What it's like to drive cars in all 4 classes of Grand-Am

[stuntman]

Check out my article from a driver's perspective on what it's like to drive every car in the Grand-Am Rolex and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) series, from Street Tuner to Daytona Prototype.


Check it out:

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/2416/whats-it-like-to-drive-every-car-in-grand-am.aspx



Billy

 

[CL65 Captain]

Nice article Billy.

 

[clr1024]

Great article! I liked the comment that it's good that you have driven an NSX once or twice:biggrin:

 

[SFDreamer]

Very cool, was a fun read!

 

[queenlives]

really enjoyed reading this, thx for posting the link!

 

[joove]

Great read. Thanks for posting billy!

 

[sca037]

Nice article, Billy!

So the same shop (Doran) builds the Ford DP's that built the ALMS Ford GT's for Robertson Racing..........that's cool.

Hey, will you be competing in Detroit on the Belle Isle circuit in June with Grand-Am then?

It would be fun to have someone to root for from the turn stations!

Brian

 

[RYU]

That was a fun read. Thank you for sharing!

 

[e.pie]

 

[GhettoRacer]

The front-wheel drive cars used to skate around by over-stiffening the rear suspension, but in recent years and with proper development, top teams have gotten the cars to rotate and put the power down well without simply loosening the car up and they seem to hold their own just as well as any RWD car. They can also understeer and push severely for those who don't have the patience to let the car rotate mid-corner and tire management is important since the front tires do everything. Typically FWD cars have worse brakes but slightly more power.

Hey Billy can you talk a bit more about the modern approach for FWD setup? At Honda-tech's rr/ax forum ppl have been debating about rear stuff setup for about a decade now. lol.

 

[stuntman]

Nice article, Billy!

So the same shop (Doran) builds the Ford DP's that built the ALMS Ford GT's for Robertson Racing..........that's cool.

Hey, will you be competing in Detroit on the Belle Isle circuit in June with Grand-Am then?

It would be fun to have someone to root for from the turn stations!

Brian

I might be there in the Turner M3.

Hey Billy can you talk a bit more about the modern approach for FWD setup? At Honda-tech's rr/ax forum ppl have been debating about rear stuff setup for about a decade now. lol.

Not reducing rear grip but improving front, and weight distribution amongst others.

 

[GhettoRacer]

so what are the means to improving front end grip? when you said "new technology" did you mean that in chassis design or more like shock tuning?

 

[stuntman]

so what are the means to improving front end grip? when you said "new technology" did you mean that in chassis design or more like shock tuning?

Where did i say "new technology"?

Chassis design, development, setup, etc...

 

[GhettoRacer]

The front-wheel drive cars used to skate around by over-stiffening the rear suspension, but in recent years and with proper development, top teams have gotten the cars to rotate and put the power down well without simply loosening the car up and they seem to hold their own just as well as any RWD car. They can also understeer and push severely for those who don't have the patience to let the car rotate mid-corner and tire management is important since the front tires do everything. Typically FWD cars have worse brakes but slightly more power.

oops, my bad. you are right you didn't say "new technology". for some reason i thought you did. anyway. mainly i was hope you would elaborate further on the above. are the chassis of current generation of cars really that much better than cars from the mid 1990's? obviously they are stiffer and safer... i suppose it is true because i've read a bit about how good the JDM FD2 Civic Type-R is.

 

[GhettoRacer]

from another from, after i posted Billy's article and made the high light... someone wrote:

I think you need to keep in mind that he isn't talking about 15-20 year old Civics/Integras. He is talking about the new FWD vehicles with completely different suspensions at completely different weights.

Realtime was running the typical lower front to higher rear spring rates on the ITR way back when.

Good article but apples to oranges.

that's not how i read it. to me he seems to be saying there are new technologies that can be applied to older chassis...

 

[Stryker63]

Really enjoyed this. Thanks!

 

[stuntman]

oops, my bad. you are right you didn't say "new technology". for some reason i thought you did. anyway. mainly i was hope you would elaborate further on the above. are the chassis of current generation of cars really that much better than cars from the mid 1990's? obviously they are stiffer and safer... i suppose it is true because i've read a bit about how good the JDM FD2 Civic Type-R is.

So are the stock tires of the fd2 type r. But the fd2 chassis is quite good and one of the best fwd platforms ive driven. Your hondatech debates are always fun to read but many try to compare spring rates between cars with struts front, rear, or both against cars with control arms and drastically different motion ratios and wheel rates. Even with known comparable wheel rates, no one talks about or lists weight distributions of said cars. Then you go into total roll resistance from springs and bars, camber theory and limitations (rules or dynamic camber change, etc...)

But you know what they say about arguing on forums...

Its hard to diacuss so many different platforms in one topic.

Chassis development comes from many seemingly insignigicant changes which total a measurable benefit.

Sure you can free ANY car up by stiffening the rear until it has less grip than the front so the car turns. And with a good driver it can even be quick. But finding grip isnt as easy and you only gain a tiny bit at a time. Either way, you have an inherent lack of front grip and a lot of weight up front, the car needs to be balanced and you have to figure out how to gain front grip or lose rear grip. Losing grip is easy and lowers the overall potential of the car.

There is many ways to skin a cat but you can discuss and debate forever or go out there and do it. Theres also more to it than anyone thinks they know (including me). Cars work in a interconnected system and remembering that and not losing track of fundamentals will steer you in the right direction.