I love this thread!!!
What I find so strange is how the racing performance crowd and the ecomodder performance crowd don't play well together.
I consider myself both, thus my cars nick name misfit talon.
"Fast and Efficient" do go together in racing.
1) "Aerodynamics" is a no brainier. Both party's will agree on this one.
2) "Weight" again should be a no brainier. Both have to over come inertia.
3) "Engine efficiency" this is where the ecomodder's will say the racing performance crowd just want to burn more fuel to make more power and don't care how efficient the engine is. Not true at all!!! They both want the same thing... excellent BSFC numbers.
Engine weight plays a key role in all racing today. The best example is how the turbo charger and super charger racing engines today are down-sizing the engine to make the whole car lighter. There are mechanical advantages to running a smaller engine also. Small bore size just to name one, helps with detonation.
Next years F1 race cars is where Fast and Efficient are probably the best example of how these to words coincide. Major engine downsize with stringent fuel usage rules compare to 2013 rules.
I have two local friends that are running 2.0L Talon race cars that have inspired me on my build. One runs 8.07 @ 172 mph and the other runs 8.20 @ 168 mph in the 1/4 mile. Not bench racing here I have video. My thoughts were if I could just have half the power that they are running and still maintain great fuel economy how fun would that be.
