Would you like to see Honda return to Champcars?

[mabs_nsx]

I am a huge Honda fan so my answer is yes.

[mac]

I don't know.

I do not have anything against Honda and as far as I'm concerned they are certainly welcome back.

But I would like turbos to stay.

[enemy-ace]

eventually, yes! Right now? NO!

[Uesque]

Only if costs could somehow be contained. They seem to bring exponentially escalating expenses wherever they go.

[macdaddy]

I voted "No".

- Too early. ChampCar is still in its infancy.
- Too expensive. We've seen many times what could happen.
- Will create "haves" and "have-nots".
- Gotta stick with the turbos.

[racefanatic]

No thanks. We are fine without them. And I think they will be fine without a return to Champ Car.

And we HAVE to keep the turbos!!

[2112]

No.
It`s not the time for that. I would not be against it in the future though.

[racinthestreets]

What if they only sold their engine same price as the Cosworth Ford and did not sponsor teams like they do in F1 and IRL? CCWS can restrict the amount of money that a Honda or Ford are allowed to "rent" a team. If Honda and Ford had the same set of rules regarding development, sponsorship it would help create the environment that is allowing the series to grow - that is to have "haves" and no "have nots". The rest is sponsors, team chemistry and driver talent. Just thinking out loud, but not too hard to tax my limited capacity.

[Jordi]

Where's the "I don't know" option?

[brightline]

I vote no because the cosworth package has been so good for competition, cost-cutting and reliability.

The only way I would let Honda back would be if they agreed to along with Ford to both badge the same Cosworth engine. That would be the ultimate engine parity.

If you hate that idea, then maybe allow honda back, but all hondas engines are drawn from a hat to the honda teams by Champ Car. That way you don't get a semi-factory team like AGR in the IRL.

[BootsOntheSide]

Originally Posted by macdaddy

I voted "No".

- Too early. ChampCar is still in its infancy.
- Too expensive. We've seen many times what could happen.
- Will create "haves" and "have-nots".
- Gotta stick with the turbos.

This is how I see it. Ensuring any kind pf parity would be very difficult, other than having some of teams badged as Honda - but what if Honda throw more money to those teams, as a very cheap way of making uninformed viewers think their engines are superior?

[Snrub]

As long as the situation is heavily regulated. Something along the lines of Grand Am's regulated engines with sponsorship rules as well would work.

[mueber]

I voted "yes." But that yes is qualified. If honda can accept that all they get for being a supplier is a thank you, and costs can be contained, then I say "yes." If not, I say "no."

[The Snout]

Way too early to vote either yes or no until any conditions under which they would be proposed to return are made clear.

[rustyfan]

Honda would probably not be very interested in bringing a turbo-engine considering the engine they would like to use is the one they designed in preparation for what they believed would be the new IndyCar specs (before the announcement was made that the IndyCar series would stick to its current configuration).

So as far as I can tell Champ Car would either need to drop the turbos or come up with a set of rules that allows both engine-types, and I don't think either alternative is a very realistic one.

[carsten66]

If Honda is interested to take part under the same regulations - why not?! Honda has a big tradition in racing and Champ Car could add one more well-known brand to his list (wellcome back...).

[BootsOntheSide]

Turbo Ford engines against normally-aspirated Hondas (presumably with no Push-To-Pass) could be interesting, but they need to be stopped form putting too much money into the whole thing.

[BSchneiderFan]

I understand the cost implications, but I would dearly love to see Champ Cars back to a multi-chassis, multi-engine format.

[StickShift]

a Honda vs. Ford competition would bring money, sponsorship, better teams, and better drivers. It might even force reunification. It's a no brainer.

It's a good sign that the head honcho of all of Ford Racing was at the meeting IMO.

[Amar7605]

I agree with rustyfan. Since Honda has already designed its IRL-spec engine, it's doubtful that they would want to switch to turbos.

So, unless Champ Car changes its engine formula for '07 I highly doubt that Honda will join Champ Car.

If Honda does enter Champ Car, then yes costs should be restricted so that there isn't parity and there aren't factory teams. But Honda won't like that because factory teams are how R&D gets developed.

In the end, I don't know. It would be a good thing initially, but there is potential for danger.

[2112]

Although I don`t know the source, in another forum apparently Robert Clarke says this.

"The Cosworth name doesn't have the kind of exposure we feel we really need. You would have the might of Honda competing against a racing engine company which would unfortunately create a no-win situation. If you win, you should have won, and if you lose, you look really bad. So the competition we need is true manufacturer competition."

If that`s what they want, they have no choice but sports cars in the short term.

[Amar7605]

If this is the case, then the only way Honda would enter Champ Cars is if another major manufacturer or manufacturers enter the series.

[Tenoch]

I said no cause, Ive only been watching since 2002 and so far I think that the best year has been 2003 with the threeway battle for the championship and still competitive reynards. The series does not need Honda back.

[paul-collins]

Originally Posted by 2112

If that`s what they want, they have no choice but sports cars in the short term.

In the short term?

[Snrub]

Originally Posted by Amar7605

I agree with rustyfan. Since Honda has already designed its IRL-spec engine, it's doubtful that they would want to switch to turbos.

If Honda does enter Champ Car, then yes costs should be restricted so that there isn't parity and there aren't factory teams. But Honda won't like that because factory teams are how R&D gets developed.

As for the first point, Honda also has a 2.65L turbo engine design sitting around collecting dust. It's the same thing either way. I didn't realize that Ford was represented at the meetings as well. Perhaps if Honda was insistant that they wanted the new design to be used, Ford might be willing to put money into a new design to compete with Honda.

As for the second point, I don't think "factory teams" need to be outlawed but the rate at which improvements can be made needs to be regulated. Perhaps that means once per season or a couple of times per year. Then they can say that each team may not have more than $X contributed towards their budget from an engine manufacturer. If you had this kind of situation all the teams useing a particular type of engine would likely have the same spec.