NGTC - Big white elephant??

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by CarsCarsCars

What are the chances of the suspension etc being updated over the winter to make them less "wollowy"? Or is it too difficult/expensive to make it a requirement?

Could they release an optional update?

Changing the design/build of the common parts is a bit of a problem. TOCA don't have the budget to just give teams new parts for free, and if they force the teams to update it's adding more expense to what was supposed to be a cost controlled formula. Making it an optional update just widens the gap between the haves and have-nots, which again is partly what the new regs were suppose to avoid.

[Thorney]

If you look back 18 months or so I'd say the title was pretty apt, major issues, quality control and cost were all out of kilter with the very concept of NGTC, however at this point I'd say that the concept and the execution thereof was 85-90% there now.

The bottom line with these cars is that whatever you think you know about car and chassis set up (tin tops this is) you may as well throw out of the window, the usual rules simply do not apply, to learn this this takes time and then even more time (and money) to refine it.

With our limited budget we decided to learn the car and its set up out of racing whereas Honda did nearly 2 seasons testing before even racing the cars (which lets face it is the right way of doing it) and MG had the dough but not the time so they've had to develop in season, as we all do to some extent.

NGTC cars have a sweet spot in terms of handling and this sweet spot is pretty damn narrow, a little way outside of its optimum and the car drops off a performance cliff, this is more pronounced in the wet. I wont go into the details as to how we fix these things but they are all fixable subject to fine tuning, time and money, as well of course driver input as every driver wants a different car in terms of handling. Yes, they roll more but look at the way the cars have developed with time, initially we were all wearing away splitters due to roll, this has now dropped significantly as we get used to the chassis and how to make it work.

NGTC is the way forward and whilst the journey has been difficult I do believe that it will stand the test of time. If you wanted to build an S2000 car from scratch (and be competitive) then you're looking at £400k plus running costs at the same level. The first NGTC car you build wont be much cheaper but once the first is done they can be built for a little over £200k and run for a season for £150-200k with a bit of luck. Telephone numbers but as a comparison thats a big drop.

We plan to lease cars to other teams, the initial build costs are so high, coupled with a development budget to get the car on pace put the self build costs out of reach for most but leasing a car with full support and data will allow smaller teams who can raise running budgets but not build budgets as well into the BTCC.

Is it a white elephant? No. Could it have been? Yes but fortunately that time has passed.

[gregc]

Really interesting comments there John, thanks. It's nice to get a view from the inside. And I have to say, seeing this:

NGTC is the way forward and whilst the journey has been difficult I do believe that it will stand the test of time.

Is it a white elephant? No. Could it have been? Yes but fortunately that time has passed.

coming from someone who's had possibly the most difficult NGTC journey is very encouraging.