The College of Creative Studies has turned in its ideas to the league. The article is at IndyCar.com

No gallery of what they did ?

This quote seems to sound ... odd.

The next generation car will have similar downforce properties as the current package, according to Indy Racing League senior technical director Les Mactaggart.

"We're looking at all sorts of configurations to see what's best for the cars in the future," he said. "The smaller the wing, the less affect it has. You still have to generate downforce underneath the car. We have to look at all those things and decide what is the best compromise. If we could generate more drag without increasing the downforce significantly, that would be the ideal scenario. The drag tends to limit the speed of the car, while downforce relates to the stability and drivability. It's very difficult to separate the two."

The two spots I highlighted seem to imply a high down force car with high drag. Basically, the same DF as they have now with MORE drag to slow them down. I haven't heard any rumors that the engine design is to have MORE horse power. I would suggest that is a recipe for pack racing.

JohnW63, their are pictures of the cars and their are a couple that look pretty good.

Whatever those students came up with might be interesting, but meaningless. It's a PR exercise, which is fine, but it's not going to produce the next Indy car.
The implication here is for the current formula of high downforce high drag racing. A depressing thought really. It means that Indycar anticipates racing on a lot of high banked ovals for the forseeable future. it also means that they won't give up on their super close (pack) racing and .000Nth finishes. This may seem like good marketing, heck, I'll even concede that it IS good marketing, but for a gearhead like me, it's not good racing. Might as well be a time trial.

Other than that one picture of some pictures, where are the images of these cars ? Why not SHOW them ? A nice little gallery with the students name would be good.

Its good to see that some people still have a open mind.

A bit later and the gallery is accessible.

johnw63 - 02 May 2008 04:53 PM

No gallery of what they did ?

This quote seems to sound ... odd.

The next generation car will have similar downforce properties as the current package, according to Indy Racing League senior technical director Les Mactaggart.

"We're looking at all sorts of configurations to see what's best for the cars in the future," he said. "The smaller the wing, the less affect it has. You still have to generate downforce underneath the car. We have to look at all those things and decide what is the best compromise. If we could generate more drag without increasing the downforce significantly, that would be the ideal scenario. The drag tends to limit the speed of the car, while downforce relates to the stability and drivability. It's very difficult to separate the two."

The two spots I highlighted seem to imply a high down force car with high drag. Basically, the same DF as they have now with MORE drag to slow them down. I haven't heard any rumors that the engine design is to have MORE horse power. I would suggest that is a recipe for pack racing.

I hope this is a misprint. More drag? I thought new cars were designed to minimize drag. Take the COT, remove the fenders and you have your new Indy car. Want more drag without increasing downforce? Put a parachute behind the cars.

Not a misprint by me.

High drag + high down force + ? Horse power = easier to drive, more pedal to the metal, pack racing.

Many people here, have suggested that the cars LOOK to easy to drive. Many complain that foot to the floor racing removes too much driver skill from the equation. Some have suggested that LESS down force would be better, so that they have to lift of even hit the brakes for the corners would add more action and give the driver a chance to show their stuff.

By the quoted article, they IRL is thinking in the opposite direction.

They look mor like ALMS Sports cars than open-wheel cars. i only saw one that looked remotely like an Indycar.

i think they should consider using an updated & slightly improved DP01.

As if it matters, .... Here is my stance.

I don't care if they used the DP01 or even something like it. I'm fine with something with a more "unique" look to it, so that you CAN tell the difference between an American O/W car and the rest. But, it should not be at the expense of performance.

It should meet specific guidelines for safety. For instance, no matter what side of the fence you sit on, it should NOT sail as much as the current one. Yes, yes,...some people will say ANY open wheel car will get airborne, if the wheels hit. Sure, they can, but please ... look at the films. I have never seen an F1 car or CART or GP2 or what ever car get as high and stay as long, as the current IRL chassis. If that is because of the speeds, well then find a way to NOT do that at speeds ! Undertray changes ? Front wing changes ? Find a fix.

It should be good at ALL types of tracks, NOT just ovals. It's not going to be an all oval series anymore, so make a car that does them all well.

I think what will be found is that the rest of the worlds O/W cars looks the same because they are designed to DO the same thing. Adding ovals into the design will probably NOT change the look that much. Perhaps a little wider sides and more sturdy, but not lots else.