BaronVonBigmeat

I like the way they have to write "CAMRY" all over the car so you know it's a Camry.

I think NASCAR would be much more interesting if they were driving actual, you know, stock cars with safety cages; as opposed to hand-built tube-framed thoroughbred racing machines.

BlueEyes

I see Red Bull is the sponsor of the car.

nzarnow

does it really matter what the car name is? because, that is all that the nascar has in common with a normal street cars: the name. seems to me that they are completly different monster race cars with just the same name.

wouldn't matter if there was a car name the shitballs and then someone turned it into a nascar. it would still be 99.98% different from the street version.

BlueEyes

Sounds like the RX-8 race car in grand am everyone has wood for.

Chrisbert

Heh, that's Bristol. I sat in almost that same section.

vectorwolf

As opposed to the FWD couch Taurus, FWD couch Monte Carlo, and previously FWD couch Intrepid?

And as NZ mentioned,there is NOTHING stock about these cars... As far as I've read, they all use pretty much the same mechanicals, just a manufaturer-labled shell.

And should we get into the real reasons why a "Japanese" car (built right here in the U.S. of A., as also mentioned previously) is going to upset so many die-hard fans? Just ask any Good 'ol boy in your nearest small town, and be sure keep a pen and paper handy to write down their colorful response(s). Poor bastards aren't gonna who what hit 'em.

CERAMICSEAL

Your analogy is weak. In NASCAR all the cars have to use the same 'template' and therefore have basically the same sillhouette. That's one of the things that remove any attraction for me. They all look so much alike and I don't think I'm alone in saying it's not the prettiest look in motorsport; no offense intended to anyone. It's the same thing with the Daytona prototypes, they all have the same hideous appearance (Just my opinion). The GT RX8s on the other hand have bodywork actually based on the 8. They're not actually RX8s but they are much more based upon the original than anything currently in NASCAR. The comparison is night and day.

RenesisRacer

If they're following the script, honda will come in shortly after. Together they will drive costs up astronomically and NASCAR will crumble to the ground just like CART and the IRL.

Or one can hope...

BlueEyes

It's hardly night and day. A night and day difference is the Porsche 911's vs the "Rx-8".

CERAMICSEAL

If you say so Blue. It seemed to me that I could recognize both of those cars from a mile away for what they represent without difficulty but maybe it's just my crazy imagination.

BlueEyes

Recognize them as what? A 911 and an Rx8? Sure, and the 911 is based on, funnily enough, a 911. The Rx8 however, is based on nothing and veiled in Rx8 like body panels.

dtorre

I personally enjoy nascar...its something you have to see in person...on the super speedways watching cars hit 200+ is awesome =). Besides in 07 all the cars are being built from the same tube frame chassis or something like that with their own unique engines...

to reduce the importance of aerodynamics ((getting back to the boxcar days no joke)) and because the new design will be better suited for in car cameras and what not ..

also with the change the drivers seats will move about 4 inches towards the center of the car making it seem as if they were sitting in the middle of the vehicle =)

CERAMICSEAL

I had the privilege of seeing some of the bodywork take place for the RX8s, would you like to take a guess what type of car was used for every panel?
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

BlueEyes

Fine, lets say the body panels are exactly those off an Rx8. Who cares. It doesn't change the fact that it's a ground up race car built from steel tubes. It's not an rx8, not based on an rx8, and shares very little in common with an rx8. It's the nascar of the grand am world.

CERAMICSEAL

Alright, I'll try this one more time. It's obvious that I'm biased as a Mazda loyalist and you have a problem with the Mazda utilizing a tube chassis car and Porsche opting not to. This is hardly like NASCAR and much more like what GT racing always was. I remember when everything used tube chassis in GTU, GTO etc. It was called the good old IMSA days. Do you remember those days blue? Every manufacturer who was anybody was present with their tube chassis cars.
The appropriate comparison to NASCAR would be the DP class cars as I said before, that all look like each other.