Should wheelbase be shortened for '05 chassis?

[ChrisB]

This is related to stuff originally posted in this thread. (http://www.offcamber.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1003)


I know it's been a while since we've had any "future specs" thread, but with the LBGP here, I'd thought this might seem relevant. We've had all sorts of discussion about the '05 chassis spec for stuff like more undertray, wider tires, no airboxes, etc... and here's one more... how about a shorter wheelbase for '05?

I dug through some of my old RACER mags to find some numbers from the "In Focus" articles, and got these ballpark figures for wheelbases:

F1: ~104"
WC: ~110"
Champ: ~120"

I rounded the Champ car number to 120" having found a range from 117" ('99 Swift/Gforce) to 124" ('02 Reynard). The CART rules puts the max wheelbase at 126". Anyone have anymore figures they can add to this?

The point is that the Champ car wheelbase is *long*. About 10" longer than the taxi-cabs, and about 16" longer than F1.

Does it really need to be this long? Is this a remnant leftover from Indy days of when the series was more speedway-centric, where a longer wheelbase is advantageous? Now that Champ cars do most of their running on road/street circuits, would it be a good idea to reduce the wheelbase by 12" to 16" on the next design generation so that they can negotiate on road/street better?

[pchall]

Yes.

The 124" wheelbase of the current champcar is much too long for road courses built when 96" was a large formula or sports car.

[Railbird]

I think the formula should be downsized in all dimensions.

Lighter and more agile cars would be a better fit for the streets with no reason to think they would be unfit for whatever ovals remain on the schedule.

Of course I still like the idea of an inline 4 turbo in a tidy package.

http://orbita.starmedia.com/~f1web/Piquet2.JPG

[ChrisB]

Thanks pchall.. you were the first to bring this up in that other thread.

I also dug up.... the wheelbase of the F5000 Lola which won LBGP '75 was only 102".

Mario's Lotus79 ('78) was 108".

Rail... I also agree that maybe the sidepods could be scaled back a bit.

[pchall]

The current F1 Ferrari seems to have a 118" wheelbase and be 71" in maximum width.

Atlantics cars are 104" and 77" wide.

F3000 cars are 111" and 80" wide.

Champcars are at 124" and 79" wide.

The 80" maximum width was set by the FIA (if memory serves) in the very early 70s when March and BRM built some really wide Can Am cars.

The overall width of a race car does not seem to be part of the problem. 80" wide cars have been racing for 30+ years with wheelbases as short as 96". The problem seems to be the extraordinary wheelbase that has crept into champcars in the last fifteen years.

I have a notion that the long wheelbase makes for a really good and predictable speedway car, but reduces the "tossability" and turn in that a good road/street racing car needs.


I'd like to see a package with a wheelbase similar to the current F3000 car -- about 111" inches. The current Atlantics wheelbase of 104" is probably too short for a care with a central fuel cell that needs to run 240 miles on three stops. Of course, changing to gasoline alters that, doesn't it?

[Mike Kellner]

The reason for the length is safety. They have the fuel tank between the driver and engine so it is well protected. They want a lot of structure in front of the driver's legs to protect them in a nose first wall contact. I am just reminding everyone why the cars got so long in the first place, as I don't want to see a repeat of the mid 80s, when there was a rash of severe injuries to legs and feet. CART is going to continue to race on ovals, and the cars have to be safe on them.

[pchall]

I think what we are trying to discuss here is how CART can make a better champcar for 2005.

Clearly the current cars have been developed in response to a specific set of safety concerns that came up starting in the extremely forward seating position of the early tunnel cars and the even older problems of carrying 80 gallons of fuel around the driver.

If CART started with a clean sheet would they come up with exactly the 2002 champcar for 2005? In all likelihood, no.

It's time to start over.

[oddlycalm]

Having the package out of the hands of the franchise board is a major step IMO. This was the best piece of long term news for the weekend. CART will have the ability to come up with engine specs without 16 cooks in the kitchen, which is how it should be. In the past a couple of obstructionist owners were able to block the 1.8 turbo formula, thus changing the course of the series forever.

oc