V8 COTF Chassis - who has a new one?

[Gaz170]

I was just wondering if anyone knows who will be running a new chassis this year, and who will be using last years?
At this stage now, you would thing most teams would want at least 1 spare.

My Guesses - (could be wrong, please correct me if so)

GRM - 2 new due to change in manufacturer
888 - 1 new for Lowndes, Whincup to use last year's Bathurst car.

I haven't heard about anyone else building new cars, although I imagine HRT will have to build at least 2 due to the team expanding in size and to replace the car totaled at Eastern Creek.

[kittle]

Originally Posted by Gaz170

I was just wondering if anyone knows who will be running a new chassis this year, and who will be using last years?
At this stage now, you would thing most teams would want at least 1 spare.

My Guesses - (could be wrong, please correct me if so)

GRM - 2 new due to change in manufacturer
888 - 1 new for Lowndes, Whincup to use last year's Bathurst car.

I haven't heard about anyone else building new cars, although I imagine HRT will have to build at least 2 due to the team expanding in size and to replace the car totaled at Eastern Creek.

Didn’t HRT buy back or acquire the ex TDR car

Also i read that Nissan was in the process of building there spare car.

I also think FPR were doing the same thing...

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by Gaz170

I was just wondering if anyone knows who will be running a new chassis this year, and who will be using last years?
At this stage now, you would thing most teams would want at least 1 spare.

My Guesses - (could be wrong, please correct me if so)

GRM - 2 new due to change in manufacturer
888 - 1 new for Lowndes, Whincup to use last year's Bathurst car.

I haven't heard about anyone else building new cars, although I imagine HRT will have to build at least 2 due to the team expanding in size and to replace the car totaled at Eastern Creek.

I'm curious how 'new' the GRM chassis' will be. The idea of COTF is that you can use the same rolling chassis with different panels. It's not quite that simple, but SBR/Erebus did adapt a Falcon version for AMG in the early stages.

The major difference they found was accommodating the engine (plus other smaller things like pick-up points etc).

So in theory they could adapt the 2013 cars for 2014.

[Axeman444]

Originally Posted by Gaz170

I imagine HRT will have to build at least 2 due to the team expanding in size and to replace the car totaled at Eastern Creek.

EC? Do you mean PI?

If so, new car was debuted by N. Percat at Sydney, so "sort of" new for 2014

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by kittle

Didn’t HRT buy back or acquire the ex TDR car

That seemed to be the original plan, although it seems it may not have occurred/be necessary, with what is said to be a brand new chassis for Mr Slade, and presumably another for Mr Tander unlocking both a 4th car and a spare for that squad...

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by eduardo1

I'm curious how 'new' the GRM chassis' will be. The idea of COTF is that you can use the same rolling chassis with different panels. It's not quite that simple, but SBR/Erebus did adapt a Falcon version for AMG in the early stages.

The major difference they found was accommodating the engine (plus other smaller things like pick-up points etc).

So in theory they could adapt the 2013 cars for 2014.

What would be fun to see is all 4 GRM COTF chassis in a room at the same time

[Gaz170]

Originally Posted by Axeman444

EC? Do you mean PI?

If so, new car was debuted by N. Percat at Sydney, so "sort of" new for 2014

Ooops sorry, yes my mistake. And I forgot about the car debut at Homebush.

[Umai Naa]

BJR cars were in pieces just recently, receiving a raft of updates.

SBR Falcon is apparently the spare chassis and apparently a ways behind in development, but given the JRR REC shift, theyll have a compelete Mercedes spare.

[kittle]

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

BJR cars were in pieces just recently, receiving a raft of updates.

SBR Falcon is apparently the spare chassis and apparently a ways behind in development, but given the JRR REC shift, theyll have a compelete Mercedes spare.

Erebus also have a new car being built as well...

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Umai Naa

BJR cars were in pieces just recently, receiving a raft of updates.

#8 Team BOC



#14 Lockwood Racing



Naked huh...?

[B!tchie Renault]

From Speedcafe:
http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/01/24/...n-restructure/

WR016 for Slade
WR018 ex. D'Alberto for Percat
WR019 continues with Tander
WR020 debuted by Percat in Sydney will be Courtney's car
WR021 & WR022 under construction as team spares

[fomoco]

Whats the goss on when COFT can creep into develop series, considering in two years time we say goodbye to Commy and Falc ?

We know the cost as teams come and go in the Dev series , will this be a burden again or wil the dev series go like some years back to a small field?

Couldnt they allow a few mods to the last of the cars, pr coft , to extend the life?

No use having a series if the cost will retard the racing.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by fomoco

Whats the goss on when COFT can creep into develop series, considering in two years time we say goodbye to Commy and Falc ?

We know the cost as teams come and go in the Dev series , will this be a burden again or wil the dev series go like some years back to a small field?

Couldnt they allow a few mods to the last of the cars, pr coft , to extend the life?

No use having a series if the cost will retard the racing.

I believe it's for the 2016 season they can come in. Given that the DVS eligibility rules are 1-2 versions behind the V8 series, it won't be a problem for them to run Falcons. Commodores are likely to continue for Holden, they just won't be made in Australia is all.

One point of interest will be whether teams need to upgrade chassis' as often. If - as the theory goes - the chassis themselves are fairly universal - then when it comes time to upgrade from model to model, they can simply slap on new bodywork and keep racing the same chassis. That could seriously damage the re-sale market for V8 series machines.

Of course some will buy new machines regardless, because newer will be fresher and better, but for some of the second-tier DVS teams, they may just life their cars longer.

Probably won't know for another 6-8 years though. And who knows what else will have changed in that time.

[GTRMagic]

The question then might be is if a chassis is logbooked as a Volvo for example, whether the owner was allowed to change to Mercedes bodywork, aero & engine

[Umai Naa]

I'd say they're just log-booked as the chassis number (detirmined by the cage constructor) for this very reason.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

The question then might be is if a chassis is logbooked as a Volvo for example, whether the owner was allowed to change to Mercedes bodywork, aero & engine

It's a good question. I hadn't thought of logbooks.

Although my point was more around upgrading from (for example) a 2015 Commodore to a 2017 using the same chassis and different panels.

I think with the subtle (and in the case of the Merc - not so subtle) differences in chassis between manufacturers that it might be more trouble than it's worth to try and change between manufacturers.

[Jam3s]

Are DJR building up the spare they had or just jigging the old #12 back to glory?

[fomoco]

Originally Posted by Jam3s

Are DJR building up the spare they had or just jigging the old #12 back to glory?

Could be worth it, just haven't got my head around why most teams do not have a couple of spares in case ..................

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by fomoco

Could be worth it, just haven't got my head around why most teams do not have a couple of spares in case ..................

Cost. Given the financial issues most face - they can't afford to have 200-300KK of spare chassis sitting there. Especially as they can't have a spare chassis at the circuit.

In addition - having a spare car also means having an extra set of spares. Because you need the spares handy without having to rip them back off a race car.

Plus they can almost always repair existing cars between rounds (back-to-back flyaways are rare).

They'll always have a spare shell (in various stages of build) at the workshop (or be able to access one) so that if the race car is a write off then they can just build up the new one.

The exception is Triple 8 - they're contractually obligated with both Vodafone and now Red Bull to have a fully-built spare ready to go. This way there is no chance that they will miss a round.

[rik]

Originally Posted by eduardo1

I think with the subtle (and in the case of the Merc - not so subtle) differences in chassis between manufacturers that it might be more trouble than it's worth to try and change between manufacturers.

Wasn't one of the Merc chassis an SBR Falcon originally?

[B!tchie Renault]

Originally Posted by rik

Wasn't one of the Merc chassis an SBR Falcon originally?

It is my understanding that the SBR Falcon Chassis was labelled SBR COTF 22 as the 22nd chassis they have constructed.

In 2013, The chassis were:

Car 4, Holdsworth SBR24-EM02-2012
Car 9, Engel SBR23-EM01-2012
Car 47, Slade SBR25-EM03-2012

With the carry on numbering for SBR, the EM for Erebus Motorsport and the year of construction. Source of information V8 Sleuth.

As for 2014, I do not know who is in what chassis. They are all the same age. Maybe Holdsworth keeps his and Davision takes over the chassis that Engel used.

As for the original FG COTF, maybe it can be updated and converted to a Mercedes and dubbed SBR22-EM00-2012???

It might be leased/sold off to a Dunlop Series team with view of entering it as a wildcard for Sandown/Bathurst in 2014 & 2015 and then used in the Development Series in 2016 when they are eligible. I am sure Matt Stone Racing would have a close eye on it.

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by rik

Wasn't one of the Merc chassis an SBR Falcon originally?

Yes but the modifications required to convert it to a Merc from a Falcon were significant, especially the front-end modifications to accommodate the engine.

It's possible - my point is that the amount of extra work required would mean it's far more cost and time efficient to simply buy a second-hand version of whatever make of car you intend to run.

[B!tchie Renault]

Originally Posted by eduardo1

Yes but the modifications required to convert it to a Merc from a Falcon were significant, especially the front-end modifications to accommodate the engine.

It's possible - my point is that the amount of extra work required would mean it's far more cost and time efficient to simply buy a second-hand version of whatever make of car you intend to run.

I am sorry, but that does not make sense to me. The concept of the COTF is for the chassis to remain the same. Essentially just changing the engine and bodywork and your done.

Anyway it appears I was close with the Erebus chassis for 2014:
http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/01/30/...8-development/

[eduardo1]

Originally Posted by B!tchie Renault

I am sorry, but that does not make sense to me. The concept of the COTF is for the chassis to remain the same. Essentially just changing the engine and bodywork and your done.

Anyway it appears I was close with the Erebus chassis for 2014:
http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/01/30/...8-development/

It's not that simple. Yes, they use a common chassis, but they're race cars, not lego blocks. You can't expect that 5 different engines will have identical layout, dimensions, weight and positioning within the engine bay for example. Hence, the AMG required significant modifications when converting from a Falcon to a Merc, which is part of the reason their drivers' feet got burned at Adelaide.

Except maybe for GRM - nobody else has tried to convert from one manufacturer to another, so there's no other known comparison to make.

Again - my point is that any car CAN be converted to a different manufacturer's, but the effort and cost required means it's not going to be the preferred solution.

[Umai Naa]

As I understand it, packaging is the very reason GRM have opted to build two new Volvo-specific chassis. I would suspect that the existing Holdens will be modified over the course of the season to act as spares.