Honda cars swept the first 7 spots and 8 of the top 10. Just some bragging rights.

 

the honda engine used in IRL is the best engine in that race class. toyota, and chevy do not even come close to what the honda engines are producing power wise and efficiency. if you look at all the cars and what engines they use it is dominated by honda. who says honda doesn't make a v8, only catch is it runs on methanol and will cost you an arm and a leg.

 

How about a 3 litre V-10 normally aspirated engine, producing 850+ bhp that will run on pump grade fuel?

Honda knows how to make engines...

 

Yeah, Chevy knew it was in trouble when Toyota and Honda joined the IRL. There's no way they were/are going to compete. In NASCAR, they disallow foreign auto manafactures (which I think says a lot) because they know they would get their asses handed to them. Maybe FORD would stand a chance, but GM and Dodge would be in looking from the rear.

 

You're refering to F1 and the BAR-Honda team aren't you? And they're suppose to come out whith another engine upgrade to boost bhp even more, somewhere are 10+ bhp, before the Candadian Grand Prix.

By the way, anyone going to the US Grand Prix at Indy

 

Does anybody really follow Indy car racing anymore? I thought NASCAR has bagged the U.S., and any residual open-wheel interest is with F1 (where Honda's also been doing well).

Also, these guys have been doin' Acura proud in the SCCA: http://www.realtimerl.com/

 

NASCAR??? the only fans of nascar are people who live in the midwest where the mullet is still the popular haid style. any racing that bans foreign car makers is backwards and is admitting to itself that they cannot compete with other automakers. american automakers cannot compete with foreign automakers when it comes to racing.

 

You really can't be serious, can you???

Prior to the CART/IRL split, open-wheel racing in this country was THE racing series of choice. The split and all the bad blood which followed definitely caused open-wheel racing to fall back on its heels and allow another racing series (i.e. NASCAR) to pick up where CART left off, including picking up sponsorship from all sorts of companies.

In my personal opinion, getting into somebody or bumping them from behind to pass isn't true racing. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of new and old NASCAR fans will disagree and they like the looks of the "big one" (wreck) and like all the twisted sheet metal. They like the way Jeff Gordon punts the leader out of the way for a race win.

Me, well I like Buddy Rice catching a tow from the car in front of him and passing cleanly to the inside....or I like the way Steve "The King" Kinser pulls a slide job on the very last lap to take the checkered flag.

As for the "residual" racing fans, well I've been to several IRL venues over the past 5 years or so: Indy, Kentucky Motor Speedway, Richmond, Chicagoland, etc... and I'll say that there are more IRL/CART fans in this country then there are F1 fans. For me, it's hard to love a series like F1 when there isn't an American driver or a large American presence.

Just my $.02.

 

Why is that? Maybe American racers just aren't up to the task.

Here it comes... :ar15:

 

When it comes to world sports, unfortunately Americans do not participate
in any. For us world series is among states and citeis. I dunno why but it is a fact. I think only Olympic and Soccer have americans competing with other world teams.

 

I'm also a big fan of open wheel racing and have been following CART since the split in '96, but have fell out of touch a bit with all the fueding between them and the IRL. The IRL might be the series of the future now that they have the engine manufacturers and the big names. They just need to add some road/street races to their schedule. I've been to 4 CART races at Laguna Seca and a street race in Vancouver. They are just unbelievable! I also caught the first (maybe second) CART race at the Fontana Super Speedway in CA where the pole position speed still holds the record for an auto race (240 mph - and that's AVG!).

F1 would be a great series to watch too if only their were less politics involved and more parity among the teams. If the same driver wins all 5 races to begin a season and his team dominates nearly every race for the past 5 or so seasons, it just ain't fun to watch. But their international venues are awesome, especially the streets of Monaco.

 

What's not to love? F1 has the best cars, the best engines and the best drivers in the world. Period. A top American driver would be good for the sport, but is not necessary. F1 is the pinnacle of motorsports. All motorsports. It's sad that most American's don't even know the difference between F1 and IRL/Cart. I tell people I am going to the USGP at Indy and they ask if I'm going to the 400 mile or the 500 mile race I haven't missed an F1 race (on TV or in person) since 1984. I've been to all of the USGP's at Indy. F1 is the number 2 spectator sport in the world behind Soccer. There are more F1 fans in the world than NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB fans put together. Most american's, for some reason, can't appreciate it. It's ridiculous.

 

Ok, I know I am new here and everything, and I don't want to make any enimies but I think Chevy has a pretty good handle on the whole enigine thing. Granted NASCAR does not use a production GM engine, but let's be honest none of those engines are production engines, they are built by race engine builders and the only thing they have in common with a GM engine is the block. With that said if we are comparing domestic manufactors lets take a look at production performance engines.

Chevy LS1/LS6 - In all Corvettes and V8 Camaro's (untill they were discontinued). Produces over 400 Hp in the top trim level. Along with rediculous amounts of torque.

Dodge Viper V10 - Last power numbers I saw were around the 550+ mark. Again with a whole bunch of torque.

Ford 4.6L V8 - 290 HP 330 ft-lb torque on a NA engine, 415 HP Super charged.

Without getting really into it it took ford a supercharger to even approch the numbers of an LS1/LS6 NA. With Dodge having a V10, it's in its own league.

What I guess Im trying to say is that if you're looking at a performance I really don't think Chevy has anything to be worried about. This is a Domestic comparision, I do not want to get into the whole import v. domestic battle.

 

Dcarlinf1 - I think we've discussed Formula One before and my beliefs have always fell in line with yours.

Note that I said it's "hard to love" and not that I disliked the series. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy watching every Formula One race on Speed as I'm such a race geek I wake up at 5:30 a.m. to catch live broadcasts. I too have never missed an Indy USGP and am always out there at the crack of dawn on Saturday and Sunday. I concur that F1 is the elite of the elite when it comes to motorsports and almost every driver in any other series (IRL, CART, NASCAR, Sprint Cars, etc...) would agree.

For me, personally, I would "love" the series much more and think that more Americans would follow more closely if there would be an American driver...perhaps this Red Bull American Driver Search might produce someone fitting to take an F1 seat in 2005 or 2006.

Hopefully, this June date will bring the attendance up a bit from the previous year; however, it's still holds the highest ticket sales/attendance of all the other F1 races.

 

That's true. Why do they call it the World Series? If they actually held a world series competing against other countries such as Japan, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, etc. it would be pretty tight competition.

 

I DO want to get into the domestic vs. import battle because americans just don't match up to foreigners (mostly asian) when it comes to making engines. The only reason some american engines are so powerful is their DISPLACEMENT. SUPPORT:

Corvette Z6 - " over" 400 horsepower, 0-60 hi 4's, 6.0 liter engine

Even some German companies that have become americanized in engines,
Mercedes S500 - 300 HP, 0-60 low 6's, 5.0 liter engine
Mustang (new) - "290 HP", 0-60 ~6, 4.6 liter engine

EVEN THE ENGINES THAT DON'T HAVE LARGE DISPLACEMENT AND ARE FAST ARE USUALLY NOT NATURALLY ASPIRATED. On the other hand....

INFINITI G35 - 260 HP, 0-60 low 6's (AT) , 3.5 LITER ENGINE
ACURA TL - 270 HP, 0-60 low 6's (I have AT), 3.2 LITER ENGINE

I raced a 4.6 liter new mustang about a month ago getting onto the highway (0-80). I am not sure if he had a manual or auto. 0-30 he was already ahead by around 1 car length, but by 60 I was nose to nose with him and by 80 I was at least a half car length ahead of him. 4.6 vs 3.2....

Bottom line is that Asians make much more efficient engines! If I would have had an ACURA 4.6 TL, it wouldn't have even been a contest as that engine would probably be pushing at least 350 HP and could probably run flat 5's (even with legendary LOW Honda torque). Let's take it to the ultimate level, what if Acura built a 6.0 liter engine for the NSX???
NSX has a 3.5 Liter, 290 HP engine pushing low 5's. With a 6.0 in there, I coudl only imaginea jet on wheels.....

I understand that engine's are not SOLELY what makes a car fast, but they are a major ingredient.....just my take

 

if they included the world in the world series cuba or dominican republic would win.

 

F1 racing is #1 in my mind.

I'm still amazed that NASCAR has spread beyond the bubba's of the southeastern US.

:lol2: That outta get the flame-throwers out and warmed!