New Indy cars

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While it's an improvement, I wish they would lose the rear "fenders" entirely. The sexiest Indy Cars to EVER hit the track, was back when Gil de Ferran set the closed course record at 241.428 M.P.H. Just listen to that thing! That car looked like it was going 200 M.P.H. when it was sitting in the pits. Those rear fenders just look stupid. Not to mention it takes an extra 10 minutes to clean up the track every time they make contact, because of all the pieces they've got to pick up that fly everywhere.

https://gaborvajda.kinja.com/the-fastest-ever-lap-recorded-on-a-closed-circuit-1691997654
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
While it's an improvement, I wish they would lose the rear "fenders" entirely. The sexiest Indy Cars to EVER hit the track, was back when Gil de Ferran set the closed course record at 241.428 M.P.H. Just listen to that thing! That car looked like it was going 200 M.P.H. when it was sitting in the pits. Those rear fenders just look stupid. Not to mention it takes an extra 10 minutes to clean up the track every time they make contact, because of all the pieces they've got to pick up that fly everywhere.

https://gaborvajda.kinja.com/the-fastest-ever-lap-recorded-on-a-closed-circuit-1691997654


Nice video from CART's heyday. They had 4 engine suppliers back then, and the grid was filled with top-name drivers. de Ferran was a favorite of mine, and I was sorry to see him retire so early. Honda must have really built a bullet for him to qualify 2 mph clear of the field. It sounded glorious.
 
What kind of horsepower were the year 2000 engines pushing? My guess over 1,000. It takes serious power to punch a hole in the air at over 250 mph on the straights.
 
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Originally Posted By: Danno
What kind of horsepower were the year 2000 engines pushing? My guess over 1,000. It takes serious power to punch a hole in the air at over 250 mph on the straights.


“Leading up to the race Penske did a lot of work on the aerodynamics to make sure our Speedway car was the best it could be and Honda came up with this stonker of an engine! It made over 1000bhp. It was a qualifying engine with very little mileage. I recall its limit was 50 miles. So basically you could do two runs in the morning and then your qualifying run".

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/september-2009/97/car-was-beast-gil-de-ferran
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
While it's an improvement, I wish they would lose the rear "fenders" entirely. The sexiest Indy Cars to EVER hit the track, was back when Gil de Ferran set the closed course record at 241.428 M.P.H. Just listen to that thing! That car looked like it was going 200 M.P.H. when it was sitting in the pits. Those rear fenders just look stupid. Not to mention it takes an extra 10 minutes to clean up the track every time they make contact, because of all the pieces they've got to pick up that fly everywhere.

https://gaborvajda.kinja.com/the-fastest-ever-lap-recorded-on-a-closed-circuit-1691997654



Jeez, that thing sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing.
 
Nah, THESE were the prettiest type of open-wheel racer ever. Horrible death-traps, but the last thing that truly looked like what an open-wheel race car should be. Everything since the early 70s has looked like a vacuum cleaner with delusions of grandeur:

Eagle66-Gurney-IMS66-600x300.jpg
 
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Major improvement over the current chassis, down force mostly created by the floor to enhance passing, and no stupid halo

Are you paying attention F1?
 
Note that too much reliance on the floor can cause some serious problems in F1, which is why there are restrictions on ground effect in that discipline. Winding up off track can turn a ground effect F1 car into a kite in short order. That's not a big problem in Indy, given the nature of the track. Run an Indy race around Spa or even Monza and see how it goes.

As for no halo in Indy, just wait.
 
Here is what I'm not getting. If you look at the top of the intake scoop to the next highest point on the top of the front of an F1 car, and draw a parallel line, the drivers head comes no where near it. And the scoop is made from reinforced carbon / carbon composite, and is very strong. So how will this make the driver any safer? The last fatal wreck in F1 was the Jules Bianchi crash in Japan. Would a HALO have save him? I don't know the details of that wreck, other than he died of head trauma. So I'm posing it as a question?
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
The last fatal wreck in F1 was the Jules Bianchi crash in Japan. Would a HALO have save him? I don't know the details of that wreck, other than he died of head trauma. So I'm posing it as a question?


It has been stated numerous times by the FIA that the Halo would have had no effect on the outcome of Jules' crash. The forces involved were just too great.
 
Ironically, the speculation is that the halo might have done some good in Justin Wilson's case. And, as mentioned, no, for Jules, it wouldn't have done any good. A full roll cage probably wouldn't have saved him.
 
Have to say I like the look of the new Indycars, at least it's a tremendous improvement. On the issue of the halo, it looks to offer some more protection in the "flyover" accidents where a car pivots over another one and some marginal improvement in a Massa type situation. If all that is bought with harder-to-exit in an emergency it sure isn't worth it.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
Note that too much reliance on the floor can cause some serious problems in F1, which is why there are restrictions on ground effect in that discipline. Winding up off track can turn a ground effect F1 car into a kite in short order. That's not a big problem in Indy, given the nature of the track. Run an Indy race around Spa or even Monza and see how it goes.

As for no halo in Indy, just wait.


If you are referring to the ground effects F1 cars, that is apples to oranges. Those F1 cars had skirts that literally sucked the car down. It make the cornering speeds so high that driver's would have blurred vision and if the skirts broke then into the air they went. This resulted in some violent crashes and several deaths.

Down force generated from the floor is NOT the same thing as the old F1 ground effects cars.
 
No, it's not exactly the same, but you know that's where the aerodynamicists would lead, if they could. Look at the stuff they came up with over the years in that regard, pushing the limits, up to and including the fan car. I would still like to see what would happen to an Indycar if it would up in an F1 runoff area at high speed.
 
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