The Latest Engine Rumor

[gttouring]

well scrap the pop-off valves, and use the more simple blow off valve as in WRC they seem to handle boost control rather well- or mandate smaller turbo impellers or housings...ala Garret T28 vs, a 3/4 or something
when boost is kept down by mechanical limit it should work fine. or rev limits or something, it really isn't so hard, i feel they are afraid of a Penske-Mercedes incident again- that 1000HP turbo pushrod he had them build-yowza!

[macdaddy]

"Yowza" may be a bit of an understatement for that Merc!

[Flavinha]

There's an news at ItaliaRacing (http://www.italiaracing.net) - it is in Italian - saying that Toyota can announce on this Friday that they will not be in IndyCar next year.

[Tim Northcutt]

Which tells men that the IRL will announe their engine formula at Texas this weekend....

and if this is true, Toyota is breaking their extension signed last year that would take them up to the 2007 season

[gttouring]

well that could bin it, especially as honda has been huffing about one series...
wow tooyota is taking NASCAR too seriously,
i know big money big exposure, how can you beat it? i feel they are simply feeding the beast

[rustyfan]

Just read a piece at the IndyStar.com website about Texas qualifying, and I found this rather interesting:

Another irony, as noted by Scheckter, is that Patrick could be instrumental in keeping Panther's engine supplier from leaving the series. General Motors has announced this will be its last season, but Scheckter said the company might be having second thoughts.

"One thing needs to be mentioned. There is an increase in viewership, for whatever reason, and I think we know what the reason is," the South African said.

"I hope that keeps Chevy in. And I'm hoping that if we push very hard and get some wins for them that we'll be able to change their mind."

Of course it's just speculation on Scheckter's part, but I figured I'd post it in here nontheless.

[indycool]

A subscription site reported earlier this week that it had sources in Europe who said Toyota would announce this weekend it's pulling out of the IRL and scheduled a press conference at Texas. There has been no such press conference at Texas and a poster at another forum very familiar with the Texas operation said none was scheduled. But Toyota DID issue a press release there that said Ken Schrader would drive a Toyota truck at Michigan. So much for a big announcement.

[mountainstar]

I think Chevy will leave regardless because the cost of keeping up with Toyota and Honda is too much and GM's current financial situation. The only way I think GM would stay is if the business model changed back to the way it was in the late 90's with the customers footing the bill.

[Tim Northcutt]

At this point, the way I understnad it, GM has the Cosworth blocks, and Speedway Engines in Indy is doing all of the service, builds and improvements...

Want to know why there are two Chevy engines on the front row at Texas???

I can name that tune in two words:

Rick Long

He is the head of Speedway engines and he learned his craft from one of the top engine builders in open-wheel racing over the last 50 or so years...the late Herb Porter....

If that arrangement would stay in place, why wouldn't Chevy decide to stay in it???

[jock25]

I certainly like the manufacturer-spec, specialist-tuned set-up and would think it a good option for future IRL engine regulations. Against the backdrop of spiralling budgets and manufacturers considering future options, it certainly makes sense as a far more cost-effective option.

Penske are clearly tweeking the Toyota unit to far outperform their rivals, and on the assumption that Tim's comments are spot on, the Chevy set-up is probably getting General Motors more return on their investment relative to Honda and Toyota.

I must admit I am a sucker for having manufacturer badges on racing cars - I will always believe it adds a certain legitimacy and credibilility to the racing series in question. The only downside is that it invariably leads to peaks and troughs. But something like the current Chevy or the Penske/Toyota arrangement, or even (dare I say it after the events of this week) the CC Ford-badged Cosworth engines arrangement would maintain that credibility without breaking the bank. That would be good for the IRL.

[Tim Northcutt]

In many ways, that is the way the engine programs worked in the early iRL years....

Builders like Speedway, Comptec, Rousch, Brayton, and others were approved for such builds on the IRL engines that teams bought....

I believe Team Owner shared with us that a possible scenario for 2007 would be a production-baased or derived block and engine "kit" that would be prepared by a builder such as the ones I listed above, and they would have leeway concerning valvetrains, and some other aspects to tweak them....

[jock25]

Don't go all technical on me or I will have to leave due to chronic ignorance!

I remember Team Owner saying that and with that in mind it makes even more sense. I think with the positive moves since Indy and hopefully 11 further thrilling races, a major boost for coming seasons would be a shift back towards engine specs that would allow more new teams to enter. A "kit" set-up would certainly assist that as the noises coming from the teams seems to centre around the engine development (led by Honda admitedly) as the main problem hampering the smaller teams.

...as an aside, Penske really must be doing something special with those Toyota units!

[rustyfan]

Curt Cavin, of the Indianapolis Star, had the following in his Q&A column, posted a couple of days ago:

Originally Posted by IndyStar.com

Question: Have the latest "reunification" talks ended? Rumors have been flying that they have. If that's the case, when can we expect news from the IRL about the 2007 specs? I thought they were supposed to be done by the Indy 500. Is the IRL just trying to keep from announcing bad news? Keep up the great reporting! (Allen from Howell, Mich.)

Answer: No one has commented on the talks, which tells me they're still a work in progress. You should know that only a few people are in the loop on this, and unless one of them starts talking (Tony George, Brian Barnhart and Kevin Kalkhoven), no one else can be a spokesman. As for the IRL specs, I've been told they won't be announced until July. To me, that's another sign that a deal could be reached. Stay tuned.

So we might be in for a wait when it comes the new specs being announced, if the info Cavin has heard is close to being correct.

And, uh, yeah, just ignore the part of that Q&A concerning the-issue-of-which-we-are-not-to-speak-of

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

And, uh, yeah, just ignore the part of that Q&A concerning the-issue-of-which-we-are-not-to-speak-of

Way to get me laughing first thing in the morning rusty!

[Hazza]

[Fawlty Towers Mode]Under no account shall there be mention of THE WAR![/Fawlty Mode]

[Snrub]

I'm not hopefull of common specs between the series, but we've been hearing for a while now that Indy was the time for the '07 specs, etc. Why did none of that happen? I'm not sure if the reasoning is wrangling/negotiations to keep all three manufacuters in the IRL or if it's to do with common specs with CC.

[sr230772]

chevy have really left last season cosworth block, speedway head