Any body watch the VW TDI CUP show on Speed

[Robert Zecca]

I watched this show twice this past weekend. SCCA did a great job and told a really good story. I highly recomend watching this if you get a chance. This appeals to younger drivers and workers and I hope that something will come out of this. We need more exposure like this.

GREAT JOB VW and SCCA!

Sincerely,
Bob Zecca

[benspeed]

I watched this also - outstanding - made me want to suit up and race.

The shame is that NASCAR has dominated Speed and we don't get to see enough of these outstanding road racing series. It was way more entertaining than any NASCAR race (and that's coming from a former stock car guy).

Cheers

[dj10]

I watched this also - outstanding - made me want to suit up and race.

The shame is that NASCAR has dominated Speed and we don't get to see enough of these outstanding road racing series. It was way more entertaining than any NASCAR race (and that's coming from a former stock car guy).

Cheers

Oh, I so wanted to see the drifting they had on speed.........NOT !!!:cool: I'm about ready to cancel that channel! drifting & nascar go hand in hand.....they both suck.

[924Guy]

Yeah, saw that, great coverage!

[lawtonglenn]

Racing : Drifting
100m Freestyle : Synchronized Swimming

[lateapex911]

Racing : Drifting
100m Freestyle : Synchronized Swimming

As a swimmer, let me expand on that a bit.

3 mile open ocean swim > 12 hour endurance race
400 individual medley (100yds or mtrs of the fly, back breast and free) > roadracing
100 IM > autocrossing
50 Free > drag racing
Drifting > synchronized swimming, or diving.

[RexRacer19]

I had it on out in the garage this weekend. Very good show and a great supliment to the race coverage itself. One thing stood out to me. A really good driver spent $60k to finish 3rd in points. With all the crashes that they had throughout the season, that looked to be a spendy series. (I realize that it gets way more spendy as one goes higher up the ladder.)

VW and SCCA did a good job with this series and the races were "action packed". That makes for good TV for the masses.

[Robert Zecca]

Speed TV also did a great job on Formula Drift series. I loved the person waving the starting flag!!! Our flaggers look a bit different??

Now they have to get rid of Wrecked on Speed or play it less. Between all the runs of Wrecked and Pinks the channel is getting boring. Enough is enough. We need to find a strong partner for SCCA so that we can get more shows up with better airtimes.

I guess we will start with Pro It

Thanks
Bob

[Xian]

I had it on out in the garage this weekend. Very good show and a great supliment to the race coverage itself. One thing stood out to me. A really good driver spent $60k to finish 3rd in points. With all the crashes that they had throughout the season, that looked to be a spendy series. (I realize that it gets way more spendy as one goes higher up the ladder.)

VW and SCCA did a good job with this series and the races were "action packed". That makes for good TV for the masses.

Yep, that's what jumped out to me too... $60k for what, 8 races? I understand that includes travel and crash damage but damn that's some serious coin.

Christian

[lateapex911]

It's seems expensive, but, do some math, and if you can find a cheaper televised series that has the same possible payout at the end, you're doing well.

My only complaint is that the cars are too easy to drive. DSG trannies, and ABS. Blech.

[JeffYoung]

170 hp, 260 ft lbs, 2800 lbs. Is that with driver?

THey were running about 2:14 to 2:15 at VIR. That's pretty damn good.

[Xian]

It's seems expensive, but, do some math, and if you can find a cheaper televised series that has the same possible payout at the end, you're doing well.

True... cheap for what it is but that's still a metric ton of $$ for a "starter" series. It just serves to underscore how expensive getting into racing can be.

[RexRacer19]

My only complaint is that the cars are too easy to drive. DSG trannies, and ABS. Blech.

Would there have been any cars left in the end without all of that stuff then? :rolleyes:

[dj10]

170 hp, 260 ft lbs, 2800 lbs. Is that with driver?

THey were running about 2:14 to 2:15 at VIR. That's pretty damn good.

Isn't that about the same times as ITS cars?

[Mike Mackaman]

I only run VIR at the Goblins Go, so the track is not ideal for fast times, but ITS cars are a good bit lighter, nowhere near the torque and about 2 seconds slower. It think they had some go fast tires on those cars though. I may be wrong, but they looked pretty big/trick compared to the 50 series Hoosiers we are running. Maybe I am being fooled by the stenciled insignia and "tuner" wheels in large diameter low profiles.
Mike

[chewy8000]

Now they have to get rid of Wrecked on Speed or play it less. Between all the runs of Wrecked and Pinks the channel is getting boring.

I second that. I can't stand that annoying scripted spin off of OCC. It's seems like it's always on. Typical angry meathead dad runs the business. How exciting is a bunch of tow trucks anyway? Seriously... "Duh we had to go an use the winch cuz the truck was stuck Der Duh..."

Pinks sucks too. Probably would have done much better if it wasn't on every 2 hours. WTF!!!!! Speed has been erased from my tivo for now.

Fuel TV for life.

[lateapex911]

They run about a minute flat at Lime Rock, which is pole time in an ITS car. They have odd suspension characteristics. At the NJMP event, they appeared to 'bounce' a lot. Turn in hard, and the chassis takes a roll, and seems to bounce. And the same on braking. Go off course, and it's especially prevalent.

It kinda looks like they are under damped.

Yes, less cars at the end would have been fine if it made the skill set of the drivers more important.

[Jeremy Billiel]

Well done IMO. It was fun to watch and looked like a ton of fun to drive.

[RexRacer19]

It think they had some go fast tires on those cars though. I may be wrong, but they looked pretty big/trick compared to the 50 series Hoosiers we are running. Maybe I am being fooled by the stenciled insignia and "tuner" wheels in large diameter low profiles.
Mike

They run the exact same tires at the Porsche Supercup guys run, but use the "fronts" on all for corners. So, they are a true slick tire. From my understanding, the suspensions are a spec style with either few or no adjustments. They were allowed air pressure adjustments within a certain range and were limited to the amount of tires they could use.

[kartracer88f]

Hi guys, I'm Josh Hurley who won the championship (some of you might know me I run with Paul Ronie and David Liera alot. The cars were very underdamped as stated. At some tracks they were undersprung as well, at Road Atlanta the cars were on the bump stops through every corner. There were no adjustments except for tire pressure and even that was limited. As far as budget goes, it really is the cheapest thing going I spent about 48 k including travel and damge which is pretty unbeatable in pro racing. It's funny about them being easy to drive, I found the DSG harder to go quick with than a normal transmission due to how high the "safter" was set on the down shifts. It made you wait to down shift to prevent overrevs, but the wait was set about 1000 rpm to high, which on a diesel is quite alot. The abs was also not helpful as if you got into it, the car would just not stop well. I got to test a Rolex GT car after the season was over and found that much easier to drive. The series was very fair however as we all learned how to drive around what the car was doing.

[lateapex911]

Congrats, Josh! I haven't seen all the races, but it looked like the qualifying times were VERY close. That's a good thing, for the viewers at least.

It did look like some guys were better on the brakes than others. Your ABS info makes that make sense now. I thought it looked like smooth driving was important due to the spring/damper combo...was that the case?

how do you think the series will do next year? Will the economy hurt it? Do they allow drivers to return?

[kartracer88f]

It will be even bigger next year. The price for pro racing as well as the prize package is pretty unbeatable. The price will go up to 40k before damage and travel next year, but adds two more races. You are allowed to go back provided you did not win the championship and are under the age of 26. With the amount of exposure for the budget I found it a pretty good tool to get sponsors, and think a weak economy may steer some sponsors to the series as a good exposure to dollar ratio compared to others. The driving style depended on the track as the cars balance changed a bit through out the season. Some places it was very smooth, where there were other places where the understeer was so brutal you had to throw the car in under the brakes. Some of that should be rectified next year though as they are moving to a different shock package.

[Knestis]

We would LOVE to figure out a way to use one of these bad-ass tools to take the fight to the Porsches, Acura TL, Bimmers, et al. in amateur endurance racing. I have to believe that this could be a great logical next step for VWoA and would love a chance to pitch the idea to the right people.

K

[RexRacer19]

That would be mighty fun, Kirk. With freedom to work on the suspension, the car could get better. And I know you like them quiet too. :)

[Robert Zecca]

Dear Josh,

I would like to personally congratulate you. I watched the show twice and loved it. This is a great series for SCCA and hopefully it will relate and get exposure from younger potential members.

You drove and well represented yourself both on and off the track. Please take a look at our series: www.proitseries.com and if you come across any potential drivers, please send them our way.

Best of luck to you in the future.

Sincerely,
Bob Zecca
www.teamdi.com