Allowing Mazda motor and sequential transmission into FC

[dalz]

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Beautiful, Russ.

I grew up pouring over every word and photo in the periodicals of the early '80s about the Ralts in action in Super Vee, Atlantic and even F3 in the European serieses. I couldn't tell them apart, but now I know the subtle cues. I thought the RT4s in FA looked the best, just because they had the biggest tires. But it was quite an era for Ralt. How about the sweet RH6 in F2?

[E1pix]

Count me in as a fan of both Super Vee and Atlantic, going back to the early ‘70s.

When a mutual friend of both kea’s and ourselves bought an Anson SA-4 S/V recently, his intention was vintage. I did some homework to quickly realize not only were there few if any similar Super Vees to play with in vintage, there were none in FX.

I’d thought with the 1835 motor limit for a S/V in FX, with about 190 bhp, and ground-effects tunnels, plus running less weight than the Mazda-engined Van Diemens, it could be a sleeper package in FX. The Great Unknown is handling gains over twenty years’ of development, even with tunnels.

To wit, mentioned above, I think Super Vees were always allowed to use skirts in Club.

It pains me to see FX die, though my thoughts there seem to be in the minority. I realize there’s too many OW classes to fill grids already, and do wonder what F-Continental will evolve to.

There has to be over a hundred Super Vees sitting around in our country now, in various stages of disrepair. Maybe that’s fitting as it is identical to the street VW crowd... but I’d have thought vintage grids would have been much heavier by now, with such wonderful cars.

Ah well, such it is.

[problemchild]

Not sure how the thread got so sidetracked, but great overdue news for FC. I don't know how many USF VDs are out there (I have heard as many as 40) but at minimum, that's 20+ instant potential cars to help keep the car counts up.

[Jim Nash]

I apologize if I missed something obvious on this thread or in the official release...but, is allowing the MZR motor/gearbox in FC effective immediately?

Jim

[problemchild]

I apologize if I missed something obvious on this thread or in the official release...but, is allowing the MZR motor/gearbox in FC effective immediately?

Jim

Post #129. The USF2000 VDs are now legal for FC as spec cars.

[DaveW]

Post #129. The USF2000 VDs are now legal for FC as spec cars.

That does not mean an MZR engine would be legal in any other car.

[S Lathrop]

As it is, you can race a MXR engine in FC, if and only if you have in in a DP08 and run the car as specified in the pro series. The inclusion of these cars in FC works well for the future of FC in the short term and possibly longer.

Having the MZR engine in FC is something that is needed because all the other engine options are engines are out of production and no longer supported by the original manufactures. Going forward these engines will become ever more expensive to race. Right now, the Pinto with an aluminum head and the long rods is the most powerful option for FC. Much like the old Kent engine in FF. But they are both expensive options.

Now the big losers are the other chassis manufacturers. In the past, you could move a car from FF to FC by changing the motor and adding wings. VD is not the only manufacturer of cars that can fit in FC.

In FF, the Honda engine has done a lot for the future of FF. I would like to see the same thing for FC with the MZR engine.

We may have to do some on track testing with different chassis one with the Zetec and the same chassis with a MZR to get the right map for the MXR engine in FC.

[Steve Demeter]

How many MZR pro series cars would be expected to show up for club races? If it is one or two I do not see this as a problem unless they become insanely dominant. I have not heard anyone say that is likely to happen. If it injects some more cars into FC is that not a good ting?

[Rick Silver]

As it is, you can race a MXR engine in FC, if and only if you have in in a DP08 and run the car as specified in the pro series. The inclusion of these cars in FC works well for the future of FC in the short term and possibly longer.

Having the MZR engine in FC is something that is needed because all the other engine options are engines are out of production and no longer supported by the original manufactures. Going forward these engines will become ever more expensive to race. Right now, the Pinto with an aluminum head and the long rods is the most powerful option for FC. Much like the old Kent engine in FF. But they are both expensive options.

Now the big losers are the other chassis manufacturers. In the past, you could move a car from FF to FC by changing the motor and adding wings. VD is not the only manufacturer of cars that can fit in FC.

In FF, the Honda engine has done a lot for the future of FF. I would like to see the same thing for FC with the MZR engine.

We may have to do some on track testing with different chassis one with the Zetec and the same chassis with a MZR to get the right map for the MXR engine in FC.

Steve, I believe the original iron head with the new cam is probably the best option. Per the GCR, the new cam is not allowed to be used in the aluminum head.

I have now run one Runoffs and three Majors weekends with my very good QS long rod pinto, iron head engine. I have also now had the chance to run competitively against several Zetecs and pintos. At Pocono last weekend I got to run directly against a very good, fresh Zetec for a few competitive race laps including the long back straight and I believe the engines are now well equalized. A top rate fully developed, and properly geared pinto is fully competitive against a top Zetec.

I think the pinto bottom end should now be robust with good longevity but maybe we will need to look for updates to the valve train for even better top end longevity. Then we need to get the word out that a well developed pinto car is fully competitive. and has improved longevity

Having said that I do support bringing a new engine into the class as long as it is done properly and equilibrated with the Zetec and pinto - similar to what was done when we first brought the Zetec in.

[S Lathrop]

Steve, I believe the original iron head with the new cam is probably the best option. Per the GCR, the new cam is not allowed to be used in the aluminum head.

I have now run one Runoffs and three Majors weekends with my very good QS long rod pinto, iron head engine. I have also now had the chance to run competitively against several Zetecs and pintos. At Pocono last weekend I got to run directly against a very good, fresh Zetec for a few competitive race laps including the long back straight and I believe the engines are now well equalized. A top rate fully developed, and properly geared pinto is fully competitive against a top Zetec.

I think the pinto bottom end should now be robust with good longevity but maybe we will need to look for updates to the valve train for even better top end longevity. Then we need to get the word out that a well developed pinto car is fully competitive. and has improved longevity

Having said that I do support bringing a new engine into the class as long as it is done properly and equilibrated with the Zetec and pinto - similar to what was done when we first brought the Zetec in.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Pinto. I was aware that it is a good engine option in FC, but you confirmed that.

[Rick Silver]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Pinto. I was aware that it is a good engine option in FC, but you confirmed that.

I should clarify my comments above. i think the Iron head pinto with the new cam is preferable to the aluminum head without the new cam. If you cant make weight, it may be different - I make 1190 lbs easily.

Relative to a Zetec I think think a properly geared and developed pinto can be the equal to a Zetec. The Zetec definitely has a broader, higher horsepower, and flatter power band below 6000 RPMs. But geared correctly and driven correctly (at the right RPMs) they look to be very close and even come off the corners pretty close.