I remember a Road & Track article that compared a NASCAR Stock Car (I believe it was either Junior Johnson's team or Harry Hyde's) to a Porsche 962 (Al Holbert's).

Guess which one accelerated faster, braked better and had a higher top speed?

The Road & Track folks were stunned because they did the article as half a joke.

 

wow, the comment i made was supposed to be a joke - it was the topic over dinner with a friend who was really into NASCAR, and he started announcing F1 in thick southern accent, and i emulated NASCAR (yes, i do watch NASCAR occassionally) announcers with my version of the English accent, hence my thread.

take it easy guys.

 

So, Schu never won with Benetton?

Benetton was a good team. One of the few that got to win. This is exactly my point though. Dance around my question one more time please... what do you think would happen if MS jumped to Arrows? How many years has it been since they've won a race... oh wait, they've never won a race. With such a small number of teams, you'd think that over 17 races a year, there would be some chance of each team winning, after all that is what racing is about. I love F1, but lately the race is for who will finish 2nd through 6th. NASCAR on the other hand, is usually not so clear cut.

Does this mean that my Camaro should not be given the same amount of credibility as your S2000 as a sports car?

Yes, that's exactly what it means.

OK, call it a wagon if that makes you feel better. If you want credibility when it's parked in the parking lot or while getting gas, you can have it then. I take it you are also one of those people that thinks they just deserve respect, rather than earn it? When it comes to performance on a track, that's when I'll take over. Whatever label you want to put on it, muscle car, sports car, performance car, piece of shit, I don't care... it'll walk all over most everything else on the street. That's the credibility I want.


What is the definition of a sports car anyway? Would you consider a ZO6 a sports car?

Main Entry: sports car
Function: noun
Date: 1928
: a low small usually 2-passenger automobile designed for quick response, easy maneuverability, and high-speed driving



Funny. Kind of funny that this definition is from 1928 as well. Hey, with sticking to this type of logic, a sports car should produce what... like 75 hp or something? Guess the S2000 does qualify as a sports car after all. IT'S A JOKE!!!!



I'd consider the Z06 closer to being a "sports-car" than a Camaro, but no true purist can see a heavy car like the Corvette as being a true sports-car, not like a Lotus Elise. These cars descend from ground-pounding torque, not finesse. Sports-car's are light, do you consider 3,600 lbs light? The Corvette has very impressive everything, but I still think it muscles it's way around and that in itself deletes it from being a purists sports car (IMHO).



I guess we're just on different pages then. I suggest you move to London, buy a leather helmet and some driving goggles, wrap a white linen scarf around your neck and meet up with some other purists driving around in MGs and 1928 solid rubber tired sports cars.

Not sure what car you are talking about either... a ZO6 weighs in at something like 3100 lbs, I'm assuming that the extra 300 lbs over your S2000 throws your "what is a sports car calculator" all outta whack. I guess what you want is the technical definition of a sports car, I guess what I want is whatever gets me around the track the fastest.


D.W. is one of the best race announcers around because he has so much emotion and so much insight. Yes he talks like a good 'ole boy, but that adds character in my opinion. Fox has done a great job with the coverage trying to make it more user friendly, sometimes they dumb it down too much for me, then again sometimes I learn some of the most basic things about racing. BTW, the new F1 announcer on Speed Channel is TERRIBLE. Rick or Dick, something like that. I love F1 but he butchered that broadcast in my opinion.


A race is not it's announcer, you must be thinking football.

Sorry, guess I really got off on a tangent from our tangent. I added that part because it actually pertained to the title of this thread. I can see how you got confused though.

Your reference to the 9,000 rpm redline was funny, don't even compare in ANY way the engineers for the big 3 in NASCAR to Honda, big mistake.

Now have we switched this argument from F1 vs. NASCAR to Honda vs. NASCAR? If so, my only suggestion is to read up before we get started on this one. Do a little research because there is no "big 3" of NASCAR. There are 4 different body styles, one type of motor (with a couple different engine builders), and several teams that all do their own R&D aside from some wind tunnel work with factory engineers (who are there primarily to make sure the car maintains somewhat of a factory look). I wish people like you would take Honda off the alter too, I can't believe how badly some people are so blinded. The way you phrased that last sentence makes me think that we should see if we can get Honda to work on the cure for cancer over the weekend so we can finally scratch that big one off the "To Do" list. Oh well, I'd better get back to work.

If you mean that we shouldn't ever compare the big three auto manufacturers in the U.S. to Honda... which is the largest (in this application I feel "largest" is synonymous with "most successful") in the world. General friggin' Motors. Kinda sucks doesn't it? Now that Bob Lutz is at the helm, watch out. We should see some pretty cool cars out of GM.


Chris

 

nascar and prestige don't even belong in the same sentence.......nascar is a joke!! i would rather watch horses loop around a track

 

I didn't want to get drawn into this argument, but I must refute one thing:
IROC is the biggest joke in motor sports...come on, even you know this Bieg unless you are showing a true bias. The series is essentially NASCAR in disguise and it's motive is to give the fans more exposure over the weekend to it's drivers. Possibly in the '70s, the motivation for a true International Race of Champions was real, but now it's just a show.
Also, Eddie Cheever?
Eddie was a sub-par F1 driver who is in love with ovals. If you've listened to him comment on any racing, you can tell he is very bitter at his lack of success in F1 and that everything else 'must' be better since he can compete there.
I shall refrain from the rest of the NASCAR vs F1 argument as I live in the Land-O-NASCAR and my neighbors might turn me in to the Thought Police (You will like NASCAR, You will like NASCAR...zombie drone...You will like NASCAR)
....
Actually, I'll brave the scorn by giving one 'opinion'...yes; it's just an opinion and not one of those shady opinions dressed up nice to look like a 'fact'
I think NASCAR would receive more respect if there were less yellow flags and pace laps. There was an early reference to a Schumacher 30sec lead not being a race, but a demonstration of speed. Maybe, but when ever a yellow is thrown to bunch the field in NASCAR/CART/IRL, you create an artificial situation which isn't really a racing either. The pace car is an abused feature in NASCAR...in my opinion

 

Chris, your name says it all...go to a V8 Camaro board and harp, I've wasted enough time with you. You will always see things your way, I will always see them mine, we are different...period.



Andrew

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bieg
[B]Eddie Cheever was a Formula-1 driver as well as CART and an IRL Driver (Currently).

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Cheetah
[B]
Actually, I'll brave the scorn by giving one 'opinion'...yes; it's just an opinion and not one of those shady opinions dressed up nice to look like a 'fact'
I think NASCAR would receive more respect if there were less yellow flags and pace laps. There was an early reference to a Schumacher 30sec lead not being a race, but a demonstration of speed. Maybe, but when ever a yellow is thrown to bunch the field in NASCAR/CART/IRL, you create an artificial situation which isn't really a racing either. The pace car is an abused feature in NASCAR...in my opinion

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ElTianti
[B]

Jeff Gordon has been offered several F1 tests.

 

I'd be more impressed if they turned right every-so-often.

"Hey! Look! He's turning left! He's going straight. Oooh! He's turning left again!" repeat, repeat, repeat.

NASCAR is like baseball to me. It's fun to watch in person. Boring as hell on TV.