stuttgart46

I think they were really trying to keep price down and prevent wheel to wheel interlock that causes so many accidients. I'm not a fan but with this economy cheaper chasis will be inviting for some smaller teams to head back into the mix. If I understand the rules correctly, if Penske or any other team fabricates an aero package that works than all of the teams will be able to purchase the aero package for $70K or less.

Charles A. Toupin

The nose of the car is much better looking than the current though. Although I agree that it's not a cool looking car... But if they develop aero packages, then it might end up not too bad...

c.

Cory M

It says the teams are only allowed to purchase 2 aero kits per car per year. Basically a single road race set-up and a single oval set-up. So it's not really going to be as innovative and diverse as it's claiming to be. It sounds like once you've made your decision you are stuck with it, you can't switch mid-season if you've already bought your 2 kit allotment. I doubt teams have the freedom to make their own aero tweaks to the kits they purchase. It doesn't specify if teams will be able to use bodywork from previous years in addition to the 2 they buy per year, but if they can that could put new teams at a disadvantage.


Seriously, why would any of these automotive and aero manufacturers (except maybe lotus) want to dick around with something like this. Lots of rules, subject to committee approval, requires comprehensive analysis, labor intensive to manufacture, very limited and finicky market, and the profit would be minimal (for these companies). GE would make more money by designing a better toaster than messing around with this. The only way it would make any sense would be as a publicity stunt, but I don't think the IRL has enough fans to justify it. The manufacturers he should be talking to are companies like Lola, Swift, Riley, Pratt and Miller, Crawford, Oreca, Dome, etc.

dp35

OK, I agree that they've come up with an innovative way to allow development and potentially different looking cars, at a (hopefully) reasonable cost. I say "hopefully" reasonable cost, because developing new aero bits can be expensive, and despite a cap on purchase prices, there's no cap on how much teams like Penske can spend on development.

What I don't understand is how development of bodywork can be considered "open", if the teams are only allowed to use 2 sets per year. It sounds like once 2 sets have been used (1 oval, 1 road course), the car can't change until the following year.

It seems like the big teams will simply hide their designs until the last minute. At that point the small teams would have had to purchase the available bodywork, and thus won't be allowed to force the big team to sell them theirs. In this scenario the big team won't be forced to supply anyone else their parts until a year later, at which time they reveal new & improved parts at the last minute again, remaining one step ahead. What am I missing?

Larry Herman

Or just put a set of rules together and let these companies build cars as the market dictates. Gee, has that been done before?

Bryan Watts

I'm pretty sure the comment targeted at auto manufacturers is for powerplant development and not aero development. I suspect most of the aero development will be done in-house by the big teams or in partnership with some of the aero companies. The big teams will absorb the development costs and the small teams will reap the rewards of being able to buy the results at an affordable price.

Bryan Watts

Parts must be approved...at that point, I'm sure they are made available to all teams. I doubt the rules will allow a team to hold onto their designs and "hide" them when the entire point of formula is to allow any team to purchase any aero setup.

ZAPmobile

One very ugly car. It will not help in getting more interest in the series.

Cory M

What a great idea! Why hasn't anyone thought of that??

CCA

But that is not how the politics of a panel works. The panel decides before any outside input exist on what direction they want to take. Then they tell the vendors this is what we are looking for, and with those constraints this is the kind of crap they come up with. The panel then picks the best from the lot of crap, and praises it's self for the good work. It then goes about trying to sell their "wise and open" decision to the parties that will be involved & the public. They can ignore the true fan base because the panel has already decided that they need to sell to the "potential" fan-base they believe exist. However, they usually look to the wrong demographics to become their fans. And so it is now; the panel has decided what you should like.

chris walrod

I thought Swift had the best approach, but then again, I am a bit biased

srf506

I'd like to see the CFD on that thing. The shape of those side pods looks to me like coolers and such will be pretty rear-biased. What's the weight distribution going to be like? Bueaty's in the eye of the beholder, but looks like something from a 50's or 60's sci-fi movie, or "car of the future" article.

ltc

Now it just needs a hideously ugly IRL Pace Car....a car that Jeremy Clarkson would say is ugly even when compared to a genital wart....

The Panamera

RSA333

The IRL is virtually a "spec" series, with Ganassi and Penske dominant. I don't see why this is better than F1, where innovation rules.

944CS

I thought that swift's designs were the most attractive and would have helped attract new viewers to the series. That thing is going to scare people away, I don't care if the cars won't look like that in the actual races, most people won't educate themselves enough to know that.