HELP: INDYCAR MEASURE RULES.

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JamesB
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HELP: INDYCAR MEASURE RULES.

Post by JamesB »

Please, does anyone have handy a set of measure rules (widths for body, car, wings; tyre sizes, overhangs...) for the 1991-1995 period?
Just tryng to dimension correctly something I did in the past... :roll: :roll:
Thanks you VERY MUCH in advance!! :D
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indygp2001
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Re: HELP: INDYCAR MEASURE RULES.

Post by indygp2001 »

James, that is my favorite era of IndyCar racing as I went to pretty much all the West Coast races during that time frame...Long Beach, Portland, and Vancouver, BC, as living in the Seattle area makes those races easy to attend...
you can even drive to LB if you can't spend funds to fly!

I will check my literature from that time frame and see if the rules / dimensions show up...
If you know of a source already, let me know what it is - I am buried in my racing library, and any help is appreciated.
Also, do you remember if the dimensions for the Indianapolis race were the same as the rest of the races in this pre-Indy League (IRL) era?

thanx, Indygp2001
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Re: HELP: INDYCAR MEASURE RULES.

Post by JamesB »

OK, so questions/answers are a two way street!! :lol: I like it!!
Yes, also my favurite era: from early eighties till, say, '95 or '96.
I understand you: I think i now by heart most of rules of F1 between mid seventies to late 90's, but if I had to name a place to check it... :roll:
I looked in my RACER magazines and nothing. I'll look the yearbooks, but they usually mention something when a particular measure (for instance, nose portion forward the feet) changes.
JamesB wrote:I am buried in my racing library, and any help is appreciated.
Also, do you remember if the dimensions for the Indianapolis race were the same as the rest of the races in this pre-Indy League (IRL) era?
Hmmm... buried in books, mags and model boxes. THat sounds quite familiar! :D

I am pretty sure that there was something involving wings. After all wings were sooo different in super speedway specs. But I seem to remember USAC made some difference (as happened with engines too).
So I would not be surprised if widths, depths andf overhang (rear) of wings were strictly constrained.
Ah! I think that so far, the better info we have is the Tamiya Lola, assuming the model is correct and that Lola used these values to the maximum allowed
Thanks!
JAmes
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Re: HELP: INDYCAR MEASURE RULES.

Post by JamesB »

BUMP!!!
No one? :D
Vome on please!! :cry:
I am also particularly interested on the "step" from chassis bottom to sidepods.
You know how much protrudes the center of the car bottom underneath the sidpod lowest edge. It's a bit critical! :D
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Re: HELP: INDYCAR MEASURE RULES.

Post by marlborored »

Not sure if I am on the right track...but I'll take a stab at this.
I'm looking at a book titled, "Technology Of The CHAMP Car" by Nigel Macknight, published in 1998. (too recent?)
Throughout the book there are descriptions and rule dimensions of the various components of the CART car. Quoting dimensions from this source is as follows:

Overall Dimensions:
minimum length = 482.6 cm; maximum length = 497.8 cm
minimum width = 197.5 cm; maximum width = 199.4 cm
height from the lowest point of the bodywork or chassis to the highest point of the bodywork must not exceed 81.3 cm
the bodywork and aerodynamic devices forward of the rear wheels must not be wider than 160 cm
minimum weight is 692.35 kg for Superspeedway; 703.7 kg for oval, road-circuit, and street-circuit events

Chassis:
firewall between driver and engine must be made of metal at least 1.587 mm thick
From a series of crashes in 1992 resulting in serious leg injuries, CART mandated a new internal bulkhead situated a minimum of 305 mm aft of the front face of the chassis. The bulkhead is required to carry the master cylinders to reduce the risk of these being driven through the front face of the chassis and into the footwell.
"The underbody has a 'stepped' configuration by order of the regulations to limit its efficiency." "The steps on the underbody are 50.8 mm deep."
"The tunnels start about half-way along the underbody, roughly below the point where the engine meets the chassis." "There is one large central tunnel and two smaller tunnels, one on each side." Also allowed are 'features' (miniature tunnels) which, provided they do not rise above the plane of the bottom surface of the underbody by more than 76.2 mm, are not classed as tunnels. "In 1996, CART introduced a significant reduction in tunnel depth, from 203.2 mm down to 152.4 mm. This ruling applies only to the tunnel exit: the tunnel itself can be any depth relative to the plane of the bottom surface of the underbody, provided it comes back down to 152.4 mm at the exit"

The book continues with regulations on aerofoils, engines, tires and wheels, etc. I don't know if this is what you're looking for...
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Re: HELP: INDYCAR MEASURE RULES.

Post by JamesB »

marlborored wrote:Not sure if I am on the right track...but I'll take a stab at this.
(...)
The book continues with regulations on aerofoils, engines, tires and wheels, etc. I don't know if this is what you're looking for...
Really? dammit you nailed it!! 8)
It really fits with what the '93 Lola shows so I think it's spot on. The floor step is crucial thanks!
It seems there was not a significant change from '94 to '98.
Thanks sooo much for taking the time to write it down.
The only thing that does fit is the 83.1cm of total height. These (assumed it includes the roll hoop) is usually betweeen 95 and 100. The Lola is around 87cm and some other scaled (partially as ever) pics seem to support that. maybe some misspelling?
Again Thanks a lot!!
JamesB
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