Dan ex S4 owner

N00b alert:

I'm reading a book on racing and the author mentions, at times, many different kinds of race cars and I find that it some cases, I don't know what he means, like Grand Touring vs Grand Prix vs Prototype, or in others, I have an idea, but I don't know what the difference is between classes like, say, Formula 1 vs Formula 3 vs Formula Ford vs Formula Atlantic, etc. For that matter, even though I would recognize a Formula race car if I saw one, I don't know exactly what makes a Formula race car - is it just any open wheel racer?

Any suggestions?

Liam in Montreal

google

Dan ex S4 owner

...to give a decent overview. You get all kinds of sites that have titles like: "Types of Race Cars" and then when you look, it's only different kinds of dragsters or something like that. I'm hoping for a primer.

John/TSR

Don't know if I've ever seen a comprehensive guide to various race car classes, so I'll just write a brief and inaccurate one. If somebody doesn't like my definitions, they can go pound it in sideways, or write something better themselves.

The first thing to remember is that things change, and that terms are thrown around interchangeably, even though they shouldn't be. Got that ?

Formula cars don't have fenders, and only have one seat. Typically, they can range from itty-bitty little Formula Vees (1200cc air cooled VW motors) to stinking big CART/Champ Cars & Formula One cars. The "formula" used to refer to an obscure set of rules that defined the chassis & engine dimensions, but the designation may (or may not) have had anything to do with any recognizable feature or measurement (kinda just like 12 Meter yachts...which aren't really 12 meters long). When somebody says "Grand Prix" race car, they are generally referring to a current Formula One car. The term "Formula One" didn't come into vogue until the late 60's. Prior to that, the top level of international open wheel (well...mostly open wheel...but some closed wheel stuff competed too) was known as "Grand Prix". Still with me ?

A general 'formula' guide, with a North American bias:

Formula One - Currently, non turbo-charged cars. Mega $$$. Incredible umbrella girls on the grid prior to the races. Electronic doo-dads galore...drivers just stand on the gas and steer.
Formula 3000 - a smaller 'support class' for international racing. Chassis similar to 1-2 generation-old F-One cars, using a 3 litre production-based motor.
CART / Champ Cars (formerly "Indy Cars", before Tony George tried to take over the world) - alcohol burning turbo-charged monsters. Probably as much HP as a F-One car, but heavier...and the driver actually has to shift it.
IRL cars - Tony George's practical joke on the racing world. We've yet to see the humor in it.
Formula Atlantic - Mostly North American class - 1.6 Cosworth or (currently) 1.6 Toyota motor in a carbon fibre chassis. Runs in US club racing, and in a pro series that supports CART at some venues. Might be small, but it ain't cheap.
Formula Mazda - Spec chassis & engine class, using Mazda rotary motors.
Formula Continental (in pro series, known as Formula Ford 2000) - 2 litre Ford block, non-carbon fibre chassis. Currently, the most popular of the 'wings & slicks' classes of amateur club racing.
Formula Ford - 1600cc Ford Kent blocks in a 'non-wing', non-carbon fibre chassis. Very competitive stuff...it's where all the great Formula One drivers earned their stars in the 60's, 70's & 80's.
Formula Vee - aforementioned 1200cc VW motor with VW Beetle front and rear suspension. Still an ultra-competitive class. True whack-jobs drive FVee's...

What the hell are "Sports Racers" then ?

Take a "formula" car and put fenders on it. Think "Audi R8". Think Grand-Am SR1 & SR2. No roof, generally no second seat. Again, the sports racer world can run from thudding big Panoz & Audi LMP (LeMans Prototype) cars to smaller displacement C & D Sports racers (think "Formula Atlantic with fenders"), "Sports 2000" (actually a Formula Continental with fenders) and Spec Racer Fords (tube framed, single seat 1.9 liter battle-wagons).

Prototype ?

When you said "prototype" in the 60's thru the 90's, you usually meant a closed cockpit, rear engined race car that was not based on anything ever build for the road. Sometimes they had just one seat, sometimes two...but you wouldn't want to ride in that "second" seat. In some cases, it was just a cleverly disguised Formula One car with a roof (see Jaguar's GTP cars for proof). These days, cars like the Audi's R8 and the Panoz ALMS cars are considered "prototypes", so the term has evolved. The highpoint of "prototype" racing was, IMO, IMSA's GTP class in the 80's and early 90's. Big fields of factory supported cars, all with cutting-edge technology.

GT ?

Generally, a car that looks something like a production-based car, even though the underpinnings may have been replaced by a tube chassis, and maybe had a MONDO engine transplant. The current Corvette, Porsche GT2-3, Trans-Am cars, etc. all probably fall into this category. Some call this "silhouette" racing, as the cars only need to have a the outside "shape" of the original production car.

Touring ?

Touring classes are generally based on an actual production chassis and engine combination, tweaked with some performance parts.

Does this help ?

Dan ex S4 owner

Wow, yeah, that helps! Between you and KJ (via IM) I have a much better idea of what's going on.

Krisko

I wanted to axe this as well.

Krisko

very nice, I'll link to this if somebody asks the question in the future.