I never said the rules would hold back the car. I said it doesn't fit in the flavor of the series.

Our restrictor is a flat plate, not shaped at all. Yours is designed to not create massive turbulence, ours is. Not much to photograph. It sits between the intake bellow and the throttle plate. Our RPM is also restricted, but not by much. It's more to make us struggle for gearing, which, in the series's view, is one of our surmountable issues.

The Subaru, to my knowledge, does not have a restrictor. They are limited on peak boost through an electronic monitor. If I had to guess, I'd say they're somewhere between 400-425hp at most tracks. They limit the boost based on atmospheric conditions at each track. It makes sense in one way, and makes no sense in another.

 

We kind of lucky with a gearing in the evo , only the fifth from 4th has a hughe drop or a hughe rpm rush to 4th when you down shift , which kind of throws the accleretaion off, or the deaccaleration with gears.
The 6 speed is not really used where i race , so i cant comment on that gearing with restrictors.
I hear what you saying about limiting a boost based on Atmospheric conditions.

 

Hey, I want to see pictures of your Camaro. I am old enough to remember when a person could buy a new 1969 Camaro Z/28 for around $3,000. I bought a new 1970 Camaro SS 350 for about $2,800 and I still love the them a lot. Also, if I ever get out to your neck of the woods in California, I want YOU as a driving coach/mentor!

 

I'll do you one better, here's video from Laguna practice last year. We DOMINATED that race. Car is a bit different now, but honestly, even better.


Ignore the spin at the end, we were experimenting with damper settings-- it didn't go well in the corkscrew!

Here's another quick video. The race a weekend before Laguna and the first ever win for the Camaro GS.R! Again, we nailed the setup and have a great car at Road America. Started poorly after making a weird setup call in qualifying, had a MUCH better car for the race, as you can see!


Here, just a quick photo from Indy test. See, Camaro rally car!... jk.

 

Nice!

 

Matt, those videos are just plain awesome. I watched with great excitement as you charged towards the front at Road America. You came up on that STi and went by him like he was dragging a boat anchor. That BMW [Turner Motosports?] was kind of nasty when you tried to pass him on the Moraine Sweep. And, that battle with the Lucas Oil Camaro was epic. What a victory! You are right, you nailed that race. My hat is off to you. I have been to Road America many times since 1971 for my first Can Am race and I never get tired of seeing cars race there. Thank you so much for those two videos. I am kind of humbled to even have a guy of your stature here on this forum. It is not everday that a peon like me can chat via a forum with a guy like you.

 

Haha, you're going to give me a big head! You've been going to races before I was even THOUGHT of yet, my hat's off to you. Road America is an epic race track. When the car is good, you can sense it, you become daring, you charge hard and make passes happen. That yellow BMW was the Rum Bum car. Really, it was close because I cut it back a bit late. Was watching the corner more than his bumper! Either way, you could write a book on how to mess with traffic. My favorite was, if you notice, the headlights are on throughout the race, then mysteriously go out just before I pass the other Camaro-- tricky? Cheating? Who cares, got it done!

 

Yeah, I noticed the headlights on during the race as I saw the reflection on the backs of the cars. At the end as you said, the lights went out. Probably psyched out the guy in the Lucas Oil Camaro. If you run the series next year and are at RA, I went to meet you in person. Dang, you make me want to get another Camaro...

 

DO IT, on both counts. I'm sure I'll be back out there, driving a Camaro or not! And YES, buy a ZL1. That thing is nuts. It's a Camaro that can outrun a Corvette and is still the Camaro price. Go to a dealer, start one up, and just the rumble from the exhaust will make you want to sign.

...or buy an Evo X... to keep it relevant.

 

Yeah, that ZL-1 is just plain sick. If I had a little more coin, I would get one. I got an Evo because I come from a Honda background where you measure hp gains with the fingers on your hand. The Evo is what I would call "affordable performance". The SS and 5.0 Mustang were a bit higher in price than what I could find my X for, but they were both on my radar.

I actually had a chance to buy a real 1969 ZL-1 Camaro back in the mid 80's. Guy was selling it for $18,000, which was a bit more than I could afford at the time. I knew about them when the COPO orders went through. They were capable of running high tens in the quarter mile. Sigh, I should have bought that car because what they go for at Barrett Jackson would be enough to buy a stable of nice cars.

 

nvrmnd

 

Hey MBellRacing - do you think or see the Phoenix team fielding another Subaru (a second car) in the future to help with development/increase the odds? Also was thinking that another series where a Subaru/Evo may do ok is ALMS if the funding is there.

Appears to be much more open to modifications across the board there which allows the RX8's to be competitive but imagine you need some super serious resources ($1M+ per year) to be competitive.

I follow the CSCS pretty well, usually looking for the Subaru and 350z to do well but now will be rooting for you as well. Good luck on Friday!

For those who want to watch the series more closely than the sometimes 1 month taped delayed broadcast, you can watch the races live on speed2.com if you have certain cable/satellite providers. I have Direct TV and have access.

 

I think your mistaken. ALMS (American Le Mans Series) and Grand Am(which is what the RX8's run in) are to separate entities. Either way both are big buck racing, more so ALMS.

I'm a big ALMS fan! Having grown up at Road Atlanta doesn't hurt

Cheers

 

bah, I was thinking Rolex Series (was watching it late last night) and the ALMS race from Mosport while working in the garage yesterday.

But yeah, same point - I imagine it would be easier for STI's and Evo's to compete there because they are big buck racing and allow more substantial modifications to get cars competitive. Looking at those RX8's, those engines must completely strung out and imagine last a few races at most before needing replacement or big rebuilds.

Speaking of Atlanta, was just there last week and was able to meet up with Forged Performance at Barber Motorsports park - amazing track!

 

Yeah, I said it a little while ago in here-- I think the Evo/STi would make an interesting GT car. Unfortunately, AWD is not allowed currently in GT class. It might be allowed in GX. WC GT would be a cool place to see an Evo, but it would be a big money move.

The Rolex GT Mazda engines are actually not as hot as they look. The car is very light, has the second smallest frontal area, and has a 3-rotor engine opposed to the normal Renesis 2-rotor.

ALMS would never work for an Evo, I don't think. Those GT2 cars are VERY fast. I've driven one of the Corvettes, at Atlanta actually, and can say it was one of the fastest cars I've ever driven. They actual put down times similar to Rolex DP cars! There are no 4-cylinder engines in the series. This is not a huge dilemma, but you will be competing against some truly high-strung powerplants. The cars also have very little to do with the production car. This means lots of $$$ to develop a bespoke race car capable of being competitive in the series.