Thread: Beginning of the end of V8 Supercars?

Originally Posted by Tote

I guess I was thinking of a complete reboot of the old multi class racing, it would not be easy though and would need to be led by CAMS as the manufacturers aren't going to do it. The whole series would need to be pitched to the media organisation televising it, the manufacturers that would be supplying the cars and would need to run for a couple of years. The biggest issue would be the competing requirements of driver safety vs the racing spectacle that led us to a formulaic standards based series today. There are a few vehicles out there like Nissan 370z, Subaru WRX, the Volvo S60 Polestar, the Mustang, Maybe a Hellcat 300C? (if you could get it to go around a corner)

If this is sounding like a pitch for a reality show maybe that's the way it could be done, the issue in the past with production based racing like the Bathurst 12 hour is that they could never get any traction because v8 supercars had all the coverage and the money. One of the best parts of the Group C era was the "innovation " that individual teams came up with to get an edge. Using formula based cars eliminates this, I know a lot of people who think it should be all about the drivers but I'm not one of them.

Regards,
Tote

I can see what you're saying, but it would be almost impossible to get it to work, IMHO.
Take the S60 Volvo for example, GRM did a brilliant job promoting Volvo, won races with it, lifted the profile of Volvo markedly,...but Volvo didn't like it, so pulled out. Hellcat 300C, or even the Challenger Hellcat,..yep,...spectacular wheel spinning road cars (American Muscle,..Love it!), but I can't see them being converted to a racecar, nor much interest in them, or any factory involvement, in view of the very small numbers of those cars sold in Aus.
Even in the U.S. where they sell squillions of cars, they don't have big time races for road cars.
In Germany, I think they have DTM where the likes of AMG & BMW etc race each other, but those cars are even further removed from road cars than Supercars, and the cost??!!!...Doesn't bear thinking about.
G.B. did/does have a British Touring Car Championship, I don't know what sort of cars they run now, last time I saw it they were running 2L FWD stuff like Focus, Honda etc,...not a patch on our Supercars IMHO.
Actually, Roger Penske said there's nothing like what we do anywhere else, He thought what we do here is as good as anything He's seen anywhere recently.
So yes, I definitely know what you're saying, but I can't see how it could be made to work, I also believe that Aussies definitely like their V8s, which raises another issue,..how long will V8 continue? I believe the best thing that could happen is that GM build Camaro in RHD (which IMHO they will have to do to compete with Mustang), then we could at least have a GM V8 Vs a Ford V8, which I think would work OK.
As far as the TTV6 engine is concerned, I think Nissan are quite interested in that as they have a range of appropriate engines that could be made to work. But their involvement with the Altima certainly didn't generate any sales! Like I said, I think any car raced has to have some sort of performance image (which the Altima hasn't) for a sales benefit.
I reckon that if I was responsible for Supercars, I'd have nightmares worrying about how I'd keep it going. I could waffle on for ever, but I have no idea what sort of mix is needed to attract a successful combination of manufacturer, sponsor, spectator, media/TV support.
Pickles.

Originally Posted by shanegtr

I only mentioned the GT3 and the street versions because you always hear people complaining that supercars have nothing in common with a car you can buy for the road - where as GT3 you can (if you got the $$$ that is)

Oh, I got it, Shane. And I agree. We can't all be Jim Richards. The Supercars are worse though. Their budgets are in the millions. I laugh when I hear some bloke in a lunch room bragging that the Holdens won on the weekend. At least the Porsche you see is actually a Porsche.

Said it before, I'm a dinosaur on this topic. I want the days when you COULD go and buy a GTHO or an XU1 or A9X or E38. I know they are gone forever, but I miss them.