RE: Pikes Peak: Monster Tajima goes electric

[soad]

Parsnip said:

Pike's Peak no longer being a proper rally - boo.

Tajima no longer driving a 1000hp+ firebreathing turbo wagon - bigger boo.

[Oddball RS]

Which is thoroughly commendable, but we'll probably be saving more of our cheers for the two Brit RS200 entries of Mark Rennison and Liam Doran.


Oh him again............. very popular on here at the moment isn't he.

[FlossyThePig]

KDIcarmad said:

I bet the American hillbilly truck drivers said the same when Audi turned up with the Quattro. We all know what happen next.

Wasn't it driven by a woman as well?

Electric cars have been competing at Pikes Peak for a few years now.

[bobberz]

Well, he finally reached his goal of breaking the ten minute mark, what could he do next?

I'm actually looking forward to this. Should be some very interesting engineering going into this.

I think, from the sketch at least, it looks awesome! Like a futuristic LMP car.

And to the guy who said racing isn't about being fastest- what? Since when? Racing has always been about being fastest!

[Du1point8]

Parsnip said:

Pike's Peak no longer being a proper rally - boo.

Tajima no longer driving a 1000hp+ firebreathing turbo wagon - bigger boo.

The Susuki Escudo he used to have (the red one) was one of my favorite cars growing up - partially because of Gran Turismo, but mostly because of the sheer lunacy of the thing. This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Wg3JUcKwM of old man Millen at Goodwood shows what a Pike's Peak unlimited car should be - utterly fking bonkers and completely unhinged from reality.

As for cheering on the Brits? I will be, but personally, the battle between Millen and Monster is what does it for me.

Hate to ask but why all the black smoke under acceleration?

I could feel that pucker up moment at the end when the RR was just on a daily cruise which him slipping and sliding trying not to hit it.

[mr2j]

hairykrishna said:

Not any motorsport fan. I'm a motorsport fan. I enjoy the mix of diesels and petrols and Le Mans. I don't even think they sound bad, just different. I'm also looking forward to seeing what kind of crazy electric vehicle they attack Pikes Peak with.

i have to agree with you on all that.

[Skylinecrazy]

mr2j said:

hairykrishna said:

Not any motorsport fan. I'm a motorsport fan. I enjoy the mix of diesels and petrols and Le Mans. I don't even think they sound bad, just different. I'm also looking forward to seeing what kind of crazy electric vehicle they attack Pikes Peak with.

i have to agree with you on all that.

+1 It's good to see technology advance!

I'm sure it'll be spectacular whatever it runs on, as all his past vehicles have been to watch!

Does pikes peaks air anywhere live? It's obviously popular over in the US.. Is there any live streams over here?

[Parsnip]

Du1point8 said:

Parsnip said:

Pike's Peak no longer being a proper rally - boo.

Tajima no longer driving a 1000hp+ firebreathing turbo wagon - bigger boo.

The Susuki Escudo he used to have (the red one) was one of my favorite cars growing up - partially because of Gran Turismo, but mostly because of the sheer lunacy of the thing. This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Wg3JUcKwM of old man Millen at Goodwood shows what a Pike's Peak unlimited car should be - utterly fking bonkers and completely unhinged from reality.

As for cheering on the Brits? I will be, but personally, the battle between Millen and Monster is what does it for me.

Hate to ask but why all the black smoke under acceleration?

I could feel that pucker up moment at the end when the RR was just on a daily cruise which him slipping and sliding trying not to hit it.

I assume it was just running really rich - not sure though - maybe not used to getting that much air coming in (if it was on a Pike's Peak type map) and just injected too much fuel to compensate? Or they were just worried about stalling it (as he managed ) - I am just guessing though.

I just love how bonkers they look to drive - far from planted and wayyyy too much power, need to have some amount of car control just to keep them in a straight line - and Millen is clipping the grass! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y3OFf0ArU is one of my favorite videos - full HD, get the headphones in and prepare to lose 12 minutes of your life - the boy can really drive - how he sits down with those spacehoppers he has for balls I don't know.

Seeing electric cars and new technology is great, but nothing beats the visceral experience of a proper petrol race engine at full chat - a modern Audi R18 would hammer a Mazda 787B round a track - I know which one I would rather be driving, and it wouldn't have 4 rings on the front.

Going faster is great and motorsport is about winning, but can we not shed a collective tear when one of the world's greatest drivers stops building bonkers 1000+hp turbocharged loony mobiles and hooks a couple of AAA batteries up to a flymo motor?

[hairykrishna]

Du1point8 said:

Hate to ask but why all the black smoke under acceleration?

I assume it's unburned fuel. Crazily turbo charged monsters like that often dump in loads of extra fuel to keep things cool.

[ugg10]

Reminds me a lot of this -

http://www.agmsportscars.co.uk/bthorpea.jpg

As for the concept -

Head says - IC engines drop close on half their horse power over the run due to changes in air density, short course, short duration, now all tarmac, therefore high torque, low CofG (due to battery placement) electric motors make sense.

Heart says - give me power, noise and sideways motion in a shell that is truely bonkers every day of the week over electric hum.

[RB Will]

Looks like an evolution of the old Panoz GTR

[matthias73]

They should attach the sirens from an old Stuka onto it, that would make it sound interesting

[PaulMoor]

re33 said:

PaulMoor said:

KDIcarmad said:

I bet the American hillbilly truck drivers said the same when Audi turned up with the Quattro. We all know what happen next.

This could be a very good style of racing for electric power. A known distance and a clear challenge for the vehicle. Also open rules that gives room for very different cars to take part.

American hillbillys? "petrolheads" in the UK said the same... "Four wheel drive. Thats for farmers". The same people that are saying electric has no place. The same people who said drev has no place at Le Mans (And still do...) Racing is not about using the "right" fuel, its about being the fastest, whatever that takes and if anyone knows how to go fast on the peak...

4 wheel drive is faster for gravel rallies, diesel is faster within current Le Mans rules. Unlimited rules electric power can be faster up Pikes Peak (and would be a great achievement) but they are all bad outcomes for any motorsport fan!! Group B rally cars were impressive but now we have been left with world rallying that is a shadow of the RWD 70s, the winning Le Mans cars sound terrible(compared to the cars behind)and now electric whine could replace the roar of Pike's Peak cars. Have you watched the Andros electric trophy? Its like a race only much duller.

Personaly I don't see being a fan of noise and crashes as the same as being a motorsports fan. I want to see the best drivers and the best engineering winning, not people dieing for our entertainment (as Group B became). It's like watching football for the penaltys.

[dtrump]

I feel sorry for the blind motorsport fans

Motorsport noises count for a lot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubL6sTuHeoY&fea...

[Skylinecrazy]

dtrump said:

I feel sorry for the blind motorsport fans

Motorsport noises count for a lot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubL6sTuHeoY&fea...

Because one car is electric doesn't mean they all will be. Technology moves on, don't you understand that? There's also two mad BHP RS2000s entering....

[dtrump]

Skylinecrazy said:

dtrump said:

I feel sorry for the blind motorsport fans

Motorsport noises count for a lot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubL6sTuHeoY&fea...

Because one car is electric doesn't mean they all will be. Technology moves on, don't you understand that? There's also two mad BHP RS2000s entering....

wow.......you know its hard for me...but yes.......yes I think I understand

It points the way to a sad future where everyone will be running electric

Having this electric car attempt INSTEAD of the beast of a machine Tajima would normally drive, isn't a massive bonus to the event

[hairykrishna]

cazzer said:

Because the result was a foregone conclusion.
It would be a diesel. Not sure which one. But one of em.

They're dull, sound bloody awful, and skew the results.
How close was the nearest petrol engine?

That makes no sense. If there were no diesels it'd be a petrol. Not sure which one. But one of them.

Current regulations seem to favour diesel although it could just be that the 2 big players really want to market their diesel road cars. So what? To me the fact that it was the closest Le Mans for 40 odd years and genuinely a bloody good race was a great deal more important than what the winning car was burning.

You keep saying they're dull. Why are they dull? Is it anything other than the noise? I personally don't even mind the noise. The swooshy stealth bomber effect is just another one to add to the crazy mix on the grid.

[cazzer]

hairykrishna said:

cazzer said:

Because the result was a foregone conclusion.
It would be a diesel. Not sure which one. But one of em.

They're dull, sound bloody awful, and skew the results.
How close was the nearest petrol engine?

That makes no sense. If there were no diesels it'd be a petrol. Not sure which one. But one of them.

Current regulations seem to favour diesel although it could just be that the 2 big players really want to market their diesel road cars. So what? To me the fact that it was the closest Le Mans for 40 odd years and genuinely a bloody good race was a great deal more important than what the winning car was burning.

You keep saying they're dull. Why are they dull? Is it anything other than the noise? I personally don't even mind the noise. The swooshy stealth bomber effect is just another one to add to the crazy mix on the grid.

It wasn't a race though was it.
It was going to be one of the diesels...end of.
So in that case why not just have a 6 car grid. Let the rest of us have the lemans we want without diesels spoiling it(for the people that don't want them there).
Go and have a 6 car diesel le-mans see how many people turn up.

[hairykrishna]

cazzer said:

It wasn't a race though was it.
It was going to be one of the diesels...end of.
So in that case why not just have a 6 car grid. Let the rest of us have the lemans we want without diesels spoiling it(for the people that don't want them there).
Go and have a 6 car diesel le-mans see how many people turn up.

It was going to be Audi or Peugeot. They have massive amounts of cash to throw at it and that's what you need to win Le Mans outright these days. If there were no diesels it'd still effectively be a 6 car race but they'd be using petrols. It was the best Le Mans for years. I don't understand how diesels 'spoil it'. What, precisely, is wrong with them? Do you have any objection other than the noise? Please don't just say 'they're dull' again without explaining why they're dull.

[cazzer]

hairykrishna said:

cazzer said:

It wasn't a race though was it.
It was going to be one of the diesels...end of.
So in that case why not just have a 6 car grid. Let the rest of us have the lemans we want without diesels spoiling it(for the people that don't want them there).
Go and have a 6 car diesel le-mans see how many people turn up.

It was going to be Audi or Peugeot. They have massive amounts of cash to throw at it and that's what you need to win Le Mans outright these days. If there were no diesels it'd still effectively be a 6 car race but they'd be using petrols. It was the best Le Mans for years. I don't understand how diesels 'spoil it'. What, precisely, is wrong with them? Do you have any objection other than the noise? Please don't just say 'they're dull' again without explaining why they're dull.

Ok. I don't like diesel engined cars full stop.
I really dislike diesel engined racing cars.
I hate how they sound, even the smell of the exhaust. WRT le-mans I dislike the fact is isn't a level playing field.
I dislike that fact that two manufacturers have really skewed the ract/results over the last few years by throwing untold millions at the development of the racing diesels just to push their rep barges.

I used to go to le-mans every year. I haven't been since the diesels started.
I'll stick to the classic from now on.
And I'm not alone.

I'm sure a number of people have stopped going because of it. I bet no-one has started going because of it.