Update on Superstock Trial Engine (Read 7,275 times)

[brendanlucas]

There are 4 confirmed cars, plus several others I know about who are still fence sitters (as well as a couple of others that are maybe’s), that are joining the Superstock trial engine programmed for the upcoming season.
The confirmed cars are those of Paul Demanser, Justin Wigget, Greg Moseley, & me.
Paul is currently converting his self built car after having it parked for a couple of years. That car will be a shared drive between Paul & his son & will be registered to the Hawkes Bay, with travelling likely.
Justin will be new to superstocks, but not speedway. He has competed in stockcars, & had a fairly big involvement in ministocks. He is currently converting an ex. Hunter Gordge copy, & will run out of Wellington.
Greg had purchased this 511p car & will run out of Stratford. He has limited experience in superstocks, but no stranger to speedway.
I am converting the ex. Guilford car over at present. I did a few meetings late last year in this car. We had a few niggles that got in the way, but I did manage to get enough good laps in to compare apples with apples.
Each of the guys doing conversions have indicated they will show the conversion costs in due course.
There is often a suspision when someone wants to change the rules like this that it is for self gain. I would say the self gain for me is knowing my boy & others like him aren’t so burdened with finding the money to compete in the sport they have become addicted to. Yes I will be selling these engines along with other components needed, but only with the view to keeping other suppliers honest with their pricing. I have the view that this is my passion & not my income.
Also, just to reiterate, I am wanting this to be a superstock option, not replacement. It will take a shift in mindset, but in my vision we will have a superstock class where if you want to faster than the next guy with an equal chassis setup, then the 248 rule will allow you to do continue engine developments. The 602 spec engines don’t allow for any developments, but will be a reasonably competitive engine with a finite cost to purchase & to maintain, comparatively speaking. We know SNZ haven’t always been on the money with policing engines, & we know some of the reasons why. Other classes around the world do have successful co-existence of different packages, so there will be some added rules that come with this option in order for the policing to be effective.
In not trying to devalue the superstock class, rather make it more accessible to more people – doing my bit to stop the decline. There are at least 4 guys out there this year that wouldn’t be racing if the 602 wasn’t an option.
Thank you, BL

[brendanlucas]

I forgot to mention, to those that aren't aware of this trial, & would like information on it, either call Tim at SNZ or PM me. I'm glad to expand on things. Also, not too late for others to join trial.
Thankyou, BL

[The Observer]

Excellent work Brendon - look forward to seeing more cars out there giving it a acrack!

All the history on the trial from the tech board

macgor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Techtalk&action=display&thread=24916&page=1

There are a few of us here in the south that are very interested in the opportunity to upspec our stockcars using this deal. Watching with keen interest

[brendanlucas]

Thanks for that Mr Smith. I would have thought something like this would benefit those South Island tracks that are struggling for superstock numbers. We'll attempt to get down there at some point.
Thankyou, BL

[wildside]

Makes good sense to me,a open engine(toyota,nissan etc)
And a base intro engine,you can slowly buy up the scale,ie old gen nissan to a new gen nissan...
We want to grow the sport<not just keep it alive..good job to those involved.

[brendanlucas]

A 5th car has been verbally confirmed tonight for this trial. I will wait until the dots and crosses have been done before I mention who it is.
BL

[brendanlucas]

A sneak peak at what these Crate engines look like fresh out of the crate.


BL

[HRC]

HI BL i been thinking about these engines and classes that were introduced as budget classes, and are of the mindset that these would bring these classes back to where they should be im talking Modifieds and Saloons (ltd) where both have in recent years got way out of hand with mega dollar engines creeping in

[gazman]

So Brendan, thats it, just fit it in , plumb it and youre away laughing....?

Am really interested to see how all 5 cars progress this season.

gaz

[brendanlucas]

Yep, she's pretty much a plug & play deal (provided you already have Chevy mounts).
Marty, I'm a little suprised someone hasn't already said what you just said. If you go on to the GM performance website, go to the circle track engine pages, you will see there are 4 options specifically built for oval track racing. The 602 (as per photo), 603, 604 & CT525 at the top of the range. the 602 is there biggest seller, with the 604 almost as popular & the CT525 gaining in popularity. The 603 doesn't have that bigger demand, but pretty good spec wise. For many racers this make the decision easy to proceed as one of the biggest worries/hurdles have been overcome.
The sport has gone from blue collar racing to white collar, & needs to come back to the more blue collar end if the tracks are all going to attract enough numbers to put on the show for the paying public.
Thankyou, BL

[chris13w]

I've said the same thing as well many a time, forget all the "special interests" who currently decide what the rules will be and have a standard engine spec across multiple classes.

Makes the cost of engines cheaper as they can be built/bought in bulk and makes racing closer at a lower cost.

Sprintcars/Super Saloons - alloy block sprint car engine (put weight in the front of the chassis on a Super if its an issue)

Superstocks/Modifieds/Saloons - standard spec along the lines of Saloons, or crate engines

Stockcars/Productions/Streetstocks - standard engines with the same rules (probably including OEM injection, as that's how most engines now are).

Never happen of course, the SNZ rule making system makes it virtually impossible to push through.

[The Observer]

wow, new and shiney ;D

Perhaps some more photos following the progress will be cool BL - I understand you will have to change the mounts and the firewall in the current car? Will be good to follow the progress of this

[porry41]

agree with marty there about ltd saloons .should be crate motors .there are a good line up of cars for sale minuus engines .these checkbook racers in this class with there 50/100k engines etc should be runing as supers and the 200k motors should be LM .that should kill the lms maybe

[speedman]

We hate Late Models but lets use there engines

[theweapon]

Jul 24, 2012 12:40:12 GMT 12 brendanlucas said:

There are 4 confirmed cars, plus several others I know about who are still fence sitters (as well as a couple of others that are maybe’s), that are joining the Superstock trial engine programmed for the upcoming season.
The confirmed cars are those of Paul Demanser, Justin Wigget, Greg Moseley, & me.
Paul is currently converting his self built car after having it parked for a couple of years. That car will be a shared drive between Paul & his son & will be registered to the Hawkes Bay, with travelling likely.
Justin will be new to superstocks, but not speedway. He has competed in stockcars, & had a fairly big involvement in ministocks. He is currently converting an ex. Hunter Gordge copy, & will run out of Wellington.
Greg had purchased this 511p car & will run out of Stratford. He has limited experience in superstocks, but no stranger to speedway.
I am converting the ex. Guilford car over at present. I did a few meetings late last year in this car. We had a few niggles that got in the way, but I did manage to get enough good laps in to compare apples with apples.
Each of the guys doing conversions have indicated they will show the conversion costs in due course.
There is often a suspision when someone wants to change the rules like this that it is for self gain. I would say the self gain for me is knowing my boy & others like him aren’t so burdened with finding the money to compete in the sport they have become addicted to. Yes I will be selling these engines along with other components needed, but only with the view to keeping other suppliers honest with their pricing. I have the view that this is my passion & not my income.
Also, just to reiterate, I am wanting this to be a superstock option, not replacement. It will take a shift in mindset, but in my vision we will have a superstock class where if you want to faster than the next guy with an equal chassis setup, then the 248 rule will allow you to do continue engine developments. The 602 spec engines don’t allow for any developments, but will be a reasonably competitive engine with a finite cost to purchase & to maintain, comparatively speaking. We know SNZ haven’t always been on the money with policing engines, & we know some of the reasons why. Other classes around the world do have successful co-existence of different packages, so there will be some added rules that come with this option in order for the policing to be effective.
In not trying to devalue the superstock class, rather make it more accessible to more people – doing my bit to stop the decline. There are at least 4 guys out there this year that wouldn’t be racing if the 602 wasn’t an option.
Thank you, BL

Hi, is SNZ actively advising the competitors of your sensible answer to the problem Brendan.
Just saw this topic (in the link below) about a team who live near the SNZ office who would be very happy if they found out about your effort.
The topic says that they just bought a whole Superstock just to get a motor out of it.
I bet they would have loved to take advantage of your idea if they had known about it.
Imagine how many teams could get together at a small cost and just have 1 spare engine to suit the whole team. (not that it would ever be required).
Imagine it being like the good ol days when teams had enough dosh in the pocket to shout all the boys and socialise with the other crews after every meeting.
Looks like you need to be nominated for the top award at the awards this year for your services to speedway mate.
macgor.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=27905&page=1

[Admin]

The engine is still on trial and can't be used for a NZ Championship , I would assume the team you are referring to would be aiming for the big prize at Nelson so the trial engine isn't an option(yet).

[theweapon]

Jan 6, 2013 10:24:56 GMT 12 Admin said:

The engine is still on trial and can't be used for a NZ Championship , I would assume the team you are referring to would be aiming for the big prize at Nelson so the trial engine isn't an option(yet).

True,
But, it will be of no suprise that Nelson will be won by a low hp engine .
NZ Super Saloons proved that last year.
If the trial engine was allowed, the intelligent chaps like Miers etc would have one in for Nelson in the hot dry slick summer race.
19c / 119v (1NZ 2013) will be limiting the engine with his bus rev limiter for finals night.

[brendanlucas]

Hi, the engine is still a trial engine, & will remain so for another 2 & a bit years. It was going to be put to vote this coming off season, but due to there not likely being enough info by the end of this season, the sensible move by SNZ to put off until there is enough info. What the added 2 years will help out with is allowing for the compatibility info to come through, to determine rules to run this engine by, & it will give an added 2 years for those guys that have invested their time & energy into this.
With the added 2 years, more experimentation can also be done. I am wanting to build a second car, sell the current car at the end of this season, then build another car that I’ve been toying with for some time.
Another car with a trial engine is now residing in Auckland & ready to go. 84A was ready a couple of days ago & from what I can gather will be at the next Waikaraka meeting. My own car doesen’t actually require too much to get it to the track, but hasn’t had my attention recently due to life getting in the way. Justin’s car in Wellington is probably suffering from similar issues to mine, life getting in the way, but I understand that shouldn’t be too far away either.

The complete engine including all the bits you need to buy as well as radiator, carburetor, & headers seems to be costing around the $8k mark give or take, so yes it is proving to be a cost effective option. I helped out one night this year on the 12s car (formerly 511p), and good to see when the car comes in the temp sitting ~ 190f in its second season.
Cheers, BL

[theweapon]

Cool,

That is a lot more cost effective than a Standard Stock engine built by Professionals who may match up to standards of the engine guys at GM
.
Are you finding that there are a lot of people interested with that type of engine budget ?