wtf champ car?

[Dave]

I thought this series was dead and gone but lo and behold its on my tv right now! anyone know when it came back? last i heard they were bankrupt. looks like the cars are borrowing more from F1 than they had previously, still turbo 8's though. long live american gran-prix!

[Dave]

holy crap, they have some nice rule changes this year. timed races, you have to use extremely soft tires at least once in the race (red wall/black wall) and each car has 60 seconds of timed overboost for an extra 50 horses. I hope AFN keeps up with this

[den9]

wat engines are F1? V12 methanol fueled turbo?

[Vypurr]

I don't believe that F1 is turbo anymore though.

[Dave]

f1 hasnt been turbo in a long time and i think the last time they were they used fours. heres the differences from the champ car wiki.

Comparison with Formula One

A Champ Car is a single-seat (commonly called open-wheel) racing car. For much of their history Champ Cars have been similar to Formula One cars, although there have traditionally been several key differences between the two.

Over the years, Champ Cars race schedule included high speed oval tracks. The increased stress and speed of these tracks mean that the cars tended to be heavier and have longer wheelbases than F1 cars (increasing stability but decreasing agility). In 2007, there will be no oval tracks on the schedule.

When the weight of the driver is factored in, a Champ Car weighs over 30% more than a Formula One Car. The minimum weight for a Champ Car is adjusted from 1575 lbs based on the weight of the driver compared to the field average; with the driver included, all cars have a minimum weight of 1741 lbs. A Champ Car piloted by 195 lb Paul Tracy (the heaviest driver in the series and 29 lbs heavier than the field average) must weight at least 1546 lbs when empty. The minimum weight of a Formula One Car, including the driver, is 605 kg (1334 lbs). This difference of 407 lbs (184.6 kg) is just over 30% of the F1 car's weight.

Since the late 1960s Champ Cars have used turbocharged engines. Turbos were banned in Formula One on safety grounds in 1989. For some periods of their history, notably in the early 1970s and late 1990s, turbocharging gave Champ Cars up to 300 horsepower (220 kW) more than F1 cars, in the 70s cars had in excess of 1000 hp. Recently in 1999/2000 the Champ Cars approached 1000 horsepower (750 kW) before regulations on turbo boost were tightened. The current generation of cars are now about equal in power to F1 cars at approximately 750 horsepower (since F1 switched to smaller engines for the 2006 season), with the turbo used mainly to improve the spectacle rather than lap-times with the so-called 'power-to-pass' or 'push-to-pass' system giving drivers an increased amount of power for a limited duration during the race. Another reason for retaining the turbocharger is the muffling effect it has on the exhaust note helps keep the cars inside noise-limits, particularly at the many city street races on the schedule.

Champ Cars use methanol for fuel rather than gasoline, and refuelling has always been permitted during the race. This is a legacy of a crash at the 1964 Indianapolis 500 in which a crash involving cars filled with more than 75 US gallons (285 L) of gasoline killed (Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs). Until 1994, when refuelling was re-introduced to F1, the coupling for the refuelling hose was a notable difference between Champ Cars and Formula cars.

Champ Cars continue to have sculpted undersides to create ground effect. This innovation was originally created in Formula One by Lotus in 1978, and was immediately used on the Chaparral Champ Car in 1979. F1 banned sculpted undersides in a bid to lower cornering speeds for 1983. In an effort to create better passing opportunities, the new spec Champ Car chassis being introduced in 2007 will generate nearly 50% of the total downforce of the car with sculpted underside tunnels versus the front and rear wings. This will reduce turbulent air behind the cars, enabling easier overtaking.

While F1 use grooved tires to limit performance, Champ Cars remain using tread-less "slick" racing tires. To make races more unpredictable, drivers are permitted to use one set of higher performance softer compound "alternate" tires. Informally called "reds", as these tires are made visible to the spectators by their red sidewalls.

Unlike in F1, Champ Car teams are not obliged to construct their own chassis, and in recent times have tended to buy chassis constructed by independent suppliers such as Lola, Swift, Reynard, March and Dan Gurney's Eagle. The most notable exception was Penske Racing, although they also bought other cars when their own chassis was uncompetitive. Starting in 2007, Champ Car will feature only a single, "spec" chassis, the DP-01, created by Elan Technologies, a racing equipment manufacturer owned by Don Panoz. The spec chassis was introduced to reduce costs for race teams, however Champ Car had essentially been a spec series since 2004, with all teams favoring the Lola chassis.

The Formula One Car is a more expensive and technology-centric platform than a Champ Car. This was even the case during the CART PPG era during the mid to late 1990s. At this time global engine manufacturers Toyota, Honda, Mercedes and Ford vied for dominance. Since Champ Car's restructuring, a desire to keep costs down and the existence of one engine manufacturer has helped to create a series with far more parity than its European-based cousin. For instance, a competitive Champ Car team like Newman-Haas Racing team operates on approximately US$20 Million per season, while McLaren F1 team operates on US$400 Million.[2]

[Dave]

the race was friken awesome. much more exciting (imo) than the last F1 race i caught. they have billboard racing, i mean nascar on now...