New Car Builds

[Wright D]

Red Body and Grey Chassis

[provamo]

cool, i like the way the body splits

but what is really sad is that with spec car racing guys like you are prevented from building Indy and "rode to indy" cars

[Wright D]

cool, i like the way the body splits

but what is really sad is that with spec car racing guys like you are prevented from building Indy and "rode to indy" cars

I don't quite understand what you're saying here. Can you help me to understand? F1000 is not a spec class.

[Wren]

I think his point is that he is disappointed that the rules for other series, like the USF2000 series, prevent constructors like you from participating.

On that note, any future plans for other classes?

[Tim Mourlam]

Thank you for posting pictures of the build, the car looks really good. I noticed that the frame appears very different from the previous Phoenix, could you elaborate on changes made to the design for the new car and improvements made? Any idea when the car will hit the track?

Keep up the great work.

[reidhazelton]

cool, i like the way the body splits

but what is really sad is that with spec car racing, guys like you are prevented from building Indy and "rode to indy" cars

Commas are important. I fixed it.

[Wright D]

Thank you for posting pictures of the build, the car looks really good. I noticed that the frame appears very different from the previous Phoenix, could you elaborate on changes made to the design for the new car and improvements made? Any idea when the car will hit the track?

Keep up the great work.

We have raced the factory car with good results many times. This piticular build is chassis #4.

This car is an evolution of the 2009 car. The chassis has many small changes. The roll hoop is narrowed, the oil pan is stressed, the foot box is narrowed, the cockpit opening is revised, the bottom of the chassis is revised for better under car aero.

[jaltaman]

So I thought I would take a look at apex to see what was up and there's my car!

Gary, Tony and Dustin have all done an incredible job with the new car and I am very excited to be getting chassis #4. As for when we'll be on track, well....that depends on a lot of things (some outside team Phoenix's control) but suffice it to say we'll be on track as soon as we can.

This is going to be one very sweet car when it is completed. I have been down to see it a couple of times in the past few weeks, and the quality of the design and execution of the manufacturing is just outstanding.

Here's a BIG THANK YOU to Dustin, Gary and Tony for designing and building this magnificent car. As great as it looks in the pictures, it's even better when seen up close.

I have a serious case of the jonses....

[provamo]

thank you both Wren and Reid for clarifying the thoughts i wished to have expressed

my point was that it is sad that rulemakers (those with vested financial interests) do not allow for multi makes like we used to have in many forms of professional motorsport..........just a lament from an old guy

its great that F1000 is a venue for individual innovators

[Christopher Crowe]

How high is the chassis step, Nathan? I.e., how high is the front bulkhead off the ground?

Thanks,

Chris Crowe

[Wright D]

How high is the chassis step, Nathan? I.e., how high is the front bulkhead off the ground?

Thanks,

Chris Crowe

We pulled the nose up high enough to get the air flow we wanted, but not too high to cause the front suspension geometry to be compromised.

[Wright D]

thank you both Wren and Reid for clarifying the thoughts i wished to have expressed

my point was that it is sad that rulemakers (those with vested financial interests) do not allow for multi makes like we used to have in many forms of professional motorsport..........just a lament from an old guy

its great that F1000 is a venue for individual innovators

Thanks!
Here are some additional car build pics from chassis number 5. It features a third front spring and super lightweight kevlar bodywork.

[stephen wilson]

If I might ask, what are the dimensions of your smaller rectangular tubing braces, around .5"x1"x.049" ?

[Wright D]

If I might ask, what are the dimensions of your smaller rectangular tubing braces, around .5"x1"x.049" ?

All the tubes that form the lattice work for the cockpit sides are at least 0.065" thick. The roll hoop and seat belt support tubes are 0.095" thick minimum.

[stephen wilson]

Thanks, Ii that in fact .5" x 1" ? As a "backyard" engineer/fabricator, I'm always interested in materials selection.

[Christopher Crowe]

Another question, Dustin. How do you feel the additional unsprung weight of the long lower a-arms (going all the way to the keel) impacts things? A good trade-off for the aero opportunities?

Chris

[ghickman]

On that note, any future plans for other classes?

Answer is YES

[Wright D]

Gary and I have been discussing several options for adtional classes. Obviously the F1K.12 would make a great sports racer platform....
We are also doing initial design and costing studies for a few other non-bike engined classes.

Chris,
As you know, designing and building a car is a whole series of trade offs. The front suspension on the Phoenix F1K.12 chassis was derived to help maximize mechanical grip. So, the roll center location and movement, the camber curves, the unsprung mass, and the stiffness all play off one another. You can't make a huge change in one without affecting another.
The geometry of the F1K.12 is closely related to the F1K.09. Mark Jaremko, Russ Werner, Phil DeLaO, Brian Tomasi and many others have all loved the mechanical and aero grip the car has.

Stephen,
The cockpit side are constructed to for a space truss. The tubes range in size from 1.5"x1.5" down to 0.5"x1".
The as the span/load of a tube decreases, so does its size.

[stephen wilson]

Thanks Dustin.

[ghickman]

The car pictured at the beginning of this post is Calyso Coral. John wanted his car this color so custom gelcoat was mixed to the color he wanted.

Our bodywork comes out of the molds so good that painting is unnecessary. The bodywork we produce has a fit unmatched by anything I've seen in decades. I don't like having to do a bunch of fit-up and bondo / prime post build so we took the extra time to make all of our tooling top notch.

The end result adds up to a super nicely finished light weight race car.

[jaltaman]

Agreed - the body work on the car is just phenomenal. I mean, it's practically perfect.

When you can make gel coat turn out this nice, who needs paint?

[Tim Mourlam]

Thanks for the reply Dustin. So what other classes is Phoenix looking to get into?

[JRMarchand]

Dustin, nice work, thanks for showing.

[Wright D]

Dustin, nice work, thanks for showing.

Thanks to Gary and Tony for doing great work!! The Phoenix Race Works TEAM all do amazing things! It truly is a team effort to design and build these cars.

As far as other classes go, it is best that we not let the cat(s) out of the bag just yet.... I mean, we are not gonna go top fuel drag boat racing or anything. We will stick close to our knowledge base. Like we said, simply exploring costs and conceptual designs at the moment.... As most of you know, it takes rather large sums of money and time and money and more money to build the tooling it takes to produce a top notch race car; so we are doing our homework..... Stay tuned tho.