Thread: Ford to quit V8 Supercars at end of 2015

Originally Posted by Pickles2

The Nissan that you refer to was the most complex saloon car ever raced in Australia. It was unbeatable, and remember it was "hobbled".
If that car had continued to be developed, modern day V8 Supercars would not keep up with it either.
Gibson Motorsport did a mighty job with those cars, they were the fastest of their type in the world.
Pickles.

And this is why they had the nickname "Godzilla".

And Baz, the car wasn't banned. They outlawed turbo's.

Originally Posted by d2dave

And this is why they had the nickname "Godzilla".

And Baz, the car wasn't banned. They outlawed turbo's.

Same thing, just an excuse to get rid of them.

Get real guys, you think Penske would set up a new team and Ambrose would sign up for one year then pack up again?

Originally Posted by Pickles2

The Nissan that you refer to was the most complex saloon car ever raced in Australia. It was unbeatable, and remember it was "hobbled".
If that car had continued to be developed, modern day V8 Supercars would not keep up with it either.
Gibson Motorsport did a mighty job with those cars, they were the fastest of their type in the world.
Pickles.

I agree, but it should not have been racing in the class it was. They were developed to be unbeatable and in a different class. There are those saying that Ford Holden fans were having a sook, but to be fair it has to be a level playing field. These cars when they were brought in cost over $1 million each without spares, the average V8 was around $250.000 with spares back then. Of course the Nissan was going to win. Being AWD it should not have been allowed to run in this category and then there was the matter of Nissan putting large $ into its development. Great car yes, but a bit like putting the current crop up against a McLaren or Zonda. Also they did not even comply with the rules relating to cars sales. None of these cars were ever sold as road cars in Australia or anything even close. A couple of friends bout the top of the wuzza Skylines at the time and they were a rather different car that absolutely got flogged by the HSV at the time.
Then there was a bathurst race that they were given the win after crashing out. I have watched that race over and over again and the race was under yellow flag when they crashed, so should have been disqualified from winning. It was not under red as the officials stated. But does go to show they were not invincible.
Now if they had raced the actual road going version that was available for sale at the time they would not have been even remotely competitive. Just like the Sierras, you could not buy a Cosworth version even remotely close to the car being raced. A friend imported one from the UK where you could allegedly buy the Coswrth. It was an absolute bucket and got it arse kicked badly by a standard V8 Commodore.

I wonder if this would help make them more competitive?

Frosty: We need a technical director

Originally Posted by CraigE

I agree, but it should not have been racing in the class it was. They were developed to be unbeatable and in a different class. There are those saying that Ford Holden fans were having a sook, but to be fair it has to be a level playing field. These cars when they were brought in cost over $1 million each without spares, the average V8 was around $250.000 with spares back then. Of course the Nissan was going to win. Being AWD it should not have been allowed to run in this category and then there was the matter of Nissan putting large $ into its development. Great car yes, but a bit like putting the current crop up against a McLaren or Zonda. Also they did not even comply with the rules relating to cars sales. None of these cars were ever sold as road cars in Australia or anything even close. A couple of friends bout the top of the wuzza Skylines at the time and they were a rather different car that absolutely got flogged by the HSV at the time.
Then there was a bathurst race that they were given the win after crashing out. I have watched that race over and over again and the race was under yellow flag when they crashed, so should have been disqualified from winning. It was not under red as the officials stated. But does go to show they were not invincible.
Now if they had raced the actual road going version that was available for sale at the time they would not have been even remotely competitive. Just like the Sierras, you could not buy a Cosworth version even remotely close to the car being raced. A friend imported one from the UK where you could allegedly buy the Coswrth. It was an absolute bucket and got it arse kicked badly by a standard V8 Commodore.

The sooking started around 1983/4, then really started balling their eyes out in 1987, first year Holden never won a race or round of the champs.

Baz.

V8 supercars lost it's way when it allowed both the GTR and Cossi to race when they weren't production cars and weren't sold here,it lost it's way further when it went to V8's which accounts for a fraction of the buying market,further still to were we are now with cars that are a chassis with hung panels made to look like which ever brand is supporting you,fans aren't dumb and look at super cars as a farce which is why the fan support is getting lower each year and having races as high lights on TV or shown in the middle of the night just adds to the general feeling of not bothering.There is plenty of ways to fix super cars but it'll never happen because one team will always whinge that another teams got better tyres or better motor or better what ever,it'll continue to die a slow death. Pat

Roger Penske confirms Ford’s V8 exit | Auto Action