Touring Car discussion - WTCC, BTCC etcTouring Cars 

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Furinkazen
I still love how Scandinavian teams said "no" to NGTC regs that would improve grid sizes and went for poor-mans DTM clones.
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The SwTCC was failing to properly implement NGTC, and the manufacturer support went the way of the TTA as it was the bigger manufacturer supported teams that wanted it. The series that had started to migrate to NGTC closed after one season and now the ScTCC is slowly dying for pretty much the same reason they didn't want NGTC, and the same reason S2000 had stopped working.

I think the situation was compounded because as the championships were hacked up, Norway dropped of the Calendar - ironic given that the "Scandinavian" touring car series now only races in Sweden when at least the "Swedish" series would go to Norway at least once a year. The Danes didn't fare much better as Denmark disappeared off the ScTCC calendar, and these days the DTC seems to use something between a poor mans DTM car, and a Legends series car!

Support for everything has just dropped off and with WCR getting involved with the Volvo TC1 project BMW will probably be disappearing from the grid too.

There appears to be hope though as the ScTCC is talking about TCR for 2017/18. It makes sense because they want a regulation set that is used internationally, just as proper S2000 was, and something which NGTC isn't (yet at least). If they can move to TCR regs, and get Norway and Denmark back on the calendar along with Sweden, it could become a robust series again.

I liked S2000, sure perhaps it had reached terminal mass when they started cocking around with it*, but it offered a trickle down of parts and cars from the WTCC to the national series, and you could see the same cars racing in the BTCC and in the SwTCC, in Europe, in Russia, and in Asia. TCR seems like it will do that, it's attracting manufacturer interest and it seems to be working at a national level too - it's just a shame the global series is using so many F1 tracks.

I think NGTC appears more attractive than it might be because the BTCC works so well, but I don't put the success of the BTCC entirely down to the fact they use NGTC. We have a strong motor-racing heritage in the UK, we're a relatively small country and I'd wager a higher number of permanent tracks per area than most other countries. The support package is strong, the format of the weekend is good, and it's all sensibly priced. To be fair to ITV4 (I believe) the coverage is pretty good too (though I didn't see a single minute it of it this year!)

*I realise my current avatar is a car derived from this cocking about..
 
I just read about Jaguar joining Williams in Formula E. When will we see regulations for hybrids or full electric touring cars?

Mazda run their Sky-1.5D in rally, S-Tai and the ChineseTCC. Are we going to continue to see 2L turbos in BTCC/WTCC or will diesels and electric systems make their way into main touring car series?
 
I'd say in about 5 years we'll be seeing most series go to hybrid power.
 
05XR8
I just read about Jaguar joining Williams in Formula E. When will we see regulations for hybrids or full electric touring cars?

Mazda run their Sky-1.5D in rally, S-Tai and the ChineseTCC. Are we going to continue to see 2L turbos in BTCC/WTCC or will diesels and electric systems make their way into main touring car series?
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I just heard on the radio the other day that on my province of BC, the provincial government just passed a law/regulatuon which says that by 2050, all new cars sold in BC will be zero emission.

Based on that, I think it's fair to assume that we will be seeing various hybrid systems in racing well before 2050.
 
Some touring car love


http://m.speedcafe.com/2015/12/17/richards-to-race-group-c-bmw-at-island-classic/
bmw-shakedown-e1450314528111.png
 
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I was watching a recording on the family DVR just now, and I just have to say that I ABSOLUTELY HATE the US coverage of WTCC. Why does everything have to be a frickin' drama-filled reality program here? There was maybe a total 3 minutes of actual race footage, with everything else just being the pit guys watching monitors with dramatic background music. I just want to watch the race, with an announcer or two talking. I don't need edgy editting to make me feel anything. Sorry for the rant, guys.
 
UnkaD
I was watching a recording on the family DVR just now, and I just have to say that I ABSOLUTELY HATE the US coverage of WTCC. Why does everything have to be a frickin' drama-filled reality program here? There was maybe a total 3 minutes of actual race footage, with everything else just being the pit guys watching monitors with dramatic background music. I just want to watch the race, with an announcer or two talking. I don't need edgy editting to make me feel anything. Sorry for the rant, guys.
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Unfortunately, a reality show is what Eurosport are aiming for with the new WTCC format. The post-race Jeremy Kyle Show-esque thing is still being worked towards as far as I'm aware.
 
I'm fairly certain the channels that replay the races just run the taped broadcast from whatever foreign channel they have a deal with.
 
UnkaD
I was watching a recording on the family DVR just now, and I just have to say that I ABSOLUTELY HATE the US coverage of WTCC. Why does everything have to be a frickin' drama-filled reality program here? There was maybe a total 3 minutes of actual race footage, with everything else just being the pit guys watching monitors with dramatic background music. I just want to watch the race, with an announcer or two talking. I don't need edgy editting to make me feel anything. Sorry for the rant, guys.
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It's good that broadcasters try new things, they dont always work though, but neither does just showing straight races all the time either.
 
Bo
I'd say in about 5 years we'll be seeing most series go to hybrid power.
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This is the part where I say I'd really like to see someone turning the Nissan Leaf into an NGTC-spec car, as proof-of-concept.

Formula E cars develop about 270bhp at maximum power. NGTC cars are currently up towards 350bhp, but it's not hard to make a powerful electric drivetrain. You could gear it too (there's everything from single-speed, through two-speed, to multi-speed in FE), making it suitable for the faster tracks where top speeds are around 130mph.

Weight may be an issue - the road Leaf is about 300kg heavier than a Focus, though I'm sure there's wiggle room when building the cars - most teams build underweight and add ballast to get to the regulation 1280kg.

Battery life may also be a struggle, building something capable of doing half an hour or so at race pace, though Formula E cars manage roughly 30 mins between car swaps, so it's feasible.

I wouldn't advocate a series-wide shift to something like hybrid power, but it'd be nice to see a team doing something a little different to see if it works. And let's face it, it'd probably be less expensive and more beneficial from a marketing perspective than Nissan's LMP1 program... I bet Nissan could shift a few extra Leafs if one started doing well in BTCC.
 
homeforsummer
This is the part where I say I'd really like to see someone turning the Nissan Leaf into an NGTC-spec car, as proof-of-concept.

Formula E cars develop about 270bhp at maximum power. NGTC cars are currently up towards 350bhp, but it's not hard to make a powerful electric drivetrain. You could gear it too (there's everything from single-speed, through two-speed, to multi-speed in FE), making it suitable for the faster tracks where top speeds are around 130mph.

Weight may be an issue - the road Leaf is about 300kg heavier than a Focus, though I'm sure there's wiggle room when building the cars - most teams build underweight and add ballast to get to the regulation 1280kg.

Battery life may also be a struggle, building something capable of doing half an hour or so at race pace, though Formula E cars manage roughly 30 mins between car swaps, so it's feasible.

I wouldn't advocate a series-wide shift to something like hybrid power, but it'd be nice to see a team doing something a little different to see if it works. And let's face it, it'd probably be less expensive and more beneficial from a marketing perspective than Nissan's LMP1 program... I bet Nissan could shift a few extra Leafs if one started doing well in BTCC.
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Pretty sure its not minimum length. About 4000 or 4200mm isn't it @Holdenhsvgtsr ?
 
homeforsummer
Battery life may also be a struggle, building something capable of doing half an hour or so at race pace, though Formula E cars manage roughly 30 mins between car swaps, so it's feasible.
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eO's PP03 system delivers 1000hp for around 15 minutes, so I'd say it's easily doable with the right tech.
 
homeforsummer
It's 4445 mm long - somewhere between an MG6 and a 1-series - so I can't see that being an issue.

Are you thinking of a different car?
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Holdenhsvgtsr
4.4 metres although the cars that don't meet that such as the civics they just add extra long bumpers to meet the regs.
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I said 4200 as that was super touring minimum and cars seem smaller now.
 
Furinkazen
I said 4200 as that was super touring minimum and cars seem smaller now.
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Indeed - more evidence of just how big modern cars have got.

Though some of the early Super Tourers were relatively long, if not quite as bulky as modern cars. The Laguna was one of the longest if I recall correctly, and those were 4.5 metres long. The 850 Estate was 4709mm, which is probably the longest of the ST cars, and roughly what things like 3-series, Audi A4s and the like are at the mo. Shortest Super Tourer was... the Mazda 323, I'd guess. Sub 4200mm.
 
I can't think of a reason why he would want to stay in WTCC.
 
Valente also tipped for a works Lada drive.

Not that it will make one iota of difference. Citroën will win again, then withdraw, saddling everyone with unwieldy regulations and expensive cars. I doubt the WTCC will live much longer.
 
Simmpa
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122368

Lopez leaving after Citroen quit? I think thats weak of him, why not find another team and show he can win the championship without Citroen?
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Why would he stay, he will land a factory drive in TC2000 the instant he goes back home.

Besides he basically dominated the driver that was considered the best in WTCC.
 
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prisonermonkeys
Valente also tipped for a works Lada drive.

Not that it will make one iota of difference. Citroën will win again, then withdraw, saddling everyone with unwieldy regulations and expensive cars. I doubt the WTCC will live much longer.
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I was hoping Valente would pick up a TCR drive for 2016.
 
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