[s-cars] UrS as a Purpose Built Track Car?

[John Cody Forbes]

For the record, I've done a bunch of research on the Trans Am cars. The rear suspension was stock except the damper and spring plus delrin or similar bushings. The front suspension was all heavily modified with S1 spindles/struts, a new heim jointed wishbone on the bottom, the subframe removed and a new frame structure welded to the chassis, and all new pickup points. The chassis were built on a VERY tight time schedule and the basic chassis is stock aft of the front firewall. At least one chassis was raced with the factory undercoating because they didn't have time to remove it. Note that the drivers position was moved rearward somewhere between a foot and 18 inches to shift some weight rearwards and the dry-sump system, even the oil cooler, was in the trunk to get some more weight in the back.
Front wishbone suspension pic below. Notice the welded box frame under the axle/control arm. Normally that area was open and the bolted on subframe was a bit inboard of that.
http://jcforbes.com/jcfpics/transam/MH200E12

In that gallery you'll find a couple hundred pictures I've accumulated of the 80's road race cars. I've got about 50 more detail shots with the bodywork off that I keep forgetting to upload.

-Cody (mobile)

On Nov 16, 2010, at 10:00 AM, Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com> wrote:

> The Audi factory cars were very, very well prepped. I'm sure that the
> Trans-Am 200s had a lot of stuff done to them that make it quite different
> from a street 200. Granted they are very forgiving cars to drive, but for
> the dollars invested, is it worth it?
> 
> Good as a track car relative to what, though? Newer cars are so much faster
> in general that it's hard to beat them with old tech.
> 
> Given a choice, I'd rather drive a Porsche GT3, though. :-)
> 
> Taka
> 
> 
> On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 6:08 PM, <qshipq at aol.com> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Well, I appreciate the confidence Taka.  I'm competitive in motorsports,
>> and I know a type 44 can be a good track car, cuz I handed the keys to the
>> one I built to Probst for his evaluation.  It was not only driven damn fast
>> by a damn fast driver, it's the ease of doing so that *makes* the type
>> 44/D2/C4 chassis good track cars.  Even Rohrl is on record as enjoying the
>> type 44 race cars for that exact reason.  The downside to the 44/D2/C4
>> chassis is the front suspension triangulated swaybar setup, but some fine
>> tuning of the geometry, and a almost perfectly designed rear suspension
>> makes up for the front, btdt.
>> 
>> I have a few type 85, 2 D2's, and have owned and built several type 44's.
>> I find t44 to be excellent track cars, mostly do to the wheelbase and rear
>> suspension being very forgiving to the wrong front inputs.  And, like the
>> ride I had with Probst, what makes you laugh about the type 44, is how
>> relaxed you are compared to other drivers in your speed-pack.  So
>> satisfying, that you end up laughing at the absurdity of it all.  Somewhere
>> I have a pic of Probst just post-ride at Brainerd, and the s*#t eating grin
>> on his face can not be mistaken for anything but pure enjoyment of that
>> chassis in full race regalia.
>> 
>> Then again, if you haven't had the opportunity, it's hard to fathom.  Me,
>> I've tweeked several C4's and type44's over the years for high speed auto-x,
>> as well as, solid track cars.  Right now, I'm up to my eyeballs in type 85
>> work, but I really think a 5 speed v8 track car would be the ultimate
>> sleeper, and one that makes all the right sounds...  I'm in the process of
>> doing finish work on a running v8 with 5 speed ina C4 chassis wagon, and the
>> memories of the LT1Q come to mind, as do those familiar smiles....
>> 
>> Cheers
>> 
>> Scott J
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com>
>> To: qshipq at aol.com
>> Cc: iduff at comcast.net; s-car-list at audifans.com
>> Sent: Mon, Nov 15, 2010 3:31 pm
>> Subject: Re: [s-cars] UrS as a Purpose Built Track Car?
>> 
>> All that means is that you are pretty damn fast, Scott. That doesn't make
>> a type 44 a good track car.
>> 
>> Taka
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 10:09 AM, <qshipq at aol.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Those that remember this beast I built years ago can relate...  At a
>>> M-track day several years ago at Gingermann Raceway MI, my urq wasn't
>>> ready...  So, I grabbed this from the wife, took out the kiddie seat, and
>>> passed fully stripped track prepped E30 M3's.  Many came over to 'look under
>>> the hood', which was dirty and filled with sand from a trip to the beach.
>>> One guy looked in the back seat and said "Hey it must be these french fries
>>> from the kiddie meal back here!"
>>> http://forums.audiworld.com/album.php?albumid=37342&pictureid=75920
>>> 
>>> Rule #1, no matter how fast you are, there's always gonna be some nutball
>>> that built a sleeper, that will just bury the ego.
>>> 
>>> SJ
>>> 
>> 
>> 
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