Actually this year Ferrari has entered the ALMS.

 

And Grand Am... There is plenty of Ferrari GT racing going on. However, F1 will always be the top draw throughout the world. (Even while dumb 'Mericans watch Neck-CAR go 'round and 'round for 500 miles...)

 

I guess I'm showing my age. I remember a time when racing improved street cars.

I suppose it still does, in some ways. There's the Solar Challenge, and somewhere someone is probably racing hybrid gas/electric cars...

... Wait, McLaren only needed two stops, and was still slow! Could it be? [j/k]

Alas, what Prodrive learns racing a Ferrari 550 might help the Scooby rally effort, but it doesn't neccessarily make better Ferrari street cars.

 

Racing and Street Car production took two very wide diverging paths in the mid 80s. for nearly two decades now the tech adn safety on the track is not appropriate for the tech and safety on the street. IMO, Simply becuase of lack of emissions on track cars and the use of making tracks safer instead of the vehicles safer. If they want to be able to really improve street cars such that the aero work done on race cars which is very rarely done on street cars, make them lose power by requiring them to have clean cars. Forcing them to use 91 oct unleaded cars that pass emissions before and after the race would get racing cars back in line with improving street cars in a hurry!

 

Didn't street car traction control and ABS come from F1 racing?

 

Yep, both came from F1. As did reliable turbocharging (I added "reliable" because someone will tell me about some car in 1920 with a turbo or something), variable-rate steering, active aerodynamics, active body control (found in BMW, Volvo R series, Mercedes), etc. Many, many innovations from F1 have trickled down to road cars. The biggest change no-one mentioned is the semi-manual (paddle-shift) gearbox. Obviously common in some road cars now, F1 is again using paddles to shift (after full-auto gearboxes were banned again). I only wish F1 designers and engineers could go back to 1993 again (rules-wise) - active aero, active suspension, ABS, full-auto trannies, etc. Of course I'd love to see the return of those 1,000 hp 1.5L turbo engines.

Late note: In fact, to be REALLY picky, I would venture to say an F1 car's technology has more in common with a real car than a NASCAR "stock" car does. Think about it: No street car runs a tube frame, yet a couple (given, they're expensive as hell) like the Ferrari Enzo, Porsche Carrera GT, Pagani Zonda, etc. use carbon-fiber monocoques. No street car is carbureted anymore, all fuel-injected (most with many sensors) - just like F1. With the exception of American cars, OHV engines are toast. All are OHC engines now - F1 again. All this has reminded me why I hate NASCAR so much.

 

Yah but Nascar as cheap, like all production cars.. Formula 1 reliability and engine's falling over is pretty common to production car engine failures though... and Formula1 budgets cost more than all the net profits for many models of any one particular sports cars. Both have there pros and cons. Nascar certainly has more "racing" going on. Schumy looks like it's going to be another season with him so far ahead it's a fight for 3rd place for all the rest. If they don't blow up.

 

Raikkonen's problem was a failed water pump. As for the budgets, consider part of those budgets as high-level R&D for the manufacturers and suddenly it doesn't look like so much money (compared to trad R&D costs). NASCAR will not be providing any new technical innovations... EVER.

To those that like to watch 3,500 pound silhouette cars go 'round and 'round, go for it! Personally, I like to see cars that change direction faster than any other machine on the planet, brake so hard they affect human physiology and technology on the sharpest cutting edge. To each his own...

 

I like both. I can see the merits and problems of each.

 

You are just lukewarm.....

 

Traction control, perhaps, but ABS -- I don't think so.

ABS hit street cars in the mid-80s ... and sucked, big time, at first, having not been wrung out on the track.

Traction control was initially derived from ABS, and the addition of TC in the late '80s brought ABS to F1 until it was banned in '94.

ABS on the old ST-165 ('88) was mediocre at best, and became downright miserable with any change to the suspension. Many owners just pulled the ABS fuse to disable the system.

ABS is my prime example of why we should let the highly paid race drivers work the bugs out of a system before we slap it into production cars.

One problem with the F1 turbos was the reliability of the "pop-off" valves mandated by the rules. I think the boost should be limited by engine reliability and fuel capacity, not by arbitrary limits imposed by add-on hardware.

However; you might see the return of the small bore turbos -- it might be the only way to let someone beat the Ferraris.

 

Enforicing emissions standars on F1 would possibly help make the field more even and competive and that would probably help trickle down better tech to production cars for more power better fuel economy and cleaner air..

 

Actually ABS, fuel injection, composite construction (it can be argued that wood composites started with boats), refinement of turbo and supercharging and onboard electronics all came from the aviation industry. The Messerschmitt 109 (WWII German fighter) had a Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine with direct fuel injection an variable speed supercharging. The use of turbo and supercharging in pre-war cars is not anything to laugh at either. They were getting good horsepower numbers and longevity out of those old Auto Unions and Alfas. I forget when they started using carbon composites in aerospace. F-1 was generally one of the first racing disciplines to take these technologies to the track. From there it went to the streets.

I just got done watching the Malaysian GP. It was great to see Button get to the podium. He was pretty heart broken not to make it at the USGP last year.

Best wishes,
f86sabre

 

Yesterdays Race was pretty good. Disappointing to tsee the all too familiar dominance and Webbers horrible start after getting the front row start position.

I wonder will Ferrari ever have any mechanical failure? I think the devil is protecting them too closely..

 

Poor Webber, he must be gutted. And I think Michael has sold his soul to the Devil himself (Jean Todt?). As much as I dislike seeing him walk away from the field every two weeks, his driving is without equal. During qualifying, it was readily apparent he was mush smoother and much faster than every one else without even looking at the timing. However, I think putting Kimi, Montoya, Alonso, Button, and maybe even Webber in his car would produce the same results. The car handles so well it's disgusting.