The original FG V8 supercar.
Saturday Sleuthing: The Original FG Falcon V8 Supercar
Printable View
The original FG V8 supercar.
Saturday Sleuthing: The Original FG Falcon V8 Supercar
Boring code of racing, filled with Primal bogun supporters...
Falsely identified vehicles that contain nothing of the street versions, and often not even parts manufactured by suppliers to the brand name builders.
Its tedious, repetitive and outdated in its current form...
V8 Super Taxis... Crap cars in a crap competition :cool:
And yes, owned and driven both, and..
Was a Scrutineer for CAMs so ive been in, over, under these things...
Met the drivers, crew chiefs, mechanics, team owners...
Was a fun and interesting race format pre the current form...
Most enjoyable form of racing was the Production Car class which was (still is?) running back then - cars you could essentially buy on Monday..
Now, all I want is to hear that Volvo kick arse! :cool:
Holden and Ford built poor quality vehicles to a sub standard of their overseas counterparts for decades - lacking features available overseas standard for less...
Poor panel gaps, rattles bloody everywhere... sub standard paint and rust proofing....
As an example - Finally as they exit manufacturing in AUS, GMH has built a world class vehicle...
We all knew it was coming
Official: Ford out of V8 Supercars!
Well, I'd pretty much disagree with all of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tombie
I've been involved in motor racing too, & I've seen the ups & downs in various classes over thee years. I can remember around 90/91 in the Group A era when there were ony NINE cars on the grid for the Sandown 500,...Holden did not run, because their VN Group A could not compete!
It's certainly not outdated, & if you listen to some of the drivers that come here to compete in the Endurance rounds, they all say, that it's an absolute ripper formula, & they love driving the cars. If you watched Bathurst this year, you would've heard that repeatedly.
Future of the sport. Well, owing to the terrible state of industry in Australia, there is a massive shortage of dollars for sponsorship, so many teams are doing it tough,..some may even do it tougher next year,...money is super tight.
And that is a major problem as I see it,...sponsorship,....and it ain't got nothing to do with V8 Supercars, money is simply tight. Not only in Aus,.....2 F1 Teams have recently gone into liquidation.
Interesting times ahead.
Pickles.
Let's face it, if the Taxi makers had a market for their vehicles (obviously they weren't selling in volume to sustain the facilities) then more people would likely have supported the brands that the code promoted.
But they didn't - they built cars the market wasn't buying for 10-15 years, at prices in part due to fleecing the Aus public and partly due to workers being paid exorbitant wages to work a production line.
These have driven the brands offshore, and not building what the majority public want drove sales through the floor.
Most die hard fans don't have the current or even previous models by these makers (economic reality at the moment) and 'support' the brand but not at a level (sales) that supports the businesses.
Whyalla is a prime example.
Lots of old Commodores adored by their owners, a few GTS HSVs for those middle aged boy racers with good salaries... And a large number of small vehicles. I30 and I35s are prolific. And then... All the mid-high range earners drive Euros A3,A5, X3,X5, A7, Amarok, Merc..
The off-roaders; D4s, RRS, Evoque (several), and the South Africans seem to love the Jeeps...
Interestingly most watch Bathurst, but little other.
Pickles - appreciate your feedback..
Can I ask, which bits do you *agree* with..
It's common knowledge our vehicles have been poorly optioned, overpriced for local market and poorly finished right up until recent times - the VF is the level of vehicle they should have been making in 2000.
Then you have 2 vehicles and neither runs the engine available to market in them (not power but engine itself)
Up until recently you (again) couldn't buy a Ford V8..
Yes, sponsorship makes these things - not sure where that will go...
Pre current format,Group A Ford Sierra,Not sold in Australia, Nissan GTR,road version completely different to the race version, Ford Mustang,Not sold in Australia, Stupid rules that resulted in either a Sierra or Nissan winning. How was that more interesting?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tombie
well it was more interesting to me. I stopped watching when they banned the other makes.Quote:
Originally Posted by disco man
No worries at all. But I'm pretty much with you on this post.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tombie
I know what you're saying about the quality of our cars etc, & also that the VF is what they should've been making years ago.
I think one needs to remember that there are more brands & models of vehicles sold here than anywhere else in the world,...everything is sold here, so there's huge competition.
But look, to be honest, for the size & performance of a Commodore/Falcon, they're not such a bad car. The V8s go pretty hard, & there's plenty on the road that've done big ks & still are going well.
The last "good" car I owned was an AMG C63, & sure, it was a great car, but it cost a bloody fortune, I could've bought a Commodore that went nearly as hard for a third of the price. Before that we had a VZ GTO 6L,..a magnificent car, beautifully built, top quality,..it had fewer rattles than the C63?.....but they weren't overly popular.....Nothing at all wrong with the quality of that car.
Now, the "popular" cars that we have today. There's HEAPS of them aren't there?...But how many of them could be raced with their original powertrain?....None,...well they could I suppose, but they'd be terribly slow, so they'd have to be modified,....just like our V8s, they wouldn't bear much resemblance to the road car,.....and they wouldn't be as spectacular as a big V8.....that's what the O.S. drivers like about these cars,...big/powerful/not much rubber/very exciting to drive,...and watch.
I suppose one of the things that doesn't happen in V8 Supercars is that there's not a great deal of overtaking,..and that is because the cars are so close. But is that a bad thing, at least ya don't have someone winning by 6 laps like Brock did at Bathurst in '79.
But really, I just like the V8s, they're big, powerful & clumsy, but I enjoy watching them. Not only that, I appreciate the skill & personality of the drivers, the interaction, and sometimes the agro, between them.
However, I'm not saying that I didn't like production car racing, because I did, but with the difference between "production" cars at the moment, there'd have to be heaps of mods/restrictions on the cars to make them "even", ....I mean, what cars would race and how would they compete?
I'm not saying V8 Supercars is "Heaven Sent" or perfect etc, but I reckon it's about the best that can be done,.....I still believe most fans like V8s,...at the moment. In the future, with no V8s being sold,....I don't know.
Sponsorship is the BIG worry, & that is a BIG BIG worry. Whilst I do like the V8s, there must be HUGE financial pressure on most teams at the moment.
The Penske/Ambrose thing has been a big shot in the arm for the brand, just what it needed. On this aspect, I have a serious question for you,....I don't know the answer. Why do you think Penske got involved with V8 Supercars?
Pickles.
To get his hands on the tech knowledge and perhaps even some of the people.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pickles2
I'm sure he didn't do it because of DJ's magnetic personality and business acumen ::)