Camaro ,Mustang ,Challenger in Koni Series !

[JEFFTATE]

Well , it looks like the good old days may be returning ..

There will be some new Camaros , Challengers , and Mustangs in the Grand-Am Koni GS and Grand-Am GT classes next year !!

This is exciting news !!
It's gonna' be similar to the old Trans-Am series .

Another cool thing is David Donohue ( son of Mark Donohue ) and Jeff Bucknum ( son of Ronnie Bucknum ) are gonna be driving the new Camaro . These are the sons of the actual guys who drove the #6 Penske/Sunoco Trans-Am Series Camaro in 1969 and won the Trans-Am Championship that year !

I'm going to the race at Barber Motorsports Park in April to see this !

Read these links ::

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.cfm?cid=23948

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.cfm?cid=23743

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/10/GRANDAMKONIGS-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/10/GRANDAMKONIGS2-1.jpg

[WILWAXU]

Yup, this should be cool!

[Damn True]

Anyone know the paint code on the chally? I saw one the other day on the highway, fantastic color!

[JEFFTATE]

It would be cool if P.J. Jones drove a Mustang and Alex Gurney drove a Challenger in this series.
It would be just like the old days..when Parnelli Jones drove the Bud Moore Boss Mustang and Dan Gurney drove the AAR 'Cuda.

[John Wright]

Are they making the camaro start two lengths behind to give the others a fair chance?:enguard:

[JEFFTATE]

It's funny , I was talking to David Donohue at Barber Motorsports Park in July of last year.
Of course , for part of the conversation , I was talking about his Dad and the '69 Penske Camaro.
I told him that it would be way to cool if he were to drive a new Camaro ( painted in the classic Penske colors )in the GS or GT series.
David seemed really nice and didn't let on that he was gonna be driving a new Camaro in the GS series.
Maybe they stole my idea ???

[JEFFTATE]

Are they making the camaro start two lengths behind to give the others a fair chance?:enguard:

LOL !
I wish the Camaro would kick butt again..

The Mustang has a several year head-start in the GS series.
The Camaro and Challenger are gonna have to do some development to catch up.

[Damn True]

LOL !
I wish the Camaro would kick butt again..

The Mustang has a several year head-start in the GS series.
The Camaro and Challenger are gonna have to do some development to catch up.

Just like last time.

[JEFFTATE]

Just like last time.

Yes.

[JEFFTATE]

Just like last time.

Yep..

[65 Fastback]

Well , it looks like the good old days may be returning ..

There will be some new Camaros , Challengers , and Mustangs in the Grand-Am Koni GS and Grand-Am GT classes next year !!

This is exciting news !!
It's gonna' be similar to the old Trans-Am series .

Another cool thing is David Donohue ( son of Mark Donohue ) and Jeff Bucknum ( son of Ronnie Bucknum ) are gonna be driving the new Camaro . These are the sons of the actual guys who drove the #6 Penske/Sunoco Trans-Am Series Camaro in 1969 and won the Trans-Am Championship that year !

I'm going to the race at Barber Motorsports Park in April to see this !

Read these links ::

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.cfm?cid=23948

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.cfm?cid=23743



Great news! Go MUSTANG, just like 1970!! Should be easy to beat those two overweight pigs around a track.

Tim

[Damn True]

Great news! Go MUSTANG, just like 1970!! Should be easy to beat those two overweight pigs around a track.

Tim

It wasn't last time.

FTR the Mopars were really fast in '69/'70 but broke.

[JEFFTATE]

The Mustangs were fast in '69-'70, but had tire issues.
They may have won the championship in '69 if they had a better tire.

Also , there was an article in Automobile magazine (Aug '09) where David Donohue and P.J. Jones drove the new mustang and camaro around New Jersey Motorsports Park .
They both agreed that the mustang handled better , but the Camaro had better brakes and more top end power.

[Damn True]

The Mustangs were fast in '69-'70, but had tire issues.
They may have won the championship in '69.

Also , there was an article in Automobile magazine (Aug '09) where David Donohue and P.J. Jones drove the new mustang and camaro around New Jersey Motorsports Park .
They both agreed that the mustang handled better , but the Camaro had better brakes and more top end power.

In street trim.

Racing will be a whole 'nuther deal. It may come out exactly the same. Hell the Mopar may spank them both (doubt it). But using street car "tests" as an analogue to how a REAL race might come out is fruitless. Too many variables. Get 'em on the track, at legal weights (I can almost guarantee the Camaro an Mustang will be nearly the same in race trim) with the spec tires and we'll see how it goes. They may make the Camaro carry extra ballast because of the horsepower advantage the way ALMS did with the CTS-V and Rolex did with the GTO-R.

[JEFFTATE]

In street trim.

Racing will be a whole 'nuther deal. It may come out exactly the same. Hell the Mopar may spank them both (doubt it). But using street car "tests" as an analogue to how a REAL race might come out is fruitless. Too many variables. Get 'em on the track, at legal weights (I can almost guarantee the Camaro an Mustang will be nearly the same in race trim) with the spec tires and we'll see how it goes. They may make the Camaro carry extra ballast because of the horsepower advantage the way ALMS did with the CTS-V and Rolex did with the GTO-R.

Ditto ..
But , the Koni Series GS cars are closer to street cars than the Rolex Series GT cars.
In other words , a Koni Series GS Camaro will be just a modified factory car , where-as a Rolex Series GT Camaro is a purpose built / tube chassis / from the ground up race car.

You're right though , they will probably add weight to the Camaro in the GS Series.

[wellis77]

Anyone know the paint code on the chally? I saw one the other day on the highway, fantastic color!

I'm not 100% sure but it looks like the new B5 blue.

[JEFFTATE]

Video :

wKefy0ZO9wk

[Damn True]

Ditto ..
But , the Koni Series GS cars are closer to street cars than the Rolex Series GT cars.
In other words , a Koni Series GS Camaro will be just a modified factory car , where-as a Rolex Series GT Camaro is a purpose built / tube chassis / from the ground up race car.

You're right though , they will probably add weight to the Camaro in the GS Series.

Good points, all.

To add. The Chevy will likely be brought down to the bare minimum weight per the CCR which will be right around that of the Mustang (same class, same min weight). THEN the stewards will slap a ballast penalty on the Camaro.

This can sometimes be a benefit because you usually have some freedom with where the weight goes. Thus you can sometimes correct a F/A or L/R weight imbalance caused by gutting the car to ready for racing. Where a car that starts lighter but doesn't get the penalty is stuck with an imbalance. The P&M CTS-V guys were faster on some tracks with the extra weight because of just this situation.

[CurtiSS 69]

Ditto ..
But , the Koni Series GS cars are closer to street cars than the Rolex Series GT cars.
In other words , a Koni Series GS Camaro will be just a modified factory car , where-as a Rolex Series GT Camaro is a purpose built / tube chassis / from the ground up race car.

You're right though , they will probably add weight to the Camaro in the GS Series.

The GS series looks excellent. Keeping them close to the street cars -and requiring them run a production chassis- should improve the breed and spark sales. Another tube chassis with a fibre-glass shell series wouldn't be the same. Hopefully the GS series will continue keeping them close to street cars, so it would get the factories to put those production porkers on a diet.

Regards

CurtiSS 69

[Damn True]

Hopefully the GS series will continue keeping them close to street cars, so it would get the factories to put those production porkers on a diet.

Regards

CurtiSS 69

Nice little fantasy.

You'll need to get the DOT, NHTSB and the ninnys that want electric everything out of the way first. Good luck with that.

The mfr's would LOVE to make these cars lighter if the were allowed to.

[JEFFTATE]

Nice little fantasy.

You'll need to get the DOT, NHTSB and the ninnys that want electric everything out of the way first. Good luck with that.

The mfr's would LOVE to make these cars lighter if the were allowed to.

Yep , the new cars are so heavy because of all the electronics , airbags , and emission system requirements mandated by the Government.

[Damn True]

Yep , the new cars are so heavy because of all the electronics , airbags , and emission system requirements mandated by the Government.

...and the market to some extent in terms of the quantity of sound deadener, power everything etc.

[CurtiSS 69]

Yep , the new cars are so heavy because of all the electronics , airbags , and emission system requirements mandated by the Government.

I’m not giving up that easily. Honda has cars that weight just over 2000lbs that meet all the government regulations. This proves it can be done -I know Detroit can do it- but it isn't a priority. They could pare down the luxury stuff. The ultra complicated climate control and ridiculous amounts of insulation, 50 way adjustable power seats, 10 speaker stereos & amplifiers, electric windows & mirrors, butt toasters, and more... All this stuff adds lots of weight. To bad we couldn't order these cars without all these items. It isn't just the American cars either. Look at BMW, and their one series plus the new lead M3.

The new GS series looks like a great one, and hopefully it picks up momentum creating large grids and becomes nationwide in the future.

Regards

-CurtiSS 69

[John Wright]

tDdWVPWW6lM&feature=player_embedded

Not quite up to Nascar speed in the pits, but still better than I could do....LOL


On the track....
SUJF-i03jyM&feature=player_embedded

[John Wright]

Jn8XhZ1zet0&feature=player_embedded

LOL...a mini leading the field, but that didn't last long

[Damn True]

I’m not giving up that easily. Honda has cars that weight just over 2000lbs that meet all the government regulations. This proves it can be done -I know Detroit can do it- but it isn't a priority. They could pare down the luxury stuff. The ultra complicated climate control and ridiculous amounts of insulation, 50 way adjustable power seats, 10 speaker stereos & amplifiers, electric windows & mirrors, butt toasters, and more... All this stuff adds lots of weight. To bad we couldn't order these cars without all these items. It isn't just the American cars either. Look at BMW, and their one series plus the new lead M3.

The new GS series looks like a great one, and hopefully it picks up momentum creating large grids and becomes nationwide in the future.

Regards

-CurtiSS 69

Those are features that, as I mentioned above, the market demands.
I agree that they could and should offer the option to delete. But those items are on the BOM because that is what the vastly overwhelming majority of the market wants.

[79-TA]

I’m not giving up that easily. Honda has cars that weight just over 2000lbs that meet all the government regulations. This proves it can be done -I know Detroit can do it- but it isn't a priority. They could pare down the luxury stuff. The ultra complicated climate control and ridiculous amounts of insulation, 50 way adjustable power seats, 10 speaker stereos & amplifiers, electric windows & mirrors, butt toasters, and more... All this stuff adds lots of weight. To bad we couldn't order these cars without all these items. It isn't just the American cars either. Look at BMW, and their one series plus the new lead M3.

The new GS series looks like a great one, and hopefully it picks up momentum creating large grids and becomes nationwide in the future.

Regards

-CurtiSS 69

What are you talking about? Even the silly Honda Fit weighs 2500 pounds.

http://automobiles.honda.com/fit/specifications.aspx




When I think about the 5th gen Camaro I always lament its weight and wish it was 9/10 scale. The odd thing though, is that it's only a little longer (4 inches or so?) and a little wider than the original. Of course, it's quite a bit taller.

If everything on the car were scaled down to 90% size, the mass would decrease by the cube of this number (as mass is a result of volume with all densities remaining the same) so it would weigh only 72.9% of what it weighs now. Of course, that is not possible as certain major components are going to remain the same size no matter what (LS3, 6l80E, etc.) I think it would be reasonable to think that a 9/10 scale 5th gen would weigh about 9/10's of what the real car does. That and 18" wheels would fill the wheel wells nicely; the real 5th gen almost needs 20's to look right. The Koni car almost looks awkard with its sub-19" wheels. 3500 lbm 5th gen Camaro complete with options . . . if only. But that's all just a pipe dream.

[JEFFTATE]

I love those videos !!
I'm getting inspired by racing !!