Can-Am 2.0 (circa 1982)

Initially, I wasn't much impressed with recycled F5000 cars as "Can-Am" but it evolved into decent racing over time.  I can't believe it's been 40 years.  I miss it.

They were actually better cars and the racing was pretty decent.

In reply to stroker :

I was at that race with my girlfriend, now wife. I still have the program with a picture of Little Al in it. He looked about 12.

If you squint he still looks about 12 ish......

I saw them at the Dallas GP in 1984.

Between the Can-Am cars and the F1 cars, the asphalt didn't stand a chance.  The cornering speeds of both series tore the streets up.  Of course, holding a race in Dallas in the middle of summer didn't help either...

Tom1200 said:

They were actually better cars and the racing was pretty decent.

F5000 didn't deserve to die but it provided a hell of a nucleus to build Can-Am 2.0...  

In reply to stroker :

Yup I saw All Unser drive in the series at the Caesar's Palace GP.

It would be fun to resurrect F5000 as a spec series. Use a sealed C8 drivetrain in a strong chassis with lots of setup adjustability and just enough aero to make it look mean, but not so much that it can't follow another car. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Something like this...

"Big banger open wheelers". Yeah, that'll do :) 

This video has noise and wheel to wheel racing.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Did you catch the emus track side?

I saw them at the Glen. 

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Yes, nobody seemed too concerned about them.

Keith Tanner said:

It would be fun to resurrect F5000 as a spec series. Use a sealed C8 drivetrain in a strong chassis with lots of setup adjustability and just enough aero to make it look mean, but not so much that it can't follow another car. 

Spec racing seems to be the only way forward at this point, but I just can't tolerate it.  The last F5000 championship (US) was a Shadow, I believe, powered by Dodge.  In the previous years you had to run a Chevrolet, generally.  I can't remember Ford ever having any F5000 success.  We've had numerous threads in the past about F5000 and the general hangup is the transaxle.  The Porsche is too expensive, the VW is too frail...  I wonder how much GM charges for a C8 gearbox...?

In reply to stroker :

Which Porsche? 911-based, or Audi-based?

Boxster transaxles are not terribly expensive, and should handle open wheel racing given that the same unit handles heavier cars with high power and all wheel drive (no tire slippage to act as a fuse) in Audis.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to stroker :

Which Porsche? 911-based, or Audi-based?

 

Boxster transaxles are not terribly expensive, and should handle open wheel racing given that the same unit handles heavier cars with high power and all wheel drive (no tire slippage to act as a fuse) in Audis.

I think the 911 are the preferred for the street mid-engine (e.g. GT40) guys.  I realize it's racing and a $10K gearbox is expected, but if you were trying to develop an affordable series for club racing, perhaps the O1E box could be reinforced to handle V8 torque/hp...

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Beyond the V8 Supercar rumble I reeeeeeeally like how much the cars move around on the tires.

In reply to stroker :

That is exactly it.... they easily handle 500 ft-lb turbo Audi engines in cars heavier than open wheelers.  Drag racers in the four digit HP range would use them unopened.

Now, granted, one needed to be careful when shifting as a missed shift could fold the shift collar splines over, but this is a poor technique issue.  I understand that Porsche transmissions also do not tolerate a forceful hand on the shifter.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to stroker :

That is exactly it.... they easily handle 500 ft-lb turbo Audi engines in cars heavier than open wheelers.  Drag racers in the four digit HP range would use them unopened.

Now, granted, one needed to be careful when shifting as a missed shift could fold the shift collar splines over, but this is a poor technique issue.  I understand that Porsche transmissions also do not tolerate a forceful hand on the shifter.

I fantasize about showing up for the UTCC with a rule-legal F5000 built for Challenge money.  Wouldn't be very fast or quick or light, but it would prove it could be done...

I was expecting a thread about Tony Cicale

In reply to stroker :

You might want to look at the lap times for the older chassis cars.

Some of the SCCA P1 and P2 cars are at or under 2 minute lap times. The downforce these generate is huge; some of these cars are generating 3gs of cornering force. 

Tom1200 said:

In reply to stroker :

You might want to look at the lap times for the older chassis cars.

Some of the SCCA P1 and P2 cars are at or under 2 minute lap times. The downforce these generate is huge; some of these cars are generating 3gs of cornering force. 

To which track do those times apply?  Road America?

In reply to stroker :

Oops, yes it was Road America.  The infamous Scott Tucker did a 1:59.6. at the 2012 RunOffs. 

Rons said:

I was expecting a thread about Tony Cicale

Y'know, he'd be a good subject for a GRM article...  (wink, wink, nudge, nudge...)