rec.autos.simulators

Does this theory about naturally aspirated engines apply to nascar as well?

Leo

:>3. Go back to slicks.

: I totally agree with that - I'd have turbos back too, and no
: refuelling nonsense. I always liked that someone could turn up the
: boost to get close and/or have a go, keeps things interesting.

Except I never found it very exciting to see a race lost on fuel.Sure,
everyone can argue what an interesting tactical race it was, blah blah
blah, but I really got tired of the sight of a 1000bhp car spluttering to
a halt 200m from the finish line.  Then again, it was kind of fun watching
old whinge-bag push his car in Dallas in 1984, and even more fun to watch
the theatrics that followed.

FIA's view that pitstops add e***ment to the race got a boost with
Irvine and Coulthard this weekend.  I was amazed at the restraint they
showed... I seem to remember more than a few CART races where hot-headed
drivers went over the top of a leading car exiting the pits only because
they refused to lift.

How about turbos *and* refueling, except use a gravity-fed refueling rig.
I don't care if the pitstop is 14 seconds, as long as everybody needs
about the same.

I'd like to see slicks come back as well, but strangely I've gotten quite
used to the new form of the cars.  The early 90's cars now look wide to
me, and one gets the impression the big gumballs on the back are about to
snap off at the spindle!

Stephen

What about turbos? At least then you can whack up the power for a few
seconds to overtake. I think going back to slicks is essential too.

Kev

No comparison if you think about it.
A Nascar car punches an extremely big hole in the air and Is not subject to
anything like the masses of downforce that a F1 car has.

In addition to this a nascar racing on a toilet seat oval is not constantly
accelerating and braking in excess of 1g like a F1 car.

Mark

(snip)
How about turbos *and* refueling, except use a gravity-fed refueling rig.
(unsnip)

WOW!  Time travel.......I'm back in the early 1980s!  :o)

On Sun, 15 Aug 1999 14:21:59 -0400, "Wayne Hutchison"

That's actually a very good point. Side-effects of the difficulty to
pass include the following car then has to endure poor airflow to
their wings (increasing tire wear), poor airflow to the engine
(reducing power - although less since airbox regs were changed),
hotter airflow (increasing engine temps), to say nothing of all kinds
of ***getting thrown out - all of that can seriously mess up your
race strategy, particularly if tires go off.

Cheers!
John

Having whacked Hakkinen and Salo in successive races that's perhaps
not surprising! I think drivers tend to get tagged as a "hard man" or
a "soft touch", and that affects how other drivers will perceive their
overtaking attempts. "Hard men" include Schumacher, Hakkinen,
Villeneuve etc, who take no prisoners and ruthlessly go for the gaps -
Senna and Mansell are prime examples. I think Coulthard is tagged as a
"soft touch", alongside people like Hill, Frentzen etc - other drivers
will tend not to fight them off more as passing moves are less
forceful or well executed.

I think Coulthard is a very good driver, fast, professional,
committed. He does seem to lack that extra depth that Hakkinen,
Schumacher etc reach into when they need to find that 1/10 on the last
run of qualifying - I am as sure that Coulthard won't find it as I am
that Hakkinen will. Unfortunately that "extra depth" is what IMO
separates a world champion contendor from another number on the grid -
I think Coulthard will need a better car than everyone or an enormous
slice of luck throughout the season to ever be champion. He will win
races at tracks which suit him (Monza, Spa, Montreal) but that's no
good over a season.

I'm not sure about the two manufacturers, it does then come down to
which tires suit which track and which manufacturer guessed right on
the compound for that weekend. I prefer to see things as level as
possible, and it's already difficult enough with chassis, engine and
driver differences. Tires tend to make it too complex unless you allow
full freedom of use as we had in the 80's - A, B, C & D compounds
available plus wets and qualifiers.

Cheers!
John

On Mon, 16 Aug 1999 12:43:46 +0100, "Mark Seery"

In F1 this somewhat works against the drivers. At places like
Hungaroring and Monaco there are wings*** off every possbile
place the regs allow and a massive hole is punched in the air creating
a big slipstream (for the narrow car anyway). Unfortunately nowhere
exists to make use of it on these tracks!

On tracks like Hockenheim where slipstreaming is most useful the
miniscule wings and narrow track make the slipstream much less,
combined with the loss of power caused by the heated and turbulent air
of following another car.

Bummer...

Cheers!
John

That happened often as fuel management was little understood then, but
by the end of the turbos it was pretty unusual to see since drivers
knew constantly whether they were plus or minus on the fuel curve and
by how much. For me that was the ultimate time in F1, massively
powerful cars which the drivers had to control utterly - manual
gearbox, manual clutch, and control of boost and fuel consumption as
well as driving the car - with no refuelling your whole strategy
unlayed itself from the moment the lights came on, and stops required
as often as you burned out the tires.

:-)

That would allow people to blast up the turbo and guzzle the petrol
but try to gain time for an extra stop. It would also allow easier
passing by a swift push of the "boost" button. OTOH it's about as
anti-green as F1 could go, and perhaps unlikely for that reason alone.

Cheers!
John

Still remember Brands in '86.....when the cars came around in qual on their
warm-up lap_ , 1-lap wonder tires and engine....looked like a swarm of  bees
was chasing the wings. Yum.
Or if you find the tape of Keke Rosberg trying to leave the pits in the
Kyalami race of 1985...with the rather
cammy Williams/Honda...or Nigel Mansell doing doughnuts at Spa 1986 after a
spin in the bus stop...or....

I really wish they had that torque again, they all sound like my electric
razor machine on steroids nowadays....<g>

But, I guess, that's my past, everything was better in the old days! :-D

Hey! How about GP3 set in '85? <vbg>

Matt

--
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Matthew Birger Knutsen

The Art of Legends;
http://www.gpl.electra.no

Cheek Racing Cars;
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