best shell for downforce

[fido-dido]

i have tried a 12th circuit shell on my dave years ago and it was great. planning to race my dave again circuit so do people have a prefered shell?

not looks more down force is what im after, i was thinking either the ascari or the lotus..,...


But will rather take advise on whats best

[oakey4]

Ascari shells seem to work very well at our club..Cut the wing down as it far to high when mounted on the posts.

[JimboJames1972]

Mike,

The four most common shells for circuit racing are the Lotus, Ascari, Mazda and the GT "Wedge".

The Mazda is aerodynamically the most balanced and safest shell when driven on the track. It's wide, flat windscreen, blunt nose and big wing push the aero grip well towards the rear to make it extremely neutral. It is a good all round shell, especially for beginners and club running but is not legal for Nationals.

The Lotus gives more front end aero grip. The windscreen is steeper and positioned further forwards so this gives a car that handles with more front end. It is significantly heavier than the Mazda though, and taller, and some think that this can promote more grip roll in certain conditions?

The Ascari is between the two. It has more aerodynamic grip than the Mazda and pushes this a little further forward too. However, is is also quite low and sleek and this is probably why it is popular on the circuits.

The "Wedge" is not commonly seen, although is is still legal for Nationals. It's aggressive front end shape means that positioning it on your shell exactly right is vital - too far forward gives a very front endy car, too far backwards gives understeer. Way back I had two of these shells that mounted just 5mm different to each other and the difference in grip was frightening!

The Ginetta is not legal, yet, but should get signed off next weekend at the AutoSport show. First testing though indicates its aerodynamic grip is towards the rear, more so than either the Mazda or Ascari. I'll drop you a line when I get some more test results through.

Hope this helps,

James

[jasond43]

spot on james what about the aston

[JimboJames1972]

Hi Jason,

Unfortunately I have not seen the Aston shell in the flesh yet. Nor have I had any feedback relating to its performance on the track.

However, there might be some clues in the photographs. The front end looks quite tall and blunt (I do think though that the photographic angle might be over-emphasising this quite a bit!), I'm guessing the bonnet will be relatively long, the windscreen will be quite a long way backwards and you do get what looks like the mother of all rear wings... I'm guessing it will be quite a balanced shell, perhaps handling somewhere between the Ascari and Mazda?

As soon as I get my mitts on one I will feedback.

James

[jasond43]

ill let you know tomorrow a chap has one that i sprayed

[mark christopher]

alot of info on here

http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/

Ascari, lotus or ginetta? And why????

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Mark Christopher (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Beacause there Gt shells and fit the rules?
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Alan Chipolina (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Yes yes very good, ascari, good allrounder, lotus more steering than ascari, not used the ginetta. Have you, and which do you prefer and why :]
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Paul Upton (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Don't forget the Aston ;) ginetta has mega steering. Aston is a very safe shell, carries a lot of corner speed :0
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Alan Chipolina (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Doesn't the Aston need a massive wing?
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Keith Dowsett (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Comments on shells are very important to me as any feedback , good or bad , will help with the next one. Which body should we do next? Favourite is the Ferrari at the mo.
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Alan Chipolina (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Ferrari or 911 :)
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Garry Hobson (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) BMW Z4M or anything else that is raced in British GTs!
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Paul Upton (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) No, I ran quite a trimmed down wing over weekend.
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Keith Dowsett (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Always good if we can keep within the Britsh GT class.
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Luke Westwood (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) 911 :)
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Philip Brookes (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Ford GT40
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Alan Chipolina (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Paul Paul Upton (http://www.facebook.com/paul.upton.35), a couple of guys at hrcc have tried the Aston, and said the rear is very loose? Did you change anything on the car to get it to work?
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Paul Upton (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Nope if anything rear end was too planted. I was on 50/60sh fronts and 40sh rears. Tried 2 different ones with small and big wing. No problems at all.
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Keith Dowsett (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) We studied the cars at the Autosport Show and the Astons seemed to handle well. We spoke to a good few drivers. All of the bodies are slightly different in handling but there seems no favourite so its down to personal choice. Thats the way we want it .
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Martin Southall (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Will try my Aston again this week, Alan you are welcome to test it on your car (standard body mounts permitting)
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Alan Chipolina (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Nah, enjoying my return to tc too much mate, will save gt12 for rugracers, and other big meetings.
Thanks for the offer though : ]
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Alan Chipolina (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Paul Paul Upton (http://www.facebook.com/paul.upton.35), we use pink medium rears and 48/50 fronts or contact 35r and 45f.
Maybe the harder sh works better with the Aston.
I think the ginetta looks nicer than the Aston......
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Paul Upton (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) it was fine when i went up the stages from 32/35/37/40 as grip came up
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David Hall (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) I also found the Aston very neutral even as the grip came up. Like Paul I had to increase the tyre hardness over the weekend as the grip went from very low to high.
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Iain Perry (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) i first tried the aston with small wing and couldnt drive it ...threw on a big wing and it did handle better , but i only did one meeting with it as the front end split like a bugger so i dare say it would be great over all once i'd gotten used to it with the big wing on
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Iain Perry (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) the only issue i had overall with mounting the aston straight from the chassis on the rear of my ss was the post were not long enough , had to mount my alloy mounts ontop of plastic mounts with longer screws so in future i'd mount them on the body tower
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Mark Christopher (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) i mount my alloy mounts ontop of 6mm alloy spacers, gives me enough adjustment on one post set then ;-)
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Paul Rose (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) What shell next ,,,mercedes
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Sion Example Wedley (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Ascari - as it's the only one Schumacher sell.
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Keith Dowsett (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) They sell the Aston too.
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Keith Dowsett (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) They had a batch just before Christmas and more since. They are selling well tho...
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Iain Perry (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) they not showing on there web site yet , sack the it manager at schumacher ....lol
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Iain Perry (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) wtf ...my web access must be having an orgasm ...lol
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Iain Perry (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) yes ...seen it better ...and its cheaper than what i paid for mine too ...
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Neil Burge (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Id like to see the Mercedes
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[URL="http://www.facebook.com/keith.dowsett"]Keith Dowsett (http://www.facebook.com/groups/336445139755237/#) Don't pay over retail . Check the prices here. We also sell the Gt1 . www.kamtec.co.uk (http://www.kamtec.co.uk/)
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Write a comment...

[f888fhw]

For me the Aston has totally transformed my car, Barley Mow has started a winter series and we are now 2 weeks into it. The same track will run for 4 weeks with the final on the last week.

On the 6th of Jan I ran the lotus shell and my times were not that bad. (results below Simon 1) 12.33 Best lap and 13.05 Average Lap

On the 13th of Jan the only real mod to my car was the replacement of the lotus for the Aston shell. My best time the first week was now higher than my average time for the race the second week. (Results below Simon 2) 11.37 Best Lap and 12.15 Average lap

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk12/51m017/LapTimes.jpg

For me the Aston is very similar to the speed 6. :woot: I would expect to be quicker on the second week but a full 2 laps is not something that i was expecting!

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk12/51m017/P1030900.jpg

[oakey4]

Nice graph Simon how did you do that mate.... Planning on a slight change for this Sunday, never new we where running a winter series till I Left early, couple of weeks I and hope to get my car handling how it was when I packed in. See you Sunday mate.

Paul.

[JimboJames1972]

Managed to do some back to back runs between the Ascari, Ginetta and Aston at a local club tonight. Exact lap times/graphs to be added as soon as they have been posted...

Track measured 12x20m and was an intermediate layout (10 apexes, and a 10 sec lap was a good target). Grip usually starts off fairly low but comes up well through the evening. Test results were obtained once a few rounds have been rung and grip was up.

Aston gave the fastest single lap of 9.64s. It was extremely aggressive to drive - everything felt as it it was on the nose and as if the rear was just waiting to swing round to overtake the front. Some setup changes (including adding a bigger rear wing) and tire changes were needed to get the best times but getting consistent times was a struggle. If you could keep it tamed it was fun to have all that front end grip but it was bit like trying to drive an angry Pit Bull.

Ginetta gave the most consistent times (best single lap of 9.74s, average over 5mins of 9.97s). Car felt safe and easy to drive and forgave several driver input errors. Keeping a rhythmical flow to corners was easy, but the car never felt fast or as "on edge" as the Aston did. However, it was easier to drive and getting tight lines felt less risky.

Ascari gave me a best single lap of 9.71 sec. The runs I did with this shell were hampered by a few crashes so the average lap times are not comparable. It felt less predictable to drive than the other two - it would grip, grip, grip... and then all of a sudden let go. Sometimes the front end let go first and it understeered, sometimes the rear let go and stepped out. And then sometimes it would carry on gripping. Odd, I never felt as I knew what to expect the next time I tried the same corner. I still like this shell but feel as if the other two have more to offer?

Overall my favourite is the Ginetta. For a one off blast the Aston will probably give a faster single lap but, over a whole race, I feel as if I will have more success with the Ginetta.

Hope this helps,

James