Fans of sports car racing generally have better access to behind-the-scenes action in the paddock than in other racing series. Just try getting a peek at what’s going on in an F1 garage–or even in NASCAR outside of the carefully curated viewing areas–and you’ll understand. Big-time sports car racing has its secrets and crowd control, but generally the rabble are …
The Showroom Stock era of production-based sports car racing is becoming a legitimate force in the historic scene. Cars like this Porsche 944 Turbo competed professionally in IMSA’s Firestone Firehawk series, or the SCCA’s Playboy Series, and were minimally prepared. They would typically be allowed minor upgrades like shocks and springs, safety gear, radios, brake pads and little else. They were far closer to street cars than today’s GT4 or TCR machinery, and independent teams could and would build their own examples to compete professionally.
Not much analysis here aside from the fact that velocity stacks are awesome. A bundle of four dual-throat downdraft Webers on top of a big V8 means the intake noise is going to be every bit as satisfying as the exhaust note.
Race cars are all about efficiency in packaging. You want them to be as light as possible, and when you do need to add weight, you want to add it at the most advantageous spots.
Case in point: The alternator on this single-seat sports racer is not driven from the engine, but rather from an output shaft off the back of the transaxle. This allows it to be mounted lower in the chassis and keeps one more parasitic drag off the engine.
Of course, it’s still not free electricity. The engine still drives the alternator, just through the driveline rather than directly. This also has the added benefit of being able to easily spin the alternator slower–meaning less parasitic drag–than driving it directly from the crankshaft.
This R32 Nissan GT-R looks like a heavily…
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