[WIP] CART 1985

Yeah the 73' or 74' USAC mods be great in rF2, or how bout a USAC 78' mod ?, would go well with the T500
 
ChiefWiggum said:
what do you think about a CART 1985 Mod? Is this a good Choise? I'm not so the expert about Indycars in the 80's.
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Well, mid 80's was pretty much all about March and Lola, so as long as you stick to mid eighties you will only have to concentrate on two cars basicly to fill allmost the full grid, so the task is propably more on painting with your fast modeling skills. Interesting about the 85C and the 86C is that they were designed by Adrian Newey, while I personaly think that the latter one is the better looking car.
https://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/the-cars-of-adrian-newey/2/

Another advantage would be, if you do 85/86 season, that balaning wouldn't be an issue as the cars were pretty equal in terms of their peformance.

Needless to say that I am a big fan of the Rick Mears livery, with the eye catching Pennzoil add. And Rick Mears was just Reack Mears - what else needs to be said about a driver who could have driven for Brabham in the early 80s? It is just a very sleak looking car:
imsc5277.jpg
 
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Doing the 80's cars would be easier, however by then the cars had lost their uniqueness, there were only two chassis March & Lola, basically a spec series by then, in the late 70's each car was different and much more interesting.
 
That's certainly right, but from a quality standpoint going for a mid 80s mod makes more sense. And it isn't just about the quality of the models, but also the physics and evertything else that comes with such a mod. I guess, it is allready hard enough to get decent data for the 80s cars, let alone proper documentation about cars, so for the 1970s it is a monumental undertaking for one or two persons when it comes to research and transforming that research into something drivable for a sim. For the mid 80s there is atleast enough reference material when it comes to photos, liveries and car specs, so with a bit of help by S397 and the community this could turn out as a very high quality mod in all areas while not having to worry about LE or HE edition physics. And let's not forget that there are still enough variations in chassis versions (6 different versions after all), body works, cockpits, engine configs and track configs for the different teams. It is all a question of how far you want to go with the details. And have I mentioned the Ferrari Indycar? Don't underestimate the versatility of mid 80s Indycar racing ;)
 
You can add Penske as a chassis, as for most years, they had their own chassis. I did a few searches, and it seems like 1984 was the last year of having a many one offs (Eagle, Longhorn, Wildcat, DSR-1.....). So like @jymp said, maybe anything after that. The other thing to maybe consider is that some chassis was carried over by privateer teams the following years. For example a 1987 Lola was racing in 1988. I'll have to look better at the numbers but this I don't think was as common as it was in the early 80s to the late 80s.

So doing a bit of thinking...
1984 - Chief started this for rF1. The models could use a small rF2 refresh (it's been a long time since I've looked at them) Con: More one off models to complete whole season
1985 - Lolas and Marches and Penske. Existing 1984 models mentioned above can complete the grid.
1986 - Lolas Marches and Penske. Could add a special, never raced car ;) http://www.motorsportretro.com/2014/05/ferrari-indy/
1987 - The 1988 HSO contains a few 1987 cars. Needs approval and needs to be converted to rF2
1988 - Season fully complete by HSO. Needs approval and needs to be converted to rF2
1989 - The 1988 HSO contains 1988 chassis that raced in 1989. Needs approval and needs to be converted to rF2

But at this point, anything to race on both ovals and road courses would be great!
 
I have taken a look at the 88 mod by HSO in rF1 and frankly speaking, they aren't up to spec compared to the work by Chieff. I don't know how much they improved the cars for the AMS version, but I don't expect it to be much better.

As for 86, don't forget the Coine-DC 1. In theory a Lola from 1984, but still worth mentioning as Dale Coyne entered the grid with his own car. In that respect it was nothing unusual to use different chasis for different years. Al Unser even won the Indy 500 in 1987 in the one year old 86C. Btw, Penkse didn't use their own chassis exclusively but also chassis purchased from March as their own cars weren't up to pace.
 
Are you refering to my remark about the HSO mod? I haven't insulted anyone or his/her work, but just gave my objective opinion about the mod. It was an rF1 mod, with some improvements for AMS and stuff like turbo implementation, as that wasn't properly supported by rF1. You can turn and twist it as you want, but it simply isn't up there with the latest work from Chieff, when it comes to the modeling of the cars. Wich to some extend is understandable if you take a look at the time when it was made and the requirements for rF1 back in the day. Next to the fact, that you can't expect all modders who do this in their free time to have the same skillset, knowhow or time budget. But even with that in mind, there are are clearly some rF1/mods with better 3D and 2D work. If that's what you are referring to, then there you have you answer. ;)
 
Hmmm, Is there a possibility of getting permission from HSO to convert the 73' and/or 74' USAC Indy mods to rF2 ?, then a mid 80's Indy mod ?
 
USAC, the sanctioning body for the series, until the split, controlled the waste-gate pop-off valves which in-turn controlled the amount of horsepower. Now they were all said to be equal, but there were times when fast experienced teams couldn't even qualify. (although I think that was later than the time period under discussion)
Also, building from his privateer Lola, Dale Coyne produced a string of multiple car entries that usually qualified quite well. The package of Lola and Ford(which the Coyne teams ran) became the guarantee to make the field. ((the Indy 500 field, that is)) (((Fords high revving engine was sometimes at a disadvantage to the Ilmor/Chevy's torqueier<sp?> power-plant at the tighter road courses))).
 
Danny Sullivan 85' looks like, great !, thought was gonna get a 78' Lola update though...
 
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That is what it looks like! In 1985 Sullivan was #5. 1986 he was #1. I'm really excited for some classic, big turbo Indycar.

I still want to throw out the idea of the 1986 Ferrari Indycar, because we can have that in the virtual world :D But I'll take 1985 :)

Really looking forward to it Chief!!
 
Porsche962C said:
Was this generation of Indy car no longer Ground Effect?
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Mid-80s IndyCars were "ground effect" cars with almost all the down force on ovals developed by the venturi channels under the chassis. The 1978 Lola was not a ground effects car but the John Barnard designed Chaparral from the next season was definitely a full ground effects car.
 
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