IndyCar: COTA Discussion Thread

[farjam]

Can't unsee : watch the 00:01:27 to 00:01:35 Here:

 

[Stephen O'Sullivan]

COTA looks like an awkward track and, in sims at least, is awkward to drive, being full of unnatural corners, apexes, cambers and summits. However, I find that that artificiality makes it very challenging and thus rewarding to get right. Not only does the driver have to learn each corner, many of which require driving an unnatural line, he/she must also work out how to string them together when the fastest route through a corner puts the car in the wrong position for the next turn. It's an ugly and infuriating track but also a very technical one. There are seconds of time buried all over the track - the fun comes in digging them out.

 

[LilSki]

I was excited to see a post about something other than F1 but yet it becomes another comparison thread for no good reason. Someday i hope F1 fans might come to realize that it isn't all about lap times.

Anyway I don't particularly like COTA for it being overly complicated. But it looks like it will put on a good race.

 

[Kenny Paton]

CreamyCornCob
I suggest you take a time out and leave those who want to discuss the race in peace to do so.

 

[Eric Rowland]

 

[Andrew Harper]

Looking forward to this. On boards look great, the cars look tricky to drive. Should be a good race.

Comparisons though are unfair. Just too many variables. The business model for Indycar is vastly different to F1. In F1 the budgets are huge. In Indycar its more about cost control and that’s very important.

They are both still very fast race cars. The newer indycar was designed to be less reliant on aero to aid racing and the brakes are less effective (again to aid overtaking) and we all know from sim racing that you can make huge amounts of time under brakes. Whereas the F1 car produces huge amounts of downforce and can stop in a quarter of the distance.

The other main difference is the power plant. The hybrid system in F1 cars propels them out of corners like a bullet out of a gun. If you compare the LMP hybrids to the normal LMP cars on video you’ll see what I mean. Extreme example but I would imagine it’s a similar effect.

If they had similar engine types, the F1 car would still be ahead but the gap would be less.

I think the last time these two shared a track was Montreal. On that occasion the gap was about 6-8 seconds, and as the the chassis freeze kicked in the gap got wider. Again they had steel brakes at that time (if I remember) so braking is a huge difference.

Anyway that’s enough of that rubbish. The important thing is the racing is great, the cars looks good, anyone in the top 12 can win and the series is doing well. Good that COTA is trying to bring more racing too. I get the impression it’s a bit of a ghost circuit for most of the year.

For those of you who are going to watch the race, enjoy it. The world of F1 is sometimes so full of itself it forgets about the fans and at least with Indycar you’ll get closer to your hero’s and enjoy the experience more. Have fun

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Care to explain this baseless claim? They'd be lapping Indycars left and right, hand over fist.

Ever seen an F1 car complete 500 miles at full speed?

 

[Marc Collins]

I'm just shocked that there is no broadcast in Canada. Only some bizarre cable channel that you cannot PVR.

 

[Tim O'Glock]

www.tiny.cc/bsracing2

 

[johnnymat]

This forum has some trolls making foolish comments about IndyCar. I don't care if they're a lot slower than F1 cars, they are so much more fun to watch. They do actual passing based on driver skill, the drivers have to work very hard because they have no power steering, and the cars are so much better looking than F1 cars. If you like the F1, that's fine, but that's no reason to make snarky comments about IndyCar. IndyCar has a level of unpredictability that F1 will never have, and that's why I like it.

 

[michelforest]

COTA looks like an awkward track and, in sims at least, is awkward to drive, being full of unnatural corners, apexes, cambers and summits. However, I find that that artificiality makes it very challenging and thus rewarding to get right. Not only does the driver have to learn each corner, many of which require driving an unnatural line, he/she must also work out how to string them together when the fastest route through a corner puts the car in the wrong position for the next turn. It's an ugly and infuriating track but also a very technical one. There are seconds of time buried all over the track - the fun comes in digging them out.

Of all the Tilke tracks, COTA is by far my favorite in F1 2018. You're right: it is a technical track but it's very rewarding when you get it right.

 

[michelforest]

I'm just shocked that there is no broadcast in Canada. Only some bizarre cable channel that you cannot PVR.

Indeed, and we Canadians have been complaining ever since the new tv deal was announced. The problem is that, with the exceptions of the Indy 500 and the Toronto race, tv ratings for Indycar are pretty bad, around 50,000 viewers per race. TSN don't want anything to do with it, and Sportsnet only agreed to put Indycar on its Sportsnet World channel, at 20$ a month. Sucks.

 

[protonv5]

And where having a heated discussion else where
Poor Indycars are 14 seconds off F1 times. The excuses I'm hearing are pure gold
BTW: I've been around this entire motorsport scene for three decades. I KNOW the pain of the indycar faithful, they just can't except it... oh well.

You know, kinda su*k it

Guess you don't know all that much about IndyCar then. Cars will hit over 230MPH around a speedway all day long. Not seen an F1 car do that yet. Oh, well. Perhaps someday F1 cars will go fast.

 

[farjam]

That was a great race!

Spoiler: spoiler

Power lost the power damn it , also Colton was great!! at 18 years, 11 months and 22 days, just became the youngest INDYCAR winner ever.

 

[CreamyCornCob]

Guess you don't know all that much about IndyCar then. Cars will hit over 230MPH around a speedway all day long. Not seen an F1 car do that yet. Oh, well. Perhaps someday F1 cars will go fast.

They dont race on ovals buffoon, so you wouldn't know their speed now would you. I know plenty and have for over three decades about indycar. Todays indycar is a %100 spec class.

 

[ermo]

Does anyone know why IndyCar decided against allowing power steering in the first place?

If the power steering unit were to be a spec unit installed in a prescribed spot with a prescribed amount of fluids (assuming that it was either hydraulic or electro-hydraulic for the most communicative feel), it wouldn't be a performance differentiator per se, would it?

As for today's race, it was the first time I've watched an IndyCar road race. I loved the sound, the braking duels and how slowly and carefully they had to finagle the cars around the corners compared to F1's ultra short braking distances and super high cornering speeds. Lots of close racing and lots of car movement on display. Heck, even the mechanics doing the wheel changes looked amazing and like true athletes -- much more interesting and fun to watch than the snoozefest F1 has become (F1's exciting technology notwithstanding).

Didn't love the commercials though. Is this what watching sports on US TV is like? The race almost felt more like an ad-delivery vehicle than a race in its own right ...

 

[samcar304]

Does anyone know why IndyCar decided against allowing power steering in the first place?

They just wanted it to be more physical i think, probably have a bit more feeling too.

 

[Motowntom]

And where having a heated discussion else where
Poor Indycars are 14 seconds off F1 times. The excuses I'm hearing are pure gold
BTW: I've been around this entire motorsport scene for three decades. I KNOW the pain of the indycar faithful, they just can't except it... oh w

[/Q

 

[CreamyCornCob]

I think your username should be "Riding a corncob" F1 fairyboy.

I think the truth kinda stung a bit for you

 

[F1Aussie]

Typical F1 fanboy! Prefers feelings over facts, those IndyCars are much MUCH cheaper to run than an F1 car! For it to be even that close shows that your "pinnacle" of motorsport car is overpriced and slow.

Indycars run at F2 pace on non oval circuits, I know the cost of F2 for a season is ballpark of 1.7 million, can't remember if that was euro or pounds though, indycar costs around 7.5 million usd. So compared to F2 then that must make indycar slow per $. And you think 14 seconds a lap difference is close? Lol.