Juggernaut
Oct 03, 2006, 5:41 AM
So here is the rule - you have to post 5 greatest racing cars in your opinion and with specs preferably ...but doesn't matter if you can't find them. It would also be great if you left remarks on your particular choice. You can include dragsters, rally cars, Baja 1000 off-road vehicles, Dakar Rally cars and even Monster Trucks..LOL
So here is me chipping in first.
1) Porsche 917/30 - Too bad GT40, Eat your heart out R8. There is absolutely no other car in protoype sports car racing that can match the aura of the 917. Why?? Well for starters its a Porsche. It was the car that was engineered by the brilliant mind of subsequent VW Boss Ferdinand Piech. This is the car that triggered the horsepower wars in global motorsports and brought many new aerodynamic innovations to the table.And ohh yess it did that inconquential thing of winning a certain 24 hour race in the French countryside multiple times.
And 917 variations don't get better than the 917/30 CanAm. It is simply the most powerful car ever to have competed in circuit road racing. Rumoured to produce anything upto 1500bhp in qualifying trim and atleast 1100bhp during the races.This is the car that averaged
221.160mph with Mark Donohue at Talladega and hit 245+mph in the straights.
SteveFX once pointed out this startling fact
Mark Donohue said he could have gone faster, but he would have blacked out. Sustained vertical G's were only 4+; but 'Dega was very rough back then, so peak G's went through the roof
Respect
Porsche 917/30 Can Am
(1973)
Engine :
Capacity :
Bore / Stroke :
Compression ratio :
Maximum power :
Maximum torque :
Brakes :
Wheels :
Tyres :
Dimensons :
Wheelbase :
Track :
Turning circle :
Unladen weight :
Fuel tank capacity :
Fuel Consumption :
Maximum speed :
Acceleration :
Flat 12 turbocharged (max boost 1.5 bar)
5,374cc
90mm / 70.4mm
6.5:1
1,100bhp @ 8,000rpm (upto 1500bhp in qualifying)
1,098 Nm @ 6,400rpm
Cross drilled and ventilated discs with drilled aluminium hubs.Porsche aluminium four-piston calipers
Front - 12" x 15" Rear - 19" x 15" cast magnesium alloy wheels with centre nut and air-extractor cones (hub-caps !)
Goodyear
Length - 4,562mm
Width - 2,085mm
Height - 730mm
2,500mm
1,670mm (front) 1,564mm (rear)
13m
845kg (33/67 front/rear split)
400 Litres
85 Litres/100Km (or 3.4 miles per gallon)
238mph
0-60 mph : 2.1 seconds 0-100mph : 3.9 secs 0-200mph : 13.4mph
http://www.race-cars.com/utility/photos/porsche/917-30.jpg
2) Audi Quattro S1/S2 Group B Rallying
The famed Audi Quattro from Group B era. These cars pushed out 600+bhp !!! The cars used to weigh in between 900 and 100kg.The driver's reaction time was cut in half during the Group B era.
To give you an idea of the kind of performance GroupB cars were capable of I'll mention that in the 1986 season Henri Toivonen (http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/pilots_history.html#peToivonen) made two laps around the Estoril circuit, during a stage of the Portuguese rally, the fastest of which, in 1 minute and 18,1 seconds, would have qualified him in the sixth position of the F1 Grand Prix that same season. Ayrton Senna had the Pole Position in the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix in 1 minute and 16,7 seconds...Toivonen was using the Lancia Delta S4 and was accompanied by his usual co-driver Sergio Cresto
http://www.fastdrive.org/car-gallery/albums/userpics/ima/normal_audi_s4.jpg
3) 1994 Penske PC-23: Its perhaps the most controversial car in the history of American open wheel racing. This car stretched the Indy rulebooks to the limits or more precisely its Mercedes Benz engine did. I will be posting more info in a detailed manner in an hour or so.
The CART PPG IndyCar Championship once gave an advantage in engine displacement to engines based on stock production engines, as distinct from out-and-out racing engines designed from scratch.One factor in identifying production from racing engines was the use of pushrods, rather than the overhead cams used on most modern racing engines.Roger Penske used this loophole to convince Mercedes Benz to
invest in a secret project.The regs allowed the production based Buick turbo V6 pushrod engine to compete and Penske had his new engine built around those specs.The result was a 209cid pushrod turbo V8 engine built by Ilmor Engineering( The company which used to build Mercedes Benz race engines and these days is wholly owned by Mercedes and renamed Mercedes-Benz Ilmor) which pumped out at least 800bhp@ 9800rpm. Naturally Al Unser Jr. won the race in the Penske PC-23 powered by these Mercedes Benz engines. Mercedes Benz was rumoured to have invested $15 Million with Ilmor to build these engines
Power: 820bhp (official) unofficial power rating was anything between 950bhp to 1050bhp
http://www.wheelsarchives.freeserve.co.uk/page-10/06-02-99.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/PenskePC23.jpg
4) McLaren Porsche Formula 1 cars from 1984 to 1986: Porsche in Formula 1 during the turbo era!!! Can it get any better than this!! Well the engines were officially badged as TAG Turbo engines. Why?? Because Porsche didn't pay any cent for the development costs. Monsour Ojjeh sponsoed the $5 million cost of the entire engine program.
The cars were not as powerful as the Williams-Hondas but still churned out mind-numbing figures.
900bhp in race and about 1100bhp in qualifying in '85 and '86 compared to 1000-1100bhp in race for Honda and 1200-1300bhp in qualifying.
http://www.motorsportcollector.com/0906IMAGES/TAGEngine/TAG3.jpeg
http://www.awirz.ch/220ap.jpg
5) Porsche 962: Well it's a Porsche from the Group C era.It had to be on my list. The 962 was the long wheelbase IMSA version of the 956 Le Mans cars. A 2,869-litre two-valve unit with just one turbo charger proved to be the best permissable engine option. In this specification the minimum weight was 850 kilograms. Gearbox and clutch as well as suspension could be taken from the 956, though springs and dampers were adjusted to the new vehicle. The capacity of the fuel tank was increased to 120 litres.For competition in the World Endurance Championship and in Le Mans Porsche prepared a version with a 2.65-litre engine, two turbo-chargers and a water-cooled cylinder head.
Engine: Six-cylinder horizontally opposed engine, air-cooled, overhead camshaft on each cylinder bank, dry sump lubrication Power: 680 bhp (500 kW) at 8.200 rpm Displacement: 2.869 cc Fuel system: Fully electronic fuel injection, two turbochargers, intercooler, 120-litre safety fuel tank Transmission: Five-speed transmission, rigid drive-through plus additional lubrication with oil filter and radiator Chassis: Aluminium monocoque, riveted, with integrated roll cage, seven-piece GRP Kevlar integrated aluminium shell, hydraulic dual-circuit disc brakes with internally vented, cross-drilled brake discs
Front axle: double wishbone with titanium springs and Bilstein shock absorbers fitted externally
Rear axle: double wishbone with titanium springs and Bilstein shock absorbers fitted internally Dimensions and weight: Wheelbase 2.770 mm
length 4.770 mm
width 1.990 mm
weight 850 kg Performance: Approx. 350 km/h (217.5 mph)
http://www.porsche.com/filestore.aspx/1024x768.jpg?pool=germany&type=galleryimage&id=philosophy-historicalgallery-wallpaper4&lang=none&filetype=1024x768
http://www.infoscourse.org/images/Oldies/1985/03_Porsche_962C_Rothmans.jpg
So here is me chipping in first.
1) Porsche 917/30 - Too bad GT40, Eat your heart out R8. There is absolutely no other car in protoype sports car racing that can match the aura of the 917. Why?? Well for starters its a Porsche. It was the car that was engineered by the brilliant mind of subsequent VW Boss Ferdinand Piech. This is the car that triggered the horsepower wars in global motorsports and brought many new aerodynamic innovations to the table.And ohh yess it did that inconquential thing of winning a certain 24 hour race in the French countryside multiple times.
And 917 variations don't get better than the 917/30 CanAm. It is simply the most powerful car ever to have competed in circuit road racing. Rumoured to produce anything upto 1500bhp in qualifying trim and atleast 1100bhp during the races.This is the car that averaged
221.160mph with Mark Donohue at Talladega and hit 245+mph in the straights.
SteveFX once pointed out this startling fact
Mark Donohue said he could have gone faster, but he would have blacked out. Sustained vertical G's were only 4+; but 'Dega was very rough back then, so peak G's went through the roof
Respect
Porsche 917/30 Can Am
(1973)
Engine :
Capacity :
Bore / Stroke :
Compression ratio :
Maximum power :
Maximum torque :
Brakes :
Wheels :
Tyres :
Dimensons :
Wheelbase :
Track :
Turning circle :
Unladen weight :
Fuel tank capacity :
Fuel Consumption :
Maximum speed :
Acceleration :
Flat 12 turbocharged (max boost 1.5 bar)
5,374cc
90mm / 70.4mm
6.5:1
1,100bhp @ 8,000rpm (upto 1500bhp in qualifying)
1,098 Nm @ 6,400rpm
Cross drilled and ventilated discs with drilled aluminium hubs.Porsche aluminium four-piston calipers
Front - 12" x 15" Rear - 19" x 15" cast magnesium alloy wheels with centre nut and air-extractor cones (hub-caps !)
Goodyear
Length - 4,562mm
Width - 2,085mm
Height - 730mm
2,500mm
1,670mm (front) 1,564mm (rear)
13m
845kg (33/67 front/rear split)
400 Litres
85 Litres/100Km (or 3.4 miles per gallon)
238mph
0-60 mph : 2.1 seconds 0-100mph : 3.9 secs 0-200mph : 13.4mph
http://www.race-cars.com/utility/photos/porsche/917-30.jpg
2) Audi Quattro S1/S2 Group B Rallying
The famed Audi Quattro from Group B era. These cars pushed out 600+bhp !!! The cars used to weigh in between 900 and 100kg.The driver's reaction time was cut in half during the Group B era.
To give you an idea of the kind of performance GroupB cars were capable of I'll mention that in the 1986 season Henri Toivonen (http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/pilots_history.html#peToivonen) made two laps around the Estoril circuit, during a stage of the Portuguese rally, the fastest of which, in 1 minute and 18,1 seconds, would have qualified him in the sixth position of the F1 Grand Prix that same season. Ayrton Senna had the Pole Position in the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix in 1 minute and 16,7 seconds...Toivonen was using the Lancia Delta S4 and was accompanied by his usual co-driver Sergio Cresto
http://www.fastdrive.org/car-gallery/albums/userpics/ima/normal_audi_s4.jpg
3) 1994 Penske PC-23: Its perhaps the most controversial car in the history of American open wheel racing. This car stretched the Indy rulebooks to the limits or more precisely its Mercedes Benz engine did. I will be posting more info in a detailed manner in an hour or so.
The CART PPG IndyCar Championship once gave an advantage in engine displacement to engines based on stock production engines, as distinct from out-and-out racing engines designed from scratch.One factor in identifying production from racing engines was the use of pushrods, rather than the overhead cams used on most modern racing engines.Roger Penske used this loophole to convince Mercedes Benz to
invest in a secret project.The regs allowed the production based Buick turbo V6 pushrod engine to compete and Penske had his new engine built around those specs.The result was a 209cid pushrod turbo V8 engine built by Ilmor Engineering( The company which used to build Mercedes Benz race engines and these days is wholly owned by Mercedes and renamed Mercedes-Benz Ilmor) which pumped out at least 800bhp@ 9800rpm. Naturally Al Unser Jr. won the race in the Penske PC-23 powered by these Mercedes Benz engines. Mercedes Benz was rumoured to have invested $15 Million with Ilmor to build these engines
Power: 820bhp (official) unofficial power rating was anything between 950bhp to 1050bhp
http://www.wheelsarchives.freeserve.co.uk/page-10/06-02-99.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/PenskePC23.jpg
4) McLaren Porsche Formula 1 cars from 1984 to 1986: Porsche in Formula 1 during the turbo era!!! Can it get any better than this!! Well the engines were officially badged as TAG Turbo engines. Why?? Because Porsche didn't pay any cent for the development costs. Monsour Ojjeh sponsoed the $5 million cost of the entire engine program.
The cars were not as powerful as the Williams-Hondas but still churned out mind-numbing figures.
900bhp in race and about 1100bhp in qualifying in '85 and '86 compared to 1000-1100bhp in race for Honda and 1200-1300bhp in qualifying.
http://www.motorsportcollector.com/0906IMAGES/TAGEngine/TAG3.jpeg
http://www.awirz.ch/220ap.jpg
5) Porsche 962: Well it's a Porsche from the Group C era.It had to be on my list. The 962 was the long wheelbase IMSA version of the 956 Le Mans cars. A 2,869-litre two-valve unit with just one turbo charger proved to be the best permissable engine option. In this specification the minimum weight was 850 kilograms. Gearbox and clutch as well as suspension could be taken from the 956, though springs and dampers were adjusted to the new vehicle. The capacity of the fuel tank was increased to 120 litres.For competition in the World Endurance Championship and in Le Mans Porsche prepared a version with a 2.65-litre engine, two turbo-chargers and a water-cooled cylinder head.
Engine: Six-cylinder horizontally opposed engine, air-cooled, overhead camshaft on each cylinder bank, dry sump lubrication Power: 680 bhp (500 kW) at 8.200 rpm Displacement: 2.869 cc Fuel system: Fully electronic fuel injection, two turbochargers, intercooler, 120-litre safety fuel tank Transmission: Five-speed transmission, rigid drive-through plus additional lubrication with oil filter and radiator Chassis: Aluminium monocoque, riveted, with integrated roll cage, seven-piece GRP Kevlar integrated aluminium shell, hydraulic dual-circuit disc brakes with internally vented, cross-drilled brake discs
Front axle: double wishbone with titanium springs and Bilstein shock absorbers fitted externally
Rear axle: double wishbone with titanium springs and Bilstein shock absorbers fitted internally Dimensions and weight: Wheelbase 2.770 mm
length 4.770 mm
width 1.990 mm
weight 850 kg Performance: Approx. 350 km/h (217.5 mph)
http://www.porsche.com/filestore.aspx/1024x768.jpg?pool=germany&type=galleryimage&id=philosophy-historicalgallery-wallpaper4&lang=none&filetype=1024x768
http://www.infoscourse.org/images/Oldies/1985/03_Porsche_962C_Rothmans.jpg