First off, unlike the statement made above about the first production based Mazda win in some time, the RX-8 in the Grand Am series is no where near a production based car. Its a tubed frame built by Riley Technologies with a carbon body put on top. Its not production based.

ACO rules for Le Mans require that the car be truly production based, that means, built on a real production chassis pulled off the assembly line.

That is the way the Porsches and Ferraris in the class are made and its actually a tough thing to overcome. The fact the Porsches do as well as they do is quite an accomplishment.

Secondly, they would not be competitive in ALMS/ACO competition anyway. The Porsches they compete against in Grand Am are a slower version of the RSR. The GT class is slower than the GT2 category in the ALMS/ACO.

It was a great win for the team and will hopefully lead to a great 2008.

 

that video with nick ham was awesome!

 

Thanks for the explanation.
So I guess prototype is the only hope for Mazda to return to 24hr of LeMans at the moment. I hope to see them at LeMans one day! I was too young to witness the 1991 winning moment.
________
The Legend Condo

 

A drag car is a different beast. How many 1/4 miles runs equals a full season? Add that up into total miles and then compare that to even one ALMS race. You'd only go a couple of laps! Keep in mind most rotaries pushed to levels this high don't even last that long.

You've also got to consider cooling requirements at such a high power level. Drag cars don't have much cooling because they are only at full throttle for a few seconds. Most of their cooling systems wouldn't even cut it on a street car.

How much boost is that engine running? ALMS does have boost restrictions. You won't get anywhere near this. The engine also has to breathe through a restrictor which further decreases efficiency. A drag engine doesn't have these restrictions.

In the end you could probably boost a 2 rotor engine for ALMS use up to about 450 hp or so. Maybe a bit more. The real question at that point becomes reliability. Remember that the engine would be under boost for long periods of time with no chance to cool back down. Even these power levels on a street car aren't indicitive of the life cycle of a race car as most of the time a street car isn't at full throttle.

There's alot to think about but there is no comparison of a drag engine vs a real race engine (Drag racing isn't real racing!). They already use ceramic seals anyways.

 

BTW, here is a shot of the 70 car from the Rolex. It happens to be behind a Porsche in this shot, but passed him soon after. Thought you guys might enjoy it.

 

Valid points.

http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=263
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=224
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=231
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=312
http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=182522&page=8

To me it isn't about the type of racing, it's about the amount of abuse it puts up with.
http://members.shaw.ca/nrsrotorsports/specs.html
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=352
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=355
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=374


As you can see, the seals do put up with a lot of abuse and I don't think a properly set up 20B would have a hard time competing with the other prototype cars.


This is it for now:
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=399

 

the 20b can be made to put out a lot more HP than it was making in the courage, but at the expense of MPG, remember that the ACO does limit how much fuel you can have in your car.

It was the same with the R26B, its being said by some of the people that develop that engine that if they rev it more it made a lot more than 700 hp but the fuel consuption whent thru the roof

 

Remember, the ACO also specs an air restrictor that can be used. It doesnt matter how much power the engine could produce, its limited to how much the ACO will allow it to produce.

Engines in all the prototypes are capable of MUCH more power than the produce. Its all regulated by the sanctioning bodies.

 

________
HEADSHOP

 

Someone go post that on a Porsche forum!!!

 

That picture rocks!

Thanks Renesis 8

 

Got that Motor Trend sitting in my office on proud display for the Porsche and BMW fanboys/girls here!!

 

#70 qualified 4th for homestead this weekend.

Hypersport lost sobe as the sponsor, while racer's edge picked up many new decals on the car!
________
Zoloft Lawsuit

 

I'm exicted for this weekend's race, but i haven't yet had a chance to check the practice and qualifying info.

Interesting about hypersport, how did you find that out? Do you think it will change their plans for the year at all?

 

Coverage just started on Speed!

 

Okay since there are already results up for the race I assume I am behind and the race is already over and I'm watching a pre-recorded event.

 

Well they started the press conference on the rolex website.

 

i can tell you who won. i am at the track now..

what a great day for 3 races!!!!!

one to go.

beers

 

Nice! Lucky...

Yeah I saw the results on the grand-am.com site. #70 in 5th.

 

We should all flood the porsche forum and tell them to learn how to drive . Bad luck for the racers edge rx8, being take out by some noob (porsche ). any how enjoy :P

 

yea,

he was in third going into the last two laps. i dont know if he slipped or got nudged. but lost 2 spots at the very end of the race.. rumor has it they had tire issues today...

omg, you should have seen what just walked by i love fla usa!!!






beers

 

yea,

that was right in front of me, so stupid..

beers

 

I'll see what happens on the TV coverage and see if they have any explanation for the slip in spots at the end.

 

Hey, If you cant beat'em, wreck'em

 

haven't had a chance to watch the whole race yet (but i taped it).

shame about the racer's edge car! if andy lally was in the trg 66 that never would've happened... I hope thorne is a-OK and they can get the car up again soon with only a minimal hit to the coffers. any word on a penalty?

when i saw the trg car coming back in I immediately had a flashback to last season when the #70 got taken out....