Are V8 Supercars better than the old ATCC ?

[clutch-monkey]

i liked it when it was all cars that bore a resemblance to the showroom cars - and a variety of them too.
TA22 celica's, torana's, RX-7's, all that.. real manufacturer's race.
probably why i prefer club level stuff now

[charged]

i liked it when it was all cars that bore a resemblance to the showroom cars - and a variety of them too.
TA22 celica's, torana's, RX-7's, all that.. real manufacturer's race.
probably why i prefer club level stuff now

QFT, Im with you clutch much prefer a day at the local championship than the Supercars

[clutch-monkey]

even national stuff, like the aus GT thing with cup cars, f430 challenge, DBRS9 and the like - variety and a challeneg between more than two marques, makes for better racing imo. i find the support races at V8SC more interesting most of the time..

edit: once they resurface and improve facilities at lakeside, and extend eastern ck... would love to see more variety there.

[motorsportnerd]

I'm another "oldie" who prefers the old style ATCC. I'm only 34, and remember going to Pukekohe to watch the Nissan GT-R take on a field of Sierras, Commodores and Schnitzer BMWs for the 1990 Nissan Mobil 500 race that was held there. And, yes, the crowd was large. I remember watching the GT-R disappear into the distance over the first few laps, only to retire (brake problems from memory) and leave the Sierras and BMWs to fight it out. The Brock/Crosby Sierra (yep, Brock in a Ford) eventually won the race.
V8 Supercars have been very popular over the years - and in NZ they have been more popular than the Group A or production car eras were. This is more because NZ drivers such as Greg Murphy or Paul Radisich bring in huge and highly patriotic crowds to cheer them on. With Murphy not so competitive at the moment and Radisich no longer driving full time, I get the feeling that interest in V8 Supercars are waning a little in NZ as well.
A further problem is that the Commodore may have no competition in a few years time, as I wouldn't bet too much money on the Falcon still being around by 2012. Now is certainly the time to be considering a replacement for V8 Supercars.
Personally, I'd prefer some sort of modified production catagory open to all manufacturers, but I suspect some sort of Silhouette Nascar Car of Today style control catagory will take over from V8 Supercars.
In the meantime, thanks to Youtube we can relive the old days. And not just the Group A era. There's also heaps of videos on the of the Group C Touring Car era - look for the ones from the 1983 ATCC, with Johnson's Falcon, Moffat's RX-7 and Brock's Commodore taking each other on.

[f6fhellcat13]

A further problem is that the Commodore may have no competition in a few years time, as I wouldn't bet too much money on the Falcon still being around by 2012. Now is certainly the time to be considering a replacement for V8 Supercars.

I hear ford really wants to drop the v8 cuz of gas prices, but they cannot participate in the series if they dont have a V8 option, though I havent heard that ford is going to axe the falcon completly

[motorsportnerd]

If Ford does drop the V8 from the production car, that won't be a problem. They'll still be able to compete. There's no plans to drop the V8 from the FPV performance variants, and besides the racing V8 is not the same as the production V8. V8 Supercar is hardly a production based catagory any more.
As to the Falcon still being around in 2012. There's no plans to drop it. But lets just say that I wouldn't bet the house on it surviving beyond that time. My feeling is that it is possible that the Falcon name will survive as a badge engineered and Australianised Mondeo or Taurus rather than a separate fully-Australian RWD independent lineup.

[pimento]

I think the plan is for the new one to be a RWD car that's Mondeo sized, hopefully with a view to make it a worldwide platform for Ford. It's the only way that it could be viable in the long term. Certainly as it is I don't give it much of a future.

[f6fhellcat13]

If Ford does drop the V8 from the production car, that won't be a problem. They'll still be able to compete. There's no plans to drop the V8 from the FPV performance variants, and besides the racing V8 is not the same as the production V8. V8 Supercar is hardly a production based catagory any more.

This is what I was refering to

The XR8 has the same features that are found in the XR6 Turbo. The bulging hood and supporting emblems on the side skirts differentiate it from other XR models. The V8 is taken directly out of the previous model FPV GT, with 290kW of power and 520Nm of torque. However, it's slower than the XR6 Turbo despite having a 20kW advantage, and is also less economical and agile through corners due to the heavier front end. Ford almost discontinued[citation needed] the V8, but due[citation needed] to the AVESCO V8 Supercar requirement for a V8 road version of the equivalent race car in order to be part of the series (albeit with different engines), it remains part of the lineup.

[Daz27]

wouldnt be the first time ford has dumped the V8 now would it? Who says history doesnt repeat.

[Ospi]

Current day main game V8's is boring as batshit and you can thank the fact the cars are so close in performance, the drivers are all so close in skill and the fact that you get so many points for finishing say 6th that it is not worth the risk making passes to the front as far as consolidating your championship position goes.

Now go watch the Fujitsu series (work as a data engineer in there btw) and the action is 10x that of the main game. Reasons? They want to win at all costs, because it can mean being noticed, there is a larger skill gap in the drivers and they take it race by race more than looking out for the championship.

[motorsportnerd]

This is what I was refering to

I wouldn't worry. Should Ford drop the V8 from the Falcon lineup, AVESCO will still let them compete. Quick change of the rules would ensue.
Its also the same way that Toyota or any other manufacturer would get into the series. Change the eligibility rules just enough to let them compete.

[fpv_gtho]

I think the plan is for the new one to be a RWD car that's Mondeo sized, hopefully with a view to make it a worldwide platform for Ford. It's the only way that it could be viable in the long term. Certainly as it is I don't give it much of a future.

Problem is Mondeo is already 99% Falcon sized. A year ago the plan for Ford was to merge all their large FWD platforms together and also all their RWD platforms, but theyre now hinting they want all their large family cars on a singular platform full stop. Remains to be seen if its FWD, RWD, AWD or something modular to accomodate all, but Ford Oz is still near the top of the list to get lead engineering role.

[monaroCountry]

The current V8 Supercars is allot better than the old ATCC. The current competition is all about driver and actual racing, TV ratings as well as crowd ratings has also grown by a huge margin since the change, sponsorships has also grown by a huge margin. V8 supercar is allot more stable than the old ATCC especially on terms of teams competing week in and week out.

[SlickHolden]

wouldnt be the first time ford has dumped the V8 now would it? Who says history doesnt repeat.

Lets hope not, Look how long it took to regain lost ground, If they did fully regain it?.

I don't know, Might be hard for traditional Ford people to swallow a V6 as there one and only Flagship weapon..
Considering how much they love V6's.. I have seen a slight turning trend, I haven't been given shit in the past 6-8 months about V6's.

[fpv_gtho]

Ford arent the only ones considering dropping the V8, they just went public with its doubt as theres more clarity over what it'll be replaced with.