Track car catagories/entrants.

[Guido]

Yeh, 2-3 seconds would be about the diff. There is that road registered silver turbo RX7 that does sub 59's(?) on the Sprint, a Silvia or two similarly, nothing much else. On the Clubman then my old heavy road registered POS would be ~4secs slower than a stripped rotor. Can live with that

And you are doing it with far more rubber, modified control arms and a completely different configuration of motor to what would be allowed in 3J...

[hotgemini]

I work with three guys who at various times have been front runners in Qld IPRA (all in rotaries) and much to their disgust I firmly believe that there is a serious parity issue in imp. prod racing, something needs to be done to bring the rotaries back to the field. I'd suggest an inlet restrictor but even that is not without its drawbacks.

[F|sh]

adam not the im so good the officals don't know the rules regarding night races!!!

were else can a datto 120Y be fast and win races

[Datman]

Hotgem....I think the parity is pretty good. No doubt the RX7's have had a strong run for some time now.

This years winner of the Nationals was a Turbo'd Datsun. Last year was a V8 Falcon, 2003 was a Mazda 808 Wagon & 2002 was an Evo Lancer. Pretty good spread if you ask me.

[TRAV-KE55]

The rotaries have a run on us, its just up to us to keep developing and catch the pricks, simple.

[Guido]

The rotaries have a run on us, its just up to us to keep developing and catch the pricks, simple.

Very true!! They simply have the development advantage.

[Fatboy]

I work with three guys who at various times have been front runners in Qld IPRA (all in rotaries) and much to their disgust I firmly believe that there is a serious parity issue in imp. prod racing, something needs to be done to bring the rotaries back to the field. I'd suggest an inlet restrictor but even that is not without its drawbacks.

It's thoughtless comments like this that make those who have some idea about I.P racing shake our heads...

Mazda runners can't even run a peripheral port engine (unless you go to the smaller 12A engine or run an RX-4) yet a V8 guy can stroke his engine to 6000cc and that's fair enough ??

My bridgeported RX-7 (13B) would be lucky to make any more than 240hp at the wheels with it's current tune. Compare that to some of the V8 runners with over 600hp - it's about making your car stop and handle, not just going fast in a straightline. If people spent more time building a better mousetrap and less time whinging about the rules they'd have a lot more success...

[hotgemini]

To be honest, my actual preference would be to push RX7s into marque sports where imho they've always belonged, naturally this leaves rest of the RX family and the problem is far from solved.

[260BC]

Oh come on FB, rotaries have an inherant weight and weight distribution advantage. Something that a production piston engine will never have no matter how much its developed. Which of course unalterably affects the overall performance of the cars its in. Lets keep it real.

[Datman]

Every car has it's advantages and disadvantages in IPRA, but on this one I agree with Fatboy.

Bottom line is..... if you don't like the rules of a class, don't race in it. If you can accept the rules of the class - then go for it...... but either way, don't bitch about the rules.....they were there before we came along, and they are there to stay. Two things that really piss me off;

1. People who don't race in our category, have no investment in it and no intention to run with us whinging about our rules. (the rules don't affect you so get over it)

2. People who come into our category after selecting their favourite car and expecting the rules to be changed because it doesn't suit their car! (the rules were there first - choose another car if you can't win with the one you have or read the rules again and figure a way around it)

Ideally, and I know Paul will agree, I would love to be running a 600+hp V8 Monster (only difference is mine would be a BA Falcon) but the bottom line is I don't have the budget to build one....so I race a Datsun Sunny, which at it's first race meeting was in the top 15.

IPRA is possibly the biggest category in State level racing - it's not unusual to get 60+ cars entered at a NSW state round making two grids of cars (under and over 2L) We worked out earlier this year that we had a state round the same weekend as a Victorian event - Total number of IPRA cars running that weekend between two states was over 85 cars!

And it's still growing with more new cars due to hit the tack next year, the Tasmanians have regrouped and are rebuilding and the West Australians are getting bigger all the time and are now offically IPRA affiliated..........the category must be doing something right.

Mark.

[Guido]

A 13B with all the trimmings may not be quite as light as you think.

[hotgemini]

Datman: So you're not allowed to complain if A) your car is uncompetitive or B) you don't have a car. So that really only leaves those people with a competitive car left to complain about the rules. I agree its a good class, but eventually if history is anything to go by, it will destroy itself in an out of control cost spiral.

[Fatboy]

Read Mark's post again if you need to, everything he said makes sense ??

I'd build a 600hp LS1 Commodore if i could afford it but i can't so i went for something else that i liked (Mazda rotary) and did my best to make it competitive...

Oh, and I.P is one of the strongest State level classes in Australia - and it's gaining in popularity every year.

Oh come on FB, rotaries have an inherant weight and weight distribution advantage. Something that a production piston engine will never have no matter how much its developed. Which of course unalterably affects the overall performance of the cars its in. Lets keep it real.

Are you serious ?? In case you missed it the last 3 years have seen a rotary, a turbo Datto and a V8 Falcon take out the IPRA Nationals. Are the 2 that aren't rotaries running flux capacitators or something ??

You can build whatever car you want, just don't whinge if you choose something that struggles to be competitive according to whatever rules that particular vehicle has to run to...

[TRAV-KE55]

The reality is a RX7 is a sports car and should never have been allowed in ipra (al la kart datsun 240Z, porshe etc) but as it is the RX7's are there and that isnt going to be changed, the way i see it, it makes up piston boys work and develop harder and makes the victories sweeter. The car i prep for Tony Skinner is a Na piston 4 cyl and we won the vic ipra championship outright last year as well as vic state series and finished 4th at last years nationals (had been in 2nd while it was wet track). Earlier this year we were sitting 2nd in championship before we pulled out of the rest of the season. The only reason why we were in the position is that its a well developed car and good Driver/team. Its not a small effort to win these days regardless what you drive. Long live ipra, im now a paid-up member, & cant wait to hit the track, to me its the best catagory in Aust!!
Sorry for the novel!
Trav

[Datman]

Hotgem..... I didn't say you couldn't complain...I said it pisses me off.

However.....If someones car is uncompetitive - who's fault it is that? Either the person selected the wrong type of car or they haven't spent enough time developing the car. There are a number of rotaries that run midfield too......it's not the rules fault they are there. I've seen a turbo Volvo run very competitively too, and although most would agree it's not the best choice of car - the team read the rules and built the car to take advantage of the rules. End result was a competitive car.

On the point of whinging whilst not even owning a car - my suggestion would be not to buy one either. If someone doesn't like the rules of the category - find a category where you do like the rules.......because the rules aren't changing just to keep that person happy. Also, if that person has no vested interest in the category and no financial committment, what gives them the right to even whinge about the rules?

Perfect example.... Before I started building my current car I looked at Production Sports. There were a number of rules in the class that I didn't like, and couldn't get my head around. I liked IPRA better so went in that direction. It's not rocket science.