Super Car Question

[Ron61]

Over the weekend I watched the Super Car races which I always do when they have them on TV here.

My questions are this. What kind of cars are they, as they look more like a mid sized one than a full sized car. I did see Ford painted on the back of one of them but couldn't make out what it was.

The other question is what kind of motors are they allowed to run? They seem to handle and go really well and look as if they would be fun to drive.

Thanks,

Ron

[cobbindale]

Hi Ron,

I think you are refering to the pint sized Aussie Race cars. They are great to watch racing and can get up and motor around the track at a fair speed.

Aussie Racing Cars


Dale.

[Towmaster]

There are ford & Holden (gm) versions. The Holden is the Pontiac G8 in the states, it is also the shorter wheelbase version of the new Chevy police cruiser arriving on your shores from downunder shortly. The ford is a falcon, basically same size as the Holden. Full cage & suspension points identical, 9" diff, 5.0 litre engines. The Holden runs a chev & the ford a 302 Windsor, fuel injected, about 650 hp. 280mm wide Dunlop slicks. That's a quick run down, I'm sure some others will elaborate...

[cobbindale]

My mistake, thought you were talking about the smaller support class cars.

[Ron61]

Thanks for the answers guys. I knew they had to be making some pretty good power from the way they would accelerate off the corners.

Ron

[Aussie Mike]

Unlike NASCAR, they run EFI with individual runner injection. No restrictor plates or anything like that. The body shell starts as a production car but they take the roof off and fill the thing so full of cage work it may as well be a space frame.

Most run Hollinger gear boxes which have a very long bellhousing section putting the box closer to the middle of the car. They run a live axle loosely based on the ford 9" but they run plates on the end that let them change camber and toe. I reckon the axles must have some kind of CV on the end going by the fairly extreme amounts of camber they can have.

They are an amazing piece of machinery to look at up close.

Cheers

[Ron61]

Mike,

They are impressive just on TV. Next year NASCAR is going to fuel injection and that should be a mess for a while until they get it worked out. I stumbled on a race a few weeks ago that was here in the states and they were running all of the old Mustangs, Camaros, American Motors cars and such. That was back when they got stock cars and then stripped them and put in the roll cages and safety equipment but they still looked like real cars. They even had a couple of 1957 Corvettes in those races and a very few original 289 Cobras. Now that is the kind of racing I wish they would have more of.

Ron

[Aussie Mike]

Found a good series of videos on the mechanics of aV8 Supercar

Enjoy

[Ron61]

Thanks Mike,

Those were very informative and now I understand a lot more about those cars. They are really a work of art.

Ron