E Production Race GTV6
Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 7:33 pm
I just got back from Texas Motor Speedway where I watched SCCA racing for the last couple days. The E Production GTV6 built by Vick Autosports and driven by an expert driver did very well. It was only the car's second outing so they are being carefull with it and even running a stock spec 2.5. The motor had nothing but Total Seal rings and Vick headers with open exhaust. They plan to build a hotter motor for it soon.
The car only weighs about 2400 pounds empty, has huge slicks, and fender flares. It's running 33mm solid torsion bars, special rear springs and heim joints everywhere. It's a cornering monster.
It finished about middle of the pack which I think is great for a second outing with a stock spec motor. It seemed to clobber all the other cars on the infield portion of the track which is quite twisty. However once on the big Oval where the cars can run flat out for about 1.5 miles it was loosing a lot of distance. The Alfa was stuck behind a BMW Z4 for quite a while. The Z4 would gain about 100-200 yards on it in through the high speed oval but the Alfa would get it all back in the infield section. The BMW driver would not let the Alfa pass and used some off course tactics to make sure to block the Alfa. This tactic involved running over a series of mini speedbumps at high speed. This led to the BMW's suspension falling apart. A front lower suspension arm broke off the BMW causing it to retire from the race. The Alfa ran over those same bumps at high speed with no problems.
The way I see it (and this is not my area of expertise) the rules are heavily weighted in this class to favor the Mazda RX7. The Alfa is only allowed 10:1 compression but required to run 114 octane fuel. The cam allowance is not to generous either. The RX7s folks can do a lot more with thier engines and with a lighter car. The Alfa needs to be allowed 12:1 and really wild cams to keep up. So right now I would not expect this car to take a first place anytime soon, or at least until some rules change. Still it's an awesome car.
As a side note, I was very happy to see a 2.0 Fiat 124 take first place ahead of all the RX7s in one race. It was partially due to RX7 mechanical failures but hey, there were only 4 Italian cars there so it was nice to see a win for our side. The 124 had its own failure and did not finish the weekend. There were also two X1/9s there, both of which were heavily outclassed by everything else on the track.
I should have pics of this on page 4 of my site very soon.
The car only weighs about 2400 pounds empty, has huge slicks, and fender flares. It's running 33mm solid torsion bars, special rear springs and heim joints everywhere. It's a cornering monster.
It finished about middle of the pack which I think is great for a second outing with a stock spec motor. It seemed to clobber all the other cars on the infield portion of the track which is quite twisty. However once on the big Oval where the cars can run flat out for about 1.5 miles it was loosing a lot of distance. The Alfa was stuck behind a BMW Z4 for quite a while. The Z4 would gain about 100-200 yards on it in through the high speed oval but the Alfa would get it all back in the infield section. The BMW driver would not let the Alfa pass and used some off course tactics to make sure to block the Alfa. This tactic involved running over a series of mini speedbumps at high speed. This led to the BMW's suspension falling apart. A front lower suspension arm broke off the BMW causing it to retire from the race. The Alfa ran over those same bumps at high speed with no problems.
The way I see it (and this is not my area of expertise) the rules are heavily weighted in this class to favor the Mazda RX7. The Alfa is only allowed 10:1 compression but required to run 114 octane fuel. The cam allowance is not to generous either. The RX7s folks can do a lot more with thier engines and with a lighter car. The Alfa needs to be allowed 12:1 and really wild cams to keep up. So right now I would not expect this car to take a first place anytime soon, or at least until some rules change. Still it's an awesome car.
As a side note, I was very happy to see a 2.0 Fiat 124 take first place ahead of all the RX7s in one race. It was partially due to RX7 mechanical failures but hey, there were only 4 Italian cars there so it was nice to see a win for our side. The 124 had its own failure and did not finish the weekend. There were also two X1/9s there, both of which were heavily outclassed by everything else on the track.
I should have pics of this on page 4 of my site very soon.