Those With Roaring Forties??

I am in the process of choosing whether or not to build a GT40 replica which will be used mostly for track use, and I wanted to hear what people who have lived with the Roaring Forty car have to say. How many of them are out there? How many were turn key cars, and how many built from kits? Are there better 'track' GT40 kits available?

Thanks in advance for your replies,
racinfd

 

[Ross Nicol]

racinfd
I purchased a rolling chassis / body kit from Roaring Forties and the following would be my recommendation for racing.
Roll cage,balance bar brake pedal,big brake calipers eg Willwood/AP Racing,dry sump,very strong transaxle (ZF,porche 915/G50 or sim).Fully rose joint suspension.
I don't think any Gt40 replica manufacturer sells a lot of race spec cars although roaring forties can supply the very special parts like the Roll cage for example.Most builders like myself tend to research the car and find out what the good bits are and where to get them.Hope this helps with your desicion.
Ross

 

[Ron Earp]

I'm building one and the kits at the time I purchased were completely rose jointed. Mine also came with 13" sloted and vented PBR brakes up front and 11.9 in the back. Wilwoods are an upgrade but I doubt are needed from a mild race use standpoint. The PBRs are standard Corvette and Mustang Cobra issue, both of which are heavy cars and driven daily in driving schools all over with the same components.

As for other bits purchase the roll cage option and use a different transaxle if you like, as mentioned above. I'm not a huge fan of the Getrag/Audi box, whatever you want to call it, but there are a lot of people using them now to good effect as it is standard in CAV cars too.

Ron

 

[Bill Bayard]

Look around at all the cars available. Any

manufacturer would be willing to build to

race specs for a price. As with everything

about these cars, this is an a'la carte

scenario. You will pay for the extras. The

only thing to consider is how race worthy

you want your car to be, and how much money

you want to spend. Price your race version

through different builders as you would a

normal car. Be specific about what you want,

keeping things equal among the different

builders, so the quotes will be comparable.

 

Thanks for the input so far guys. I own a shop that does a number of things, including retail sales of performance parts, fabrication work, design of performance parts, and some of the light manufacturing. I own a 1994 RX-7 with an LS1 for power, using a TEC3. This car has been an ongoing project, and its intended use has been to showcase the products and ideas of the company, and to use for SCCA racing. In particular, the car was being geared towards the 24 hour race that is held at Moroso Motorsports Park each year. It uses 14" Brembo brakes up front (F50 calipers), and 12.6" rear Brembos which use the Viper's front calipers. I would certainly want comparable brakes on the 40. I would probably ditch any brake system with the kit car, and use either an AP endurance racing caliper, or perhaps an Alcon, with 14 or 15 inch rotors. Depends on where the car lands with regard to sanctioning body rules.
I guess what I am trying to establish is if the RF car is of the quality necessary as a beginning platform, to complete as a true racing car. I've not seen one in person, but from the literature I've seen, and in talking with Gordon Levy, it seems to be, but I want some outsider's opinions.
According to Gordon, the cars do come with all rose joint suspension now. That is a good thing. I guess, once I have received outside information from more of you eiher supporting or detracting from this car's viability, I will talk further with Gordon about what I would want for my particular case. Please keep the information coming.

Thanks,
racinfd

 

[Mark Worthington]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by racinfd:
I guess what I am trying to establish is if the RF car is of the quality necessary as a beginning platform, to complete as a true racing car. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If that's the case, then the first things you should look into are the rigidity of the chasis and the weight of the finished car. Do a search on measured chasis deflection; RF has some very impressive numbers. I'm not sure how a monocoque would stack up against an RF as far as weight is concerned, but I would think you could complete a race-ready RF at or maybe under 2,000 pounds.

 

Yes, you are correct. Do you think that the numbers that I'm going to see or be quoted are reliable? I wonder how many companies have taken the time to figure out their deflection rates, etc.. Also, cost is going to be an issue, and the RF is looking like a decent compromise between price and quality. Do you have the names of some of the other worthwhile companies to check with? I am fairly new to the whole GT40 information thing, and I know there are probably companies that I am unaware of or have overlooked.

Thanks again,
racinfd

 

[Robert Logan]

Racinfd,

We are currently building a full race car at Roaring Forties. The car is well under construction and it will be campagned in the Marque Sports Car class and hopefully the Bathurst 24 Hour race later this year.

The specifications of the car are as follows:
brakes are 365 mm. rotors front and 330 mm. rotors rear with 6 pot and 4 pot Brembo monobloks all round (ex Ferrari). The engine will have a dry sump and 'enough' grunt (secret) and will be fitted to a multi plate AP clutch through a specially built gearbox. This box uses the externals of the Audi box we use on our standard road cars but the internals have been replaced with full race components. This includes all shafts, bearings and a full set of straight cut interchangable gears.

The car will run on either 17" or 18" wheels and slicks.

A pair of FIA approved fuel cell complete with 'dry brake' fueling system are being made and an electronic fire extuinguisher will be fitted. A chrome molly cage has been fitted and at present we are fitting a full set of air jacks to the car. A full MoTeC dash will be fitted together with a full data logging M800 ECU.

The reason that I have been reluctant to talk about this project is that I believe that all R&D work should be carried out by the parent company and the race cars will not be available until mid this year.

This project is very important to me and my company and I have put together a very strong team to realy give the Porsche boys a shake. I will of course keep you all informed and I am happy to talk to all prospective purchasers of our race cars.

Best wishes,

Robert

 

Robert
Sounds like you have a good idea. Would love to keep updated of your progress.
Good luck......

 

Robert,
What's up with the tranny?
How about the "new" goodies you've got in the works. Are you now doing your trailing arms with rose joints on both ends. How about the rest of the bushings like on the short arms on the spindles.
This sure would make ajustments a lot easier.
Can my car be adapted to the new ways?
Let us know what 2003 hold in store for us.
Thanks,
John

 

[Mark Worthington]

I don't think you can go wrong with an RF. I would think an ERA monocoque may be a little lighter, but I'm not sure if they, or anyone else, for that matter, offers race-spec upgrades for their cars, while RF offers a roll bar, fire extinguisher system, upgraded brakes, etc. I won't steal Robert Logan's thunder here, but he has several very exciting developments under way that will offer racers and street drivers significant upgrades to what's currently shown on RF's web site. There are many guys in the UK who race GTDs, but it appears to me as if they have had to do a lot of independant development, and I think the GTDs are a little heavier than the RFs. One advantage an ERA or a GTD might have over an RF is the height of the powertrain...the RF chasis would need a little work to move the engine and gearbox down to the height that it sits in an ERA.

 

[Robert Logan]

John,

One of the requirements to go racing in 2B2 racing (Marque Sports Car's) here in Australia is that we use the same gearbox housings and number of gears. They make the rules , I go along and make them work for us.

The Quaife 6 speed sequential and the Audi 6 speed are still very much on the cards as are fully rose jointed suspension.

As previously discussed all of the options will be available fir all of my cars and when they are available they will be released.

Have you got your parcel yet with the fuel fittings etc.

Best wishes,

Robert

 

Robert,
Thanks for the info. I'll be very intrested in some of the new developments.
No I haven't recieved the package as of yet.
I will e-mail you when it arrives.
Thanks,
John

 

Racinfd,

Take a look at www.gtsupercars.com. They are planning a full race-spec vehicle, monocoque chassis. It is still in development, but their product looks like it's worth the wait! Max