2016 Verizon IndyCar SeriesOpen Wheel 

  • Thread starter Thread starter VNAF Ace
  • 8,011 comments
  • 439,238 views
Status
Not open for further replies.
-Fred-
It's fairly well known I've never been a fan of the IRL-Indycar thing, so it won't be a shocker if I say these new aerokits are absolutely laughable and pathetically ugly and ridiculous. I wonder if every car will have a Gillette sponsorship.

#Imissthe90s
97zanardi.jpg
Click to expand...

I agree to an extent, the champcar and Indy car of the 90s looked much nicer, sleek low aero machines with more power then Russia
 
VNAF Ace
There is no longer any speed or time to gain from leaving the wheels completely open and exposed either.

Remember the past, but embrace the future.
Click to expand...

This was purely a safety issue and had nothing to do with speed. If that were the case, F1 and all other major open wheel formulas around the world would have followed suit, which is obviously not the case, aside perhaps from Formula E, but that's not a major series just yet. It was because cars were climbing up each others and taking flight at 220+mph while inches from one another, and not because there was an aerodynamic gain to be seen in the first place. I'm sorry but no, Indycar was a victim of trying to imitate NASCAR and its close racing and the TV ratings that went with it, and nothing else. They visited and still visit ovals that are not suited to open wheelers, and needed solutions in order to not end up with more deaths like those of Dan Wheldon, Paul Dana and even Greg Moore back in the CART days. Superspeedways made for stockcars and openwheelers do not belong together, and they never will.

I don't care how exciting or close the racing will be, they're absolute eyesores and they could have been done much better... I don't care about the semi-enclosed fenders, but the wings on wings on wings are absolutely ridiculous. Going "green" is not an excuse to have cars that look like crap.
 
Common sense will tell you exposed wheels are Dynamicly inferior to unexposed.

Also Indy doesn't race at Nascar Superspeedway, it's Superspeedways are considered Speedways by Nascar
 
Last edited:
-Fred-
This was purely a safety issue and had nothing to do with speed. If that were the case, F1 and all other major open wheel formulas around the world would have followed suit, which is obviously not the case, aside perhaps from Formula E, but that's not a major series just yet. It was because cars were climbing up each others and taking flight at 220+mph while inches from one another, and not because there was an aerodynamic gain to be seen in the first place. I'm sorry but no, Indycar was a victim of trying to imitate NASCAR and its close racing and the TV ratings that went with it, and nothing else. They visited and still visit ovals that are not suited to open wheelers, and needed solutions in order to not end up with more deaths like those of Dan Wheldon, Paul Dana and even Greg Moore back in the CART days. Superspeedways made for stockcars and openwheelers do not belong together, and they never will.

I don't care how exciting or close the racing will be, they're absolute eyesores and they could have been done much better... I don't care about the semi-enclosed fenders, but the wings on wings on wings are absolutely ridiculous. Going "green" is not an excuse to have cars that look like crap.
Click to expand...
Safety was only one reason, albeit an important one, to cover the wheels. The only reason open wheels were a performance gain in the past was because of the weight savings. Nowadays, with lightweight carbon fiber and modern aerodynamic research, it's a performance gain to cover the wheels and the driver. Why do you think the Red Bull X2010 and X2011 in GT5, and X2014 in GT6 have covered wheels and closed cockpits?

As for racing IndyCars on ovals, Dallara's DW12, Chevy's and Honda's adjustable turbocharged engines, and Firestone's tires addressed the issue of IRL-era pack racing. I don't know if you've seen an IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway since 2012, but pack racing has been eliminated because the drivers can no longer go full throttle through the turns.

And out of those 3 deaths you mentioned, only Wheldon died from a crash caused by wheel-to-wheel contact on a high-banked oval designed for stock cars. Moore died at California Speedway which is a relatively low-banked oval designed for IndyCars. Dana died from crashing into a disabled car. Jeff Krosnoff also lost his life from a crash caused by wheel-to-wheel contact towards the end of the 1996 Molson Indy Toronto. And, we can definitely say that IndyCar's mandated rear wheel guards saved the lives of Dario Franchitti and several fans at the 2013 Grand Prix at Houston. Eliminating oval racing wouldn't have prevented those 2 accidents which occurred during street races.

As for going green, once again, form must follow function. Automotive engineers aren't trying to win a beauty pageant, they're trying to win races. If additional wings increase speed and efficiency, then they're going to add them.
 
Last edited:
-Fred-
It's fairly well known I've never been a fan of the IRL-Indycar thing, so it won't be a shocker if I say these new aerokits are absolutely laughable and pathetically ugly and ridiculous. I wonder if every car will have a Gillette sponsorship.

#Imissthe90s
97zanardi.jpg
Click to expand...

Kinda an unfair comparison considering these are literally just kits for one car compared to the many cars from Champ car (The swift chassis being by far my favorite).

Honesty, I feel they make the DW12 less "meh". They aren't as good looking but at the same time, its no longer a difference of just paint schemes.
 
Delete please.
 
Last edited:
I heard you liked wings.
 
The old thread needs to be locked... It gets confusing when there are two different threads going on at once.
 
lock this one, its pointless considering the other one has 2015 in it's name anyway.
 
Marshall Pruett @marshallpruett · 2h 2 hours ago

Great to see the relationship between the TBA brothers and the @DaleCoyneRacing @IndyCar team will continue for a third decade.


Dale Coyne Racing ‏@DaleCoyneRacing

@marshallpruett @IndyCar Both of them have been training hard this off season and are ready to get back into the car!



IndyCar SeriesVerified account ‏@IndyCar

@marshallpruett @DaleCoyneRacing lots of experienc between those two! Stock cars, sports cars, indycar...everything. True talents!

:lol:
 
neljack
Testing today with new liveries in show, AJ Foyt looks like the old A1 GP GBR Car!
Click to expand...

To be fair, they've had a livery close to that since the DW12 was introduced. Funny that it does look like the A1 GP car, because they've got Jack Hawksworth in their second car this year.
 
Sage Karam suffered a crash in testing today. Wasn't cleared for the afternoon session because he injured his wrist in the crash.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest Posts

Back