Skyline GT-R in Speed GT Series

Seeing as the Vipers and Corvettes are tube Frame cars, are their any others in the field besides those cars with the Tube Frme Construction?
 
Racecar, in case you missed my earlier post - I'll reiterate.....

The Dodge Viper Competition Coupe and the SWC spec C6 Corvettes ARE NOT tube chassis construction. They are production cars with a full perimeter frame instead of unibody construction, and the race cars are built up from the production frame.

As the difference is apparently completely lost on most folks, I will illustrate the point using the Viper Competition Coupe versus Tommy Archer's short-lived Trans-Am Viper.

viper91klein.jpg


This is what a Viper Competition Coupe looks like minus its carbon fiber body panels. You'll notice the STOCK FRAME AND FLOORBOARDS are sitting right in front of your face. The only significant alterations to the Viper SRT10's construction are the addition of an engine bay X-brace and the roll cage which is tied directly to the framerails. The big deviation from stock Viper construction is that the Competition Coupe's body is a set of dry carbon panels loosely attached with no underbracing or internal panels, basically forming a lightweight shell instead of the heavier steel and aluminum of the street Viper.

Now, a true tube frame car is the Trans-Am Viper that SWC Champion Tommy Archer built a few seasons back. Cars like that Viper, and its Jaguar, Camaro, Corvette, Mustang, Mangusta, Esperante, and Cutlass competition all look like this underneath.

BUILDING-FRAME3.jpg


Big difference. There's nothing factory or street about a true tube frame. The Viper, and the Corvette, are still factory perimeter ladder frame cars. A tubular spaceframe - the only sort of true tube frame there is - is completely illegal in Speed World Challenge, and is the hallmark of SCCA Trans Am.

For cryin' out loud, this isn't rocket science.
 
I'd like to point out that, though the DBRS9 is built by ProDrive, it is built to FIA GT3 Specs. Which, are FAR from the fairly stock (in comparison) series that is SWC GT. The Astons were designed to run massive slick racing tires. Not the puny in comparison DOT Toyo Proxes RA-1 tires. Also, originally the Aston, being designed for GT3 specs, had so much downforce on it it could hold down the Discovery Space craft! The Speed World Challenge cars are low downforce in comparison. By no means are the Astons factory backed either. Your Nissan Skyline was built to go Super Taikyu racing in Japan, I'm assuming, by a big Skyline builder over there. It's the same idea as the Astons being built by ProDrive. The teams that I am aware of having factory backing are the Caddy's and 3R Racing. Guys like YOU and Lou Gigloti are the guys I cheer for in WC competition. The little guys that fab their own stuff etc. Good luck for the rest of the season.

m.piedgros
 
M.Piedgros, I think you've got a pair of cars mixed up.

The Aston Martin DBR9 is the Prodrive-built car and it is used in ACO (LMS/ALMS) GT1 and FIA GT1 competition. It is built on a bespoke chassis with emphasis on low drag, high downforce, and reliance on large slicks for grip. It's most famous victory to this point is its triumph at the 2005 12 Hours of Sebring.

2039-10.jpg


The DBRS9, however, is built by the Aston Martin factory as a complete racing package for use in FIA GT3, or the comparable national GT series. It is, in fact, a kissing cousin to the Viper Competition Coupe (which, by the way, is also a competitor in FIA GT3) in that it is a factory frame with a carbon shell and added cage.

FIA GT3 was created as a tertiary class to bolster FIA grids by using the trackday specials and club cars many sports car manufacturers produce. Also amongst the FIA GT3 entrance list are the F430 Challenge, the Porsche 997 generation Supercup car, and the Maserati Gransport Light.

Furthermore, using experience gleaned from SWC, Chevrolet and Pratt&Miller have assembled their own turnkey FIAGT3 Corvette Z06 named the Z06.R. It's been rumbled that this, along with the new Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, will receive SWC homologation should teams choose to submit them for approval.
 
Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd chime in here. I'm the driver of the ESX Motorsports Subaru STi in World Challenge GT. We had a great time at Long Beach, even though we had some difficulty with the car. Issues like the ones we had are to be expected when you build a car in 1.5 months on a very limited budget and have next to zero testing time.

Our big issue was a master cylinder that started to fail after lap 5. The master wasn't building pressure consistently and I had to pump the brakes for every corner. Turn 1 was the worst, as it's the fastest part of the track and it took 5 to 6 big pumps of the pedal before I got any contact of the pads with the rotors. Every corner had a specific number of pumps to get the brakes to work! Combine that with no ABS (per the rules) and it was a handful for those 24 remaining laps.

We had made some rather large setup changes prior to the race. On lap 5 I turned my fastest lap of the weekend, which was a 1:32.4, which was nearly a full second faster than our qualifying time, so the changes helped. Once I figured out what I had to do with the brakes for each corner, I was able to get my laptimes back down to my qualifying time. I'm just glad that we finished our first race, kept the car off the walls and stayed out of everyone's way. We should be much faster for Infineon after we've implemented some of the changes we think the car needs.

We will be working closely with the SCCA to get changes approved that will make our car more competitive. Power was on obvious issue for the STi. We were also undertired compared to the Skyline and Volvo (275's vs. 305's). The SCCA seems to like having the Subaru STi and Nissan Skyline around, so I'm sure they will work with us so that both cars can move on up the grid.

For the record, our road racing team is not factory backed or factory supported. We are partnering with dealerships and other companies like Arceo Wheels to make this program happen. We are working hard to secure what we need for the races we plan on attending for the rest of the year. We also work very hard to look like a factory team, as it will only help attract more support for our effort.

Gary
#99 ESX Subaru STi
World Challenge GT
 
Welcome to the boards, Gary. You've certainly got the factory-appearing team look down pat, since it fooled me. 👍

I can believe the car is under-tired, comparing the weight against the competition, and hope that you get the car to competitive status.

Though, should I glean from your post that since you say "faster for Infineon" that you don't intend to compete in the Mid-Ohio round? That's quite a shame, since Mid-Ohio is really one of the star events on the SWC calendar.

But, best of luck for Sears Point.
 
Layla's Keeper
Though, should I glean from your post that since you say "faster for Infineon" that you don't intend to compete in the Mid-Ohio round? That's quite a shame, since Mid-Ohio is really one of the star events on the SWC calendar.
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Yes, that's true, we won't be at Mid-Ohio. The car will be worked on nearly non-stop from now until Infineon with all of the changes that need to be made.

StopTech brakes have come on board at Long Beach and have the car as we speak. They are engineering and building our braking system from the ground up. It is rare that you find a partner that takes full responsibility of an entire system like StopTech has just done with us. We are very glad to be working with them!

Thanks for the well wishes!

Gary
#99 ESX Subaru STi
World Challenge GT
 
this is really hot topic if we have actual people from the race teams coming in this thread. this should be very interesting the rest of the year.
 
GarySheehan
We had made some rather large setup changes prior to the race. On lap 5 I turned my fastest lap of the weekend, which was a 1:32.4, which was nearly a full second faster than our qualifying time, so the changes helped.
We will be working closely with the SCCA to get changes approved that will make our car more competitive. Power was on obvious issue for the STi. We were also undertired compared to the Skyline and Volvo (275's vs. 305's). The SCCA seems to like having the Subaru STi and Nissan Skyline around, so I'm sure they will work with us so that both cars can move on up the grid.
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Hopefully they like having us around. Would like to see the STI out at Mid-Ohio.

We had a bit of a harsh time, Sebring with 2 weeks break, then St. Pete, then seven days until Long Beach.

Power is an issue with both our cars. Sounds silly for the Skyline to be down on power.By Mid-Ohio we hope to have some changes completed on the car.

Easy Street isn't factory backed or supported ? Or the road race car isn't factory backed or supported ?

Guess we will see you at Sears Point June 23rd ish.
 
RACECAR
this is really hot topic if we have actual people from the race teams coming in this thread. this should be very interesting the rest of the year.
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thats what im thinking now that i read most of the thread. glad to see em out and about.

im hoping to be at mid-ohio...anyone else?
 

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