If you have cable TV watch BBC Top Gear.
Therein they test 800 HP European super cars.
These cars sell for a million or more dollars.
Our old Chaparral Can Am racing car chassis
weighed under 50 pounds made from aluminium.
A carbon fibre chassis under 50 pounds would
be at least three times as stiff.
The Chaparral 2F body was 1/4 inch thick foam
core with 4 oz fibreglass skins. It was very tough and
had more than enough stiffness for over 200 MPH.
The weight doubled when we painted it. I have
been around the NASCAR Daytona oval at night, at
over 200 MPH, with Phil Hill driving the 2F.
I would mount a Chaparral 2F style movable
suspension
mounted rear wing on the car.
The 1100 HP Mazda turbo four rotor would weigh
under 400 pounds.
My guess is the 1100 HP turbo 4 rotor super car would weigh about
600 pounds. That ought to shock the Top Gear car pundits.
It would easily hold the lap record around
the Top Gear test track.
If I were building one I would move to the UK as all
kinds of carbon fibre parts would be readily available.
Hurley Engineering in Coventry UK is already building
4 rotor Mazda engines.
The draconian DOT crsh rules are entirely too severe in the US.
The US gov agency must justify their existence by
escalating the rules year after year. As a result US cars are
150% of the weight of comparably European cars.
I rented a Renault Cleo in Germany recently and it weighed
2000 pounds. The Cleo
claimed 60 MPG and it would easily go
160 KPH on the autobahn.
My RX8 weighs 3000 pounds with a 200 pound engine and aluminium
body parts. The RX8 drive shaft is also carbon fibre.
Because of the this we are paying a huge cost and MPG penalty
in the US.
The auto accident death rate is no higher in Europe than it
is in the US despite parts of the autobahn having no
speed limits.
Paul Lamar
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