctioning FRP to run their Series, chose their staff, then chose their partners in this process, so good or bad, they are the one(s) to thank or blame.

[problemchild]

http://www.racer.com/north-american-...nal-crash-test

[Parker]

Who knows how fast that sled was going and how much it weighed?

Does anyone have a link to the test specifications?

[Lotus7]

So are Steve Bamford and Michael Goodyear (partial season) still the only publicly announced drivers?

[scorp997]

If so, I guess they will both be on the podium!

[racerdad2]

I'm still hoping they sell a few hundred of these cars. They'd make for great fun in amateur racing in a few years. A new engine with a decent life expectancy and factory support would sure be a nice bonus.Of course, the new Mazdas look very promising, too. I hope the F4 series lights a spark and open wheel racing has the revival we're all hoping for.

[SEComposites]

Who knows how fast that sled was going and how much it weighed?

Does anyone have a link to the test specifications?

An FIA crash test would mandate a chassis and driver dummy weight. From memory the F1 test is 15 metres/second with various specified deceleration g-force maximums not to be exceeded throughout the impact. I'd imagine it's the same across all FIA open wheel classes?

[zangyomotorsports]

http://www.fia.com/regulations/regulation/formula-4-108

Frontal test (one of many structural test requirements)
All parts which could materially affect the outcome of the test
must be fitted to the test structure, which must be solidly
fixed to the trolley through its engine mounting points but not
in such a way as to increase its impact resistance.
The fuel tank must be fitted and must be full of water.
A dummy weighing at least 75 kg must be fitted, with the
safety belts described in Article 14.4 fastened. However,
with the safety belts unfastened, the dummy must be able to
move forwards freely in the cockpit.
The extinguishers, as described in Article 14.1, must also be
fitted.
For the purposes of this test, the total weight of the trolley
and test structure shall be 650 kg and the velocity of impact
12 metres/sec.
The resistance of the test structure must be such that during
the impact:
a) the average deceleration over the first 150 mm of
deformation does not exceed 5g;
b) the average deceleration of the trolley does not exceed 25g;
c)the peak deceleration in the chest of the dummy does not
exceed 60g for more than 3ms.
Furthermore, there must be no damage to the survival cell or
to the mountings of the safety belts or fire extinguishers.
This test must be carried out in the presence of an FIA
technical delegate in an approved testing centre on the
survival cell subjected to the tests described in Articles 17.1,
17.2, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, 18.6 and 18.7, and on a frontal
impact-absorbing structure identical to the one which was
subjected to the test described in Article 18.3.

[Parker]

27 MPH and 1400 lbm
Minimum impact time, 0.05 sec.

Seems like a low bar from a chassis strength/deformation perspective, but I'm sure there are lots of reasons behind the numbers.

Wish I could see where the front bulkhead was in that video, but the test states that the cell must be undamaged.

Thanks for posting the test requirements.