Chuck you are absolutely right about the British hill climb cars. What you are forgetting however is that those super light cars cost %50K to build & are CARBOV fiber everything. F500 is a very low cost entry level class & who can afford to or will want to spend that kind of $$ for a F500 car.
Thanks ... Jay Novak -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chuck Voboril Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 12:07 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [F500] RE: Min weight blues There are British hillclimb and sprint(hillclimb on a level track) cars being built with 97" long WB and 255 HP MC motors that only weigh about 550# w/out driver. A kaw motor is about 100 pounds lighter than the bike motors going in those cars. Add 18 pounds for a primary and secondary clutch and that's still 80 pounds lighter. No coil springs and heavy 'ol shock absorbers either :-> I would be extremely embarassed if I could not modifiy or build a new Kaw powered car to 700# complete with fire system and 5 gal fuel cell. There were 250 Zinks built and most had to run considerable ballast(30+ lbs.) to road race with lightweight drivers in the 150 pound category to meet 700#. Those old cars did not have the advantage of present day lightweight CNC'd billlet uprights ,hubs, or hollow steel rear axles, either. Bulding a lightweight car is about the most technically non-challenging thing one could ever do. If you haven't got the skill or you weigh 300 pounds, then stick with a 494 or 493. As to high compression Kaws, I know the guys that built and road raced motors like that. The AMW's still kicked their rumps like they were tied to a tree when they came on the scene. As to Solo, in my personal opinion, the current min Kaw weight probably will not change. Chuck Voboril ______________________________________________________________ From: "Jay Novak" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [email protected] To: <[email protected]> Subject: RE: [F500] 440 vs 494 Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:58:26 -0400 >I agree that it will be very difficult to do a 700 Lb Kawasaki powered car. >It could be done with a 150 to 170 lb driver but still not easy. I think >the 494 or the 493 will be very tough to beat because they have a very wide >powerband & a ton more torque than the Kawasaki. > >My 1st 80" wheelbase car weighed 715 with me in it & I weighed about 165 at >the time with no real effort at trying to make the car light, just a super >simple car. > >If I do design a new car & I am thinking about it, the target weight will be >550 lbs without driver & fuel. I know this is very do-able with a lot of >design integration. A couple of my older cars were right there so I know it >can be done. > >Way to much on my plate right now but maybe next year. > > >Thanks ... Jay Novak > > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Richard >Schmidt >Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 9:24 PM >To: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [F500] 440 vs 494 > >This is great news, but (you just knew there would be a but), I still don't >think it will even the playing field in road racing. > >First of all, it is not that easy to lose 50 lbs. Just ask anyone on a diet >! All of the cars out there are designed to weigh 750 with a reasonable >weight driver. I don't see how you can get a car down to the 700 lb mark >and not reduce the structural integrity. When I first raced my F500 with the >Kawasaki, I had to add ballast. That all changed with the change over to >four link suspension and the added bodywork to get the aero working. > >I am not the familiar with the new chassis, but I suspect they are all being >designed for the 493 engine and thus would not be able to get down to the >700 lb min. > >Just one more small change, allow increasing the compression ratio to about >9:1 on the Kawasaki. This would be so easy, just mill some metal off the >head, reshape the dome, and presto, a 90 HP Kawasaki ! > >Ofcourse some clever chassis designer, Jay are you listing ?, could build a >new chassis just for the Kawasaki using all the improvements learned over >the years, but apply it to a car designed for a engine from yesteryear. > >Richard > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Stan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[email protected]> >Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:13 PM >Subject: Re: [F500] 440 vs 494 > > > > Effective May 1st, Kawi's can run at 700 lbs for even more fun! > > > > > > Stan > > > > >_______________________________________________ >F500 mailing list - [email protected] >To unsubscribe or change options please visit: >http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 >*** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** >_______________________________________________ >F500 mailing list - [email protected] >To unsubscribe or change options please visit: >http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 >*** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! ***
