SRF Documentary

[Ken Grammer]

Yes, I know this is the Improved Touring forum... but Ryan Boyce completed a documentary about Spec Racer Fords and posted it on youtube at www.youtube.com/user/bebalonesic.

The documentary is a really great piece of work that EVERYONE can relate to. It was completed in the fall of 2008 with the assistance and help of Robert Reed, Pat Stringer and Jeff Lehner through visits to Watkins Glen International and at an interview session in Saratoga Springs, New York. The documentary starts with the three drivers talking about getting started in ice racing, then progresses to their transition to pavement racing in Spec Racer Fords.

This is the kind of PR work that SCCA *should* be doing!

Nice work lads!

[jungle]

decent video....i approve....

$30k for a new one, $20k for a used one....hmmm I think I'd rather buy a podium SM car for less than that.

[gran racing]

I thought it was a very well done video. The price to play SRF is beyond what I'd be able to afford, but none-the-less a neat video.

Myself and Kai made and low budget video about getting into racing which is geared much more so to a lower budget operation - both racing and filming. lol

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJngfMIXxrA&feature=channel[/ame]

[Ron Earp]

This is the kind of PR work that SCCA *should* be doing!

Nice work lads!

I agree. Well done video and I enjoyed watching it.

I think that SRF would be much more popular with two fairly simply changes:

• Body work on the car that doesn't look like ass. It doesn't cost any more money to have SRF bodywork that looks good as opposed to looking like a poorly designed door stop. Sex it up.

• A "modern" motor. While I'm a Ford guy, even I don't chub up on the 1.9L SOHC 8V four banger. I'm sure the younger "import" guys would love to see a Honda or Nissan motor in these cars, or, if it must be a Ford motor Ford has modern DOHC 4v engines available.

[gran racing]

Ron, you make some excellent points. If they made the car look nicer, put a updated motor in it (doesn't need to be more power), that class would quickly become more attractive. I think overall the concept of the catgory is a good one.

[lateapex911]

Isn't SRF the second or third most popular class in all of SCCA?

One reason it's popular is rules stability. It's a case of don't fix what isn't broken. Determining if it's 'broken' is the question. Sure, with a clean sheet of paper, those are good ideas, but what do you do with the existing customer base,?

[Jeremy Billiel]

Isn't SRF the second or third most popular class in all of SCCA?

One reason it's popular is rules stability. It's a case of don't fix what isn't broken. Determining if it's 'broken' is the question. Sure, with a clean sheet of paper, those are good ideas, but what do you do with the existing customer base,?

If I am SCCA I am laughing at you guys. Sure the ford engine is a little dated, BUT DAMN its been arguably the BEST class in size over the last 25 years.

[JohnRW]

The people who actually race them like it "just the way it is".


Jrw
(SRF chassis #432)(out of 900+)

[Ron Earp]

The people who actually race them like it "just the way it is".


Jrw
(SRF chassis #432)(out of 900+)

Until......you guys find out you're over the hill for racing and haven't attracted new blood........Not saying that is happening or will happen, haven't studied it and I'm not saying that SRF is "broken". But the SCCA could be a poster child for how to resist change.

Just threw a couple of comments out there on SRF from a guy who has watched them from the sidelines. Always was sort of attracted to the SRF racing but I need to have a "connection" with the car I race. I feel they are a little bit fugly and don't have interesting motors, so that sort of lessens the possibility of a connection for me.

I need to rent one for a weekend and have a drive.

[lateapex911]

Ron, SRFs are about RACING. It's just a tool to those guys. They want to compete first and foremost. And they don't want to be dorking with the car, tweaking this or building that, and they want the rules to be stable. People think the cost of an SRF is high, but, I think it's not. Buy one, race it, then sell it. I bet you end up paying very little when you divide by the number of races you got compared to other cars.

I agree, the engine is like a truck engine, and the body is meh. But, the racing is close, the engines are sealed, reliable, and reasonable $. There isn't a big concern over cheating, and the cars are robust and simple. So they do a LOT right. You can't have everything.

[Ron Earp]

Ron, SRFs are about RACING. It's just a tool to those guys. They want to compete first and foremost. And they don't want to be dorking with the car, tweaking this or building that, and they want the rules to be stable. People think the cost of an SRF is high, but, I think it's not. Buy one, race it, then sell it. I bet you end up paying very little when you divide by the number of races you got compared to other cars.

I agree, the engine is like a truck engine, and the body is meh. But, the racing is close, the engines are sealed, reliable, and reasonable $. There isn't a big concern over cheating, and the cars are robust and simple. So they do a LOT right. You can't have everything.

What, you mean there are people that come to the track and don't want to spend the weekend on their back, in an ant colony, with 100F temperatures, trying to make their 40 year old piece of shit run just once more for the weekend? No way.

All good points and I agree. It'd be cool to have all of that AND interesting cars. Like you say, can't have it all, I suppose..........

[Butch Kummer]

Since Ken already moved off of the IT topic:

For $25K I'd rather get a GTA car (and you can get a nice one for that), have the same operating expenses as IT or SRF, be able to run 150+ on the back straight at Road Atlanta, and it'd be a LOT simpler to fix if/when you have an off-road excursion. And now that we're allowing the 2010 Camaro & Mustang bodywork ($3500 for the complete body, including windows), they don't all look like your Daddy's Oldsmobile (or a taxi-cab) any more.

Just sayin...

[LIRacer]

I was an SRF owner / driver 'till I took a break from racing '07 for finacial reasons. This last year I rented a BMW 325is for IT-R. After an off track excursion into a wall at NHMS, and the ensuring $6,000 bill to fix it, I can say with some certainty, that although the initial cost of the SRF is higher, the cost of racing is much lower. The drive train lasts years, the frame is almost bullit proof, and we don't have to spend any money to be at the front of the pack. It just takes driving skill (which I lack). And while SRF wont do 150 in a straight, it's track times are very competitive to 'production' cars with more HP as they can out handle and brake harder. In 2006 I put my SRF into a wall at NHMS (see a pattern here?) during quals. With some suspension spares and racer's tape, I competed in both races. In IT I would have been done for the weekend. Yes, they look dated, and have a flatulant sound, but you can't beat the large classes, competitive racing where ever you are in the pack, and bang for the buck.

[JohnRW]

In 2006 I put my SRF into a wall at NHMS (see a pattern here?) during quals. With some suspension spares and racer's tape, I competed in both races. In IT I would have been done for the weekend.

Bruce makes an important point.

In the 11 years that I've had an SRF, had 3+ big hits that, if they'd been in a production-based tub, would have = "new car" (I know this from crashing IT cars!). A few other hits that would have been "spend most of the season fixing the mess" in a tub car. In the SRF, a new radiator, fix the front aluminum stuff, pop-rivet & glass the nose...maybe replace a bent knuckle & toe link...go racing the next day or the next weekend. Only one (flying the car over an Atlantic at Mosport..quite a ride, actually) required frame repair / welding. Had one hit that tore off the RF suspension and made a mess of the car...that was Saturday...missed qualifying on Sunday as I was still stringing the car, but started at the rear of a 20+ car field and won it. Those little suckers can take some abuse.

So...after 11 years, I can pretty much sell it for what I bought it for in 1999, it's still competitive, and there are no supply-chain issues. From the seat, I can't see how "ugly" it is, and the flatulent sound is only apparent from outside the car.

Ok then.

[dickita15]

Back in the day when they were new it was obvious they provided good racing but people used to say you had to race one so you did not have to watch them

[Z3_GoCar]

I agree. Well done video and I enjoyed watching it.

I think that SRF would be much more popular with two fairly simply changes:

• Body work on the car that doesn't look like ass. It doesn't cost any more money to have SRF bodywork that looks good as opposed to looking like a poorly designed door stop. Sex it up.

• A "modern" motor. While I'm a Ford guy, even I don't chub up on the 1.9L SOHC 8V four banger. I'm sure the younger "import" guys would love to see a Honda or Nissan motor in these cars, or, if it must be a Ford motor Ford has modern DOHC 4v engines available.

Ron,

You mean like these:



The motor and the drive wheels are at the proper ends. We had one show up to our last school with a Miata motor in it

[JohnRW]

Engine at the proper end ? You're kidding, right ?

THIS





...is a PROPER Ginetta, with the engine where it belongs...in the rear.

[Z3_GoCar]

Ahhhh... No

I mean I'm not serious :P

[Bill Miller]

Engine at the proper end ? You're kidding, right ?

THIS





...is a PROPER Ginetta, with the engine where it belongs...in the rear.

UNF!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way.

On the subject of SRF's, I agree, the bodywork has never really done anything for me. And that goes back ~25 years when I first saw a SR (Renault). I remember back in the late 80's that you could buy a new one for ~$10k (have to dig out some old SportsCar issues). When they went to Ford power, you could buy converted ones for mid to high teens, and really nice ones for $20k. That was almost 20 years ago. And has been pointed out, that's what they go for today.

I don't know the exact chassis number, I think the first new one that was built w/ Ford power was around #650 - #700. I still don't think they've built 1000 of them. Doesn't that seem odd for what's been one of the most popular classes in Club Racing since it started? I believe that's a testement to how well built and strong the cars are. Guys buy them (used), race them, and sell them for most of what they paid for them.

Honestly, who the hell cares what kind of motor is in it? Sure it would be nice if it had a cool exhaust sound, or made another 50 hp, but really, who cares? The bodywork is another issue. Sure you could change it, but you'd have to get everyone that runs one to buy new bodywork.

I've driven one (albeit w/ Renault power), and they're very fun cars to drive and race. "Feels" way more like a "real" race car than a Miata. And speaking of Miatas, I think SRF got the whole 'spec' thing soooo much more right than SM. I'm pretty sure that a new SRF motor from Enterprises is about half the cost of a 'pro' SM motor.