Is it worth it
- Thread starter DanielD
- Start date
Dan,
According to Ken Saunders' site (GT40 Enthusiasts),
about 46%/54% F/R w/out fuel & driver.
(920 lbs / 1080 lbs)
http://www.gt40club.clara.net/netintro.htm#Specs
Ian
According to Ken Saunders' site (GT40 Enthusiasts),
about 46%/54% F/R w/out fuel & driver.
(920 lbs / 1080 lbs)
http://www.gt40club.clara.net/netintro.htm#Specs
Ian
G
Guest
Guest
MN12,
Thanks! Appreciate the tip!
TT
Thanks! Appreciate the tip!
TT
Concerning the weight distribution issue. Don't think that 50/50 is optimal when you start adding high power to the equation. In order to get traction coming off corners you neeed a slight rear bias.
Look at most of the mid engine car designs they will have more rear weight and larger rear tires.
Don't think the weight distribution in an F1 car is 50/50.
As Al Borland would say "I don't think so Tim."
Look at most of the mid engine car designs they will have more rear weight and larger rear tires.
Don't think the weight distribution in an F1 car is 50/50.
As Al Borland would say "I don't think so Tim."
Robert Logan
Defunct Manufactuer - Old RF Company
Weight distribution :
F1 have a 47 / 53 split front / rear as close as I can get ( they would have to kill me if they told me !!!!! ).
The weight distribution we use at RF is as close as we can get to this and usually only waries by 1%.
Other factors MUST be taken into account with weight and the transfer or loading of the front under severe breaking is critical. This unloads the rear and can cause it to float and even the rear breaks to lock.
I supose what I am getting at is that the car in general and our GT40's in particular are a serirs of parts / systems that must operate as a whole. The majority of us arenot aware of the ramifications to other systems because of changing one system. I am not trying to put owners off from "fiddling" with their cars but it takes a very good driver to feel the slight changes that occur and to understand that they have been caused by the change made.
I am extremely lucky at RF in that I have a guy called Ross Holder as my design engineer and test driver. Ross has over 12 years experience with one of the top V8 touring car teams in this country as their top engineer. We also use the latest GPS and data logging to help moniter and it would be remiss of me not to thank Richard Bendell and all the staff at MoTeC for all their help in this area. The MoTeC systems we use are FIRST class and are recognised world wide as the best (now fitted as OE to the new Porsche).
I always wanted to build a safe and well engineered GT40 and it is because of the people that work for me that I can be happy of what we have accomplished.
Good luck with the tweeks, I hope you get them right and more importantly I hope you understand what you have done and how it effected ALL systems.
Best wishes,
Robert
F1 have a 47 / 53 split front / rear as close as I can get ( they would have to kill me if they told me !!!!! ).
The weight distribution we use at RF is as close as we can get to this and usually only waries by 1%.
Other factors MUST be taken into account with weight and the transfer or loading of the front under severe breaking is critical. This unloads the rear and can cause it to float and even the rear breaks to lock.
I supose what I am getting at is that the car in general and our GT40's in particular are a serirs of parts / systems that must operate as a whole. The majority of us arenot aware of the ramifications to other systems because of changing one system. I am not trying to put owners off from "fiddling" with their cars but it takes a very good driver to feel the slight changes that occur and to understand that they have been caused by the change made.
I am extremely lucky at RF in that I have a guy called Ross Holder as my design engineer and test driver. Ross has over 12 years experience with one of the top V8 touring car teams in this country as their top engineer. We also use the latest GPS and data logging to help moniter and it would be remiss of me not to thank Richard Bendell and all the staff at MoTeC for all their help in this area. The MoTeC systems we use are FIRST class and are recognised world wide as the best (now fitted as OE to the new Porsche).
I always wanted to build a safe and well engineered GT40 and it is because of the people that work for me that I can be happy of what we have accomplished.
Good luck with the tweeks, I hope you get them right and more importantly I hope you understand what you have done and how it effected ALL systems.
Best wishes,
Robert
DanielD,
I think the best way to sum all this up is to tell you what I've said to many others over the years. That is , "The best car for anyone is the one they like the best."
Mine happens to be the GT40 and I know I'm not alone with this. There are thousands who feel the same way. I wish you well in choosing the one you like best. But like the rest of the forum is saying, 'keep apples with apples' in your comparisons. And thanks for a lively post!!!
John
I think the best way to sum all this up is to tell you what I've said to many others over the years. That is , "The best car for anyone is the one they like the best."
Mine happens to be the GT40 and I know I'm not alone with this. There are thousands who feel the same way. I wish you well in choosing the one you like best. But like the rest of the forum is saying, 'keep apples with apples' in your comparisons. And thanks for a lively post!!!
John
MWGT40
Supporter
Thought I would throw in a view from across the pond as this seems to be mainly a discussion on the US side.
Firstly, whilst I believe that the best place for the engine to be located in any supercar is midengined, I think it is shortsighted to believe that you cannot have a supercar unless it is midengined (e.g. 911GT2, 911 Turbo, 550 Maranello, Aston Martin Vanquish to name but a few).
On the subject of the Z06 or the GT40, I think it is very difficult to compare the two animals as they are such different beasts. I personally am a fan of Porsche road cars and am on my third one at present. However, whilst these are undoubtedly great performance cars, they just do not excite like a GT40 - so I have a GTD40 for times when I want something different and to get the heart pumping.
Now I live in London where just about every supercar are seen all the time (even Lamorghinis and Astons) and usually do not get a second glance. However, even when my GTD40 is just parked up in the drive outside my house, it literally stops passing traffic, with people getting it out and checking it over. Similarly, when on road (either being driven or on its trailer), I have to be careful because of the amount of cars buzzing around it with their drivers grinning from ear to ear. You have to see it to really believe it!
I have always wanted to own a GT40 and I wanted to do it whilst I was still young enough to enjoy it. I plan to compete with her this season and am very glad that I made the decision to buy one last year (I do not have the time or expertise to build one myself).
The only other car I would love to own as much as the GT40 would be a replica (original if I could afford it) of a Porsche 917K which took over from the GT40 after the famous Wyer GT40 victories in 68 and 69. However, unlike the GT40 replicas which are built extremely well, the 917 replicas I have seen are typical kit car rubbish (please let me know if anyone knows any decent ones).
Just my two penneth worth!
Martin
Firstly, whilst I believe that the best place for the engine to be located in any supercar is midengined, I think it is shortsighted to believe that you cannot have a supercar unless it is midengined (e.g. 911GT2, 911 Turbo, 550 Maranello, Aston Martin Vanquish to name but a few).
On the subject of the Z06 or the GT40, I think it is very difficult to compare the two animals as they are such different beasts. I personally am a fan of Porsche road cars and am on my third one at present. However, whilst these are undoubtedly great performance cars, they just do not excite like a GT40 - so I have a GTD40 for times when I want something different and to get the heart pumping.
Now I live in London where just about every supercar are seen all the time (even Lamorghinis and Astons) and usually do not get a second glance. However, even when my GTD40 is just parked up in the drive outside my house, it literally stops passing traffic, with people getting it out and checking it over. Similarly, when on road (either being driven or on its trailer), I have to be careful because of the amount of cars buzzing around it with their drivers grinning from ear to ear. You have to see it to really believe it!
I have always wanted to own a GT40 and I wanted to do it whilst I was still young enough to enjoy it. I plan to compete with her this season and am very glad that I made the decision to buy one last year (I do not have the time or expertise to build one myself).
The only other car I would love to own as much as the GT40 would be a replica (original if I could afford it) of a Porsche 917K which took over from the GT40 after the famous Wyer GT40 victories in 68 and 69. However, unlike the GT40 replicas which are built extremely well, the 917 replicas I have seen are typical kit car rubbish (please let me know if anyone knows any decent ones).
Just my two penneth worth!
Martin
Martin,
I was contacted recently by a gentleman
interested in shipping a 917 replica from
Australia to the U.S. He wanted to pick my brain for shipping info, as I had just
received my car from Down Under. I know he has been "spying" on this forum in the past.
Perhaps, if he is still here, he will be kind enough to let us know how his 917 replica turns out. As the 917 ran a close second to the GT40 on my list of favorite cars in my youth, I would love to know.
How about it John? Is your car on it's way
yet?
Bill
[ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: Bill Bayard ]
I was contacted recently by a gentleman
interested in shipping a 917 replica from
Australia to the U.S. He wanted to pick my brain for shipping info, as I had just
received my car from Down Under. I know he has been "spying" on this forum in the past.
Perhaps, if he is still here, he will be kind enough to let us know how his 917 replica turns out. As the 917 ran a close second to the GT40 on my list of favorite cars in my youth, I would love to know.
How about it John? Is your car on it's way
yet?
Bill
[ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: Bill Bayard ]
G
Guest
Guest
Can't resist, good thread,
"but after paying closer attention to performance statistics, and costs associated to building I cant justify and cant understand how anyone can justify building the car"
reminds me of the Porsche gargage owner in Albuquerque when a customer asked the price of repairs of which he had none posted.. "If you have to ask zee price zen you don't need to own zee Por-scha"
you wouldn't by chance be a "bean counter"?
I don't know about anyone else but "building" cars for me has always been a labor of love. If you make any money or even break even it's by accident. To a certain extent cost is not even a consideration.
Only once in a great while something like the GT40 comes along. Automotive perfection and history forged in the fires of the greatest race on the planet. It's a combination of a LARGE factory investment, and the talent and skills of many dedicated individuals. Never before and never since has it happenened in this country. And this car holds records untouched by ANY manufacture in the world to the very present.
corvette??? PHFFFFFFFFTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!! Which corvette was it that won LeMans 4 years in a row?? Or once for that matter??
Have you ever even seen a GT40 in person? Pictures don't do it justice. None of the vettes even come close. Friend of mine has a MarkV GT40. Parked next to in his garage is a twin turbo 300ZX (late model). IMHO the 300 is prettier than most of the vettes. The GT40 makes the 300 look like an FFFFing truck.
anybody with a wad of dough can buy whatever cookiecutter they want and tack some usually funky looking ground effects kit on it and there's no harm in that but in the words of the toolman "if you didn't build it yourself it's not really yours"
besides from a practical standpoint when looking for that "perfect" handling when are you going to realize it. Are you going to push the car to it's very limits? A good driver can make up for little idiosyncrasies, I always prided myself in besting a porsche in my 510 datsun, especially on the turns.
I think your just having fun rubbing peoples fur the wrong way. HA HA touche!!!
[ April 09, 2002: Message edited by: Kalun D ]
[ April 09, 2002: Message edited by: Kalun D ]
[ April 09, 2002: Message edited by: Kalun D ]
"but after paying closer attention to performance statistics, and costs associated to building I cant justify and cant understand how anyone can justify building the car"
reminds me of the Porsche gargage owner in Albuquerque when a customer asked the price of repairs of which he had none posted.. "If you have to ask zee price zen you don't need to own zee Por-scha"
you wouldn't by chance be a "bean counter"?
I don't know about anyone else but "building" cars for me has always been a labor of love. If you make any money or even break even it's by accident. To a certain extent cost is not even a consideration.
Only once in a great while something like the GT40 comes along. Automotive perfection and history forged in the fires of the greatest race on the planet. It's a combination of a LARGE factory investment, and the talent and skills of many dedicated individuals. Never before and never since has it happenened in this country. And this car holds records untouched by ANY manufacture in the world to the very present.
corvette??? PHFFFFFFFFTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!! Which corvette was it that won LeMans 4 years in a row?? Or once for that matter??
Have you ever even seen a GT40 in person? Pictures don't do it justice. None of the vettes even come close. Friend of mine has a MarkV GT40. Parked next to in his garage is a twin turbo 300ZX (late model). IMHO the 300 is prettier than most of the vettes. The GT40 makes the 300 look like an FFFFing truck.
anybody with a wad of dough can buy whatever cookiecutter they want and tack some usually funky looking ground effects kit on it and there's no harm in that but in the words of the toolman "if you didn't build it yourself it's not really yours"
besides from a practical standpoint when looking for that "perfect" handling when are you going to realize it. Are you going to push the car to it's very limits? A good driver can make up for little idiosyncrasies, I always prided myself in besting a porsche in my 510 datsun, especially on the turns.
I think your just having fun rubbing peoples fur the wrong way. HA HA touche!!!
[ April 09, 2002: Message edited by: Kalun D ]
[ April 09, 2002: Message edited by: Kalun D ]
[ April 09, 2002: Message edited by: Kalun D ]
G
Guest
Guest
About those bean counters, both of my brothers are certified bean counters, but NOT Enron certified! (Two nice beans on the asset side of the balance sheet house. Two middling beans on the liability/equity side of the balance sheet house. Sixty-seven godawful beans hidden away in a closet in a crack house three blocks away.) As I recall, Roger Smith of GM was a bean counter. Cost became everything, and the company lost gobs of market share. Cars weren't too good either. Actually, they were pretty awful. Now the Lutz Man is at GM. A product guy. An enthusiast. Hot damn! (They'll never do a 40, but some pretty cool stuff nonetheless.)
TT
TT
TT
TT
MWGT40
Supporter
I managed to locate a decent replica of the Porsche 917K at last! Now I am not suggesting for a minute that anyone should buy one of these over a GT40 replica, but it could make a nice stable mate once your GT40 is finished, particularly with both finished in Gulf colours. This is my favourite car -after the GT40 of course.
It is made by LMK in Australia and the link is below. Anybody have first hand experience of these?
I think they need to paint the steel/aluminium frame at the back in black like the original. Looks tacky at the moment.
www.project917.itgo.com/index.htm
Martin
It is made by LMK in Australia and the link is below. Anybody have first hand experience of these?
I think they need to paint the steel/aluminium frame at the back in black like the original. Looks tacky at the moment.
www.project917.itgo.com/index.htm
Martin
I'm new to the forum. I can't speak about "value" as far as the GT40 is concerned. For me, it's strictly emotional. I remember having the Cox Cheeta,GT40 and Chaparral 2C slot cars as a kid. I remember seeing the Ford Mirage, the 2F and the long tail 910 Porsche's run at Spa and Nurburgring in 1967. Ever since that time I've wanted one of them. (still have the racing programs and Gurney's Spa win too)
When you talk about Z06's, I think you're comparing apples to oranges. If you want bang for the buck, buy a late model RX-7 and modify it. But if you want something that is almost inspirational then you can't beat the early sixties cars. IMHO.
Man I wish someone built a 2A or 2C.
When you talk about Z06's, I think you're comparing apples to oranges. If you want bang for the buck, buy a late model RX-7 and modify it. But if you want something that is almost inspirational then you can't beat the early sixties cars. IMHO.
Man I wish someone built a 2A or 2C.
In 1998 I was at Goodwood with my MK-IV. Jim Hall was there with three of his cars. A2B,a D and the sucker can-am. It was raining. He went up the hill in the sucker car. I followed 30 seconds later and because he was being very carefull in the rain on slicks I came up to him. At every cornor he reved the snomobile engines and the car sucked down to the ground. As long as I live I will never forget that. Hall,Gurney,Donohue,McLaren, and Miles. Those were the days my friend.
