Chuck, I didn't say you couldn't build a Kawasaki powered car for a 180 lb driver that would come in around the 700lb mark. I said that it will be hard to get the old existing cars down to that weight. The whole idea was to bring out the old Kawasaki powered cars and make them competitive in road racing again. Not going to happen !
As Jay said, with 130lb driver, you might get down to the 700lb mark, but unless your are going to hire a highschool teenager to drive your car, it will be very difficult indeed. I have not doubt that a chassis can be made that will do the job at the weight required for the Kawasaki, but as Jay said, it may still not be competitive because of the lower torque. I also looked at the possibility of overboring to get to 500CC, but it just doesn't look practical. Kawasaki built and raced snowmobile engines with four port cylinders and twin plug heads and were quite successful. It is possible to get power out the engine, just not is stock form. I don't have any issues with the CRB lowering the minimum weight. It's a nice jester. Richard ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Voboril" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 12:06 AM 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! ***
