Actually, Tony only needs to see some interest in the 493 from this group. If he had about 5 requests for a 493, even if those requests were not for immediate delivery, he'd place the minimum order of 10 engines with Rotax and put the unneeded engines on the shelf for future delivery. He said that last year and I don't think he has changed his business plan.
Tony wants to work with us on the 493 and do everything necessary to supply the need, but because of SCCA racing's additional 50# tagged to the engine, there just doesn't seem to be the interest. And, quite frankly, I can't blame the members not wanting to add 50# without the extra performance to offset that increased weight. A new 493 is no better then a good 494. All the testing, including the testing QRE has done, has proven that fact to us and that is why we are still running the 494 for as long as we can. Kinda short sighted I'll admit, but like everybody else, we don't race to be an "also ran" and until SCCA removes that 50#, we will continue to run 494s until there are no blocks left to put in a car. >From a manufacturer's viewpoint, when we build a new car we want to put a new engine in it. The customer should and does expect that. What's the availability of new engines? Can Q look a customer square in the eye and tell him he can put a 493 in the chassis but not to worry, that extra weight doesn't mean a thing? Not on your life! Sure we could wait out SCCA for 10 years or so until there just isn't any good 494 or 440 parts around (440 parts are already like hen's teeth), then everybody would have to go to the 493 and add the weight. Does anyone reading this want to wait that long for things to even out? By that time, the 493 will probably be history too :-):-(. >From what I'm reading in the last few days, some people are already having trouble finding those good, solid, and legal 494 blocks. Maybe people will start writing to the CRB in numbers so that SCCA gets the clear message. Then again, maybe not :-(. As many have said on this forum, it is just crazy to weigh more then your competitors without any additional engine performance and the CRB is hurting the future growth of this class with this foolishness. With all the stuff that our members have asked the CRB to do to the class recently, the removal of the 50# penalty for the 493 should have been the priority if we were really interested in maintaining and increasing our class. Making 440s more competitive is fine, but the Kawis and the 494s are the past, not the future. And, if we really are interested in growth, you're not going to find it in a junkyard! Art -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of McAbee, Chuck Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 5:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [F500] rotax engine Tony Murphy (661) 944-1624 is the Rotax aftermarket distributor for the US and has all the parts necessary to maintain the Rotax 493 and 494 engines. While SCCA may not like the sound of our engines....they do like the green of our money. The 494 engine has not been produced for production snowmobiles since about 1998. The 493 is currently being produced, however, Tony Murphy has to purchase a minimum of 10 engines from Rotax at a time; therefore Tony needs to have nearly 10 solid orders in order to minimize his financial risk in buying 10 engines at time. Sourcing parts for race cars....any race car, is not a matter of going down to NAPA and taking the parts down off the rack. Chuck McAbee SEDIV #16 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 10:27 To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [F500] rotax engine dan I also have been looking for an engine and having a hard time finding an engine 494.... who is selling these..... who is selling cylinders... why does f500 always get the dreags of the barrel and everything is hard to find and out dated.... wheels engines... parts...does the scca not like us??????? I thought it was that I was not in snowmobile country... __________________________________________________________________ Switch to Netscape Internet Service. As low as $9.95 a month -- Sign up today at http://isp.netscape.com/register Netscape. Just the Net You Need. New! Netscape Toolbar for Internet Explorer Search from anywhere on the Web and block those annoying pop-ups. Download now at http://channels.netscape.com/ns/search/install.jsp _______________________________________________ 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! *** ----------------------------------------- This email transmission and any accompanying attachments may contain CSX privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the intended addressee. 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