Spec Racer Ford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spec Racer Ford (SRF) is a class of racing car used in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) road racing events. The SRF class is a high performance, closed wheel, open cockpit, purpose-built race car intended for paved road courses, such as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Road America, Watkins Glen, and many other tracks around the country. With over 850 cars made, it is second only to Spec Miata as the most popular amateur road racing class in the United States.
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[edit] History
Spec Racer Ford first appeared in SCCA Club Racing in 1984 as "Sports Renault." When Renault bowed out of the program in 1989, the car was renamed "Spec Racer." The original Spec Racer is no longer an SCCA class, although a few Renault powered cars still compete in National Auto Sport Association (NASA), Midwestern Council Sports Cars Club (MWCSCC) and Eastern Motor Racing (EMRA) events. By 1994, the supply of rebuildable 1.7 liter Renault engines was drying up in the United States. The SCCA made the decision to replace the Renault powerplant with a 1.9 liter engine manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. This change gave the SRF an additional 10 horsepower to 105 - enough to push the cars along at speeds up to 135 mph. Other, more recent changes to the SRF include the now-standard "tallman kit", which is an extension of the safety rollbar, Penske shock absorbers replacing the original Konis, and a safety modification to the brakes. Tires have recently been changed to Goodyear in favor of the previous Yokohama tire due to a new sponsorship arrangement.
[edit] Technical
The SRF rules dictate that no performance enhancing modifications can be made to the car. This effectively eliminates the never-ending need for design enhancements necessary in other classes of racecars to remain competitive, and puts the focus on driver skill, rather than financial and technical investment. Every Spec Racer Ford weighs the same, uses the same engine, the same transmission, the same fiberglass body, the same chassis, even the same tires. The idea is that all of the cars are meant to have identical performance, so the only way to go faster is to be a better driver. The SRF's engine, transmission, and shock absorbers are sealed with tamper-proof devices that make it impossible to modify these components undetected. In addition, many parts of the car, including suspension arms, fiberglass, and sheet metal are marked for compliance checking with special holographic tamper-evident stickers bearing the SRF logo.
Specifications:
- Tube Frame Chassis
- Ford 1.9L fuel-injected, water cooled, SOHC 8-valve Hemi-head inline 4 cylinder
- Ford 5-speed manual transmission
- Custom exhaust
- Electronic engine management system
- 92" wheel base
- 1670 lbs. including driver
- 3 piece fiberglass body
- 105 HP (+/- approx. 3 HP)
- 135 MPH top speed
[edit] External links
- Manufacturer's Website
- Sports Car Club of America Website
- Official Spec Racer Ford Owner Registry
- Spec Racer Ford Discussion Forums
