Dave, et al As you know, but maybe others don't, you can buy a used 494 Rave and convert it easily. All you have to do is change the cylinders, sometimes the heads, and sometimes the discs. All of these things are relatively inexpensive and you'd might want to do those things anyway with a junkyard engine that could use a freshening up :-).
Also, on another subject being discussed here lately, i.e. MC engines and shocks, Lou asked about how F500 manufacturers felt about the subject. Lou, I can give you some general information from two of them, QRE and Sidewinder. Jeff at Sidewinder says the MC engine issue is a dead end for them since those engines will not fit within their chassis and they are not interested in developing a new chassis. If that becomes the norm, they will leave F5 and concentrate on their DSR projects. So they will not produce any cars with that configuration. Mike at QRE says that any movement toward MC engines/shocks will only increase the cost of our vehicles much higher then what we have now. This is not the first time he has said that. He will not invest in following along those lines. He simply does not have the money nor the inclination to develop such a configuration or feel that we should be screwing with the philosophy of the class that has served us well over the years. Both feel that MC engines and shocks are not the answer if we are to keep this class relatively inexpensive for those who can't afford F1000s. We already have classes for MC engined cars, we don't need another. There are people on this list and on the eformulacars forum that have an agenda and have had that for a long time. They claim that we need to get new blood in order for the class to survive and that reasoning is being used to push their ideas for the classes salvation. We even have people posting opinions on just about everything we discuss here and some we don't care about :-) that have never turned a wheel in an F5 on a race track, a Solo course, or even are SCCA members. I find this amusing that these Pied Pipers are among us and so many people are willing to follow blindly down the "chosen path" without the knowledge of who is saying what needs to be done to "our" class. The F5 folks need to get out and race if they really want to have this class stay a national class. But what I'm hearing privately is, this is not such a big thing in the minds of many. So, F5 becomes a regional only class, so what?. Less expense, more local camaraderie, and more cars at regional/divisional races. Only a relative handful of the F5 group need or want to go to Topeka every year. There are far more F5 racers that just don't care about that and are happy with what F5 is now; a low cost formula car they can race that isn't built specifically to run only at Heartland Park. By making the class more expensive and changing the original philosophy of this class, and surely that will happen no matter what the proponents of MC engines and shocks suggest, the folks that don't go to Topeka due to the financial burden it imposes, will be forced to go MC/shocks and they will, most assuredly, probably just choose to go away. As a Soloist, I really don't have a big dog in this fight. "My" program is doing just fine, thank you. "We" will adjust to any changes the CRB makes in the GCR and decide what to do with F5 cars that are MC powered or now have shocks. So, some of you reading this can take what I have just said with the proverbial grain of salt. It's just another opinion among many. But, I caution you that it is not just my opinion and reflects the real concerns of quite a few, including QRE. And, they are not real happy campers with the direction some of us are espousing :-). Art -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dave Phaneuf Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 9:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [F500] From the April Fastrack Oh I understood the wording, it's just the tone of it. They're trying to make it sound like the only engine anybody could ever cheat with was a 494 rave. That's just stupid, if people are inclined to cheat they can do it with whatever engine they happen to be running. With a little care none of it would show without a teardown and detailed inspection. The idea of being able to look at the outside of the engine and know it's legal .....when pigs fly and hell freezes. 494 raves won't solve any engine problems long term ( NOTHING will and no amount of online wailing will either ) but they would certainly about triple or quadruple the existing supply. Dave Phaneuf ________________________________ FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500 The Official Publication of Junior Formula Car Racing Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003 _________________________________ _______________________________________________ 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! ***
