April 9, 2020
#377
Gentle reader,
After spending many days compiling my 370+ articles into a series of Indexes, I am now ready to write again. Below is a link to all articles in this subject:
Below is a link to the Index "to rule them all", a little LOTR humor.
Trans Am racing was formed by the SCCA in 1966 with the first race at Sebring in March of that year. There were two classes that raced together: Under five liters and Five liters (305 cubic inches) engine capacity. The former largely Porsches and Alfa Romeos. The latter American "Pony" cars.
The term "Pony Cars" was coined on the mistaken belief that the Ford Mustang was the first sports coupe made. Actually the Plymouth Barracuda came out first. As the Mustang was based upon the humble Falcon, the Barracuda was based upon the Valiant.
As we all know, the Mustang set the car world on fire when it was debuted at the 1964 World's Fair and the other car makers scrambled to catch up.
I would preferred a BOSS 302 (five liter) engine rather than the BOSS 429. The 429 engine had hemispherical combustion changers in answer to Chrysler's NASCAR dominating 426 Hemi engine. Rather than put one in their Galaxie models, they shoehorned them into a Mustang body. The engine was considerably larger and heavier than the Mustang was made to house.
NOTE: During my first job as a young Chevy car dealer mechanic, a young woman who worked there (mid-late 1970's) had a BOSS 429 and she let me drive it. WOW! What a powerful car!
Ford came out with the luxury Mustang called a Mercury Cougar in 1967. Livery above, is based upon Bud Moore's two-car team.
Livery above is based upon Dan Gurney's Cougar race car, I believe. At any rate it is accurate as most shown are.
General Motors came out with the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in 1966 for the 1967 model year.
Livery on the 1969 Camaro below is based upon Roger Penske's incredible series of Camaros driven by the legendary Mark Donohue.
Dodge followed in 1969 with the Challenger which was as close to the Plymouth Barracuda as the Firebird was to the Camaro in construction and style.
American Motors Corporation came out with the Javelin in 1968 and their shortened two-seater AMX later.
Livery on the 1971 AMX below is based upon Roger Penske's incredible series of Javelins driven by the legendary Mark Donohue.
All of the photos above are from a series of articles I wrote in 2015 when I completed every race in Microsoft's XBox 360 racing simulation called Forza 4.
At the time, I was using what was our very first HDTV, a 32 inch Samsung model which is also a monitor suitable for PC use (above).
As a result, it can be viewed much closer than most HDTVs, having much smaller pixels. The photos made of it's screen images are fairly sharp compared to the ones below.
My son-in-law gave me this plasma 42 inch HDTV, which being so much larger, the in-cockpit view closely matches what I see while actually driving a real car than the smaller 32 inch TV did.
For a quick history of the Trans Am series, watch this video from Trans Am:
I had seen a couple vintage Trans Am races recently on YouTube, the best here:
I set out to recreate as many of the early cars as I could. I no longer belong to XBox Gold so I can not access the multitude of paint schemes, called "livery" in the racing world that I used to buy. If I did not already have a paint scheme stored, I could not decorate my new Trans Am racers.
While Shelby American did field three 1966 Mustang GT-350 cars initially, I did not include either of the later Shelby cars in Forza since they had too large of engine capacity and were not raced in Trans Am series in real life.
I used the exact same wheels, tires, brakes, spoilers (front and rear), and suspension mods, plus, I lowered them from one to one and one half inches and replaced stock air intake and exhaust with racing intake and exhaust mods on all cars. I did not modify the engines. I did remove all excess weight and equipped the cars with full roll cages and chassis stiffeners.
Since many of the cars have larger than 305 cubic inch engine capacity limit, I needed to equalize the playing field somehow.
So, once I completed their individual modifications I used the "quick upgrade" and chose A600. This equalized their performance. Making many a little more powerful than the real cars. Zero-to-60mph times and top speeds vary greatly due to engine capacity.
You will see, that since Forza is principally made for circuit racing, that the equalization process worked to provide parity,
I then raced each car around the circuit in California called Infineon, in their day it was called Sears Point. It is the circuit featured in the 2019 race video on YouTube linked above.
Individual specs will follow with photos of my newly created racers.
The oldest pony car I have in Forza 4 (1966 or later) is this 1968 Barracuda Formula-S. The Formula-S was a sportier Barracuda made to handle better. Forza rates this as an A592.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 500, Torque: 487 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 4.0 seconds, top speed: 166 mph. Lap time: 1:49.
While the car qualified body wise, it has a 383 cubic big-block engine, it would not have been able to race.
In Forza 4, only the 1969 Camaro Z28 model qualifies with a five liter engine. Forza rates this as an A598.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 419, Torque:
419 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 4.0 seconds, top speed: 145 mph. Lap time:
1:49.
Forza does not give engine sizes, so I am assumed it was only five liters. Based upon the engine specs, I suspect it is much larger, such as their 400 cubic inch engine. Forza rates this as an A600.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 493, Torque: 528 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 3.0 seconds, top speed: 183 mph. Lap time:
1:51. Yeah, not a 305!
Due to a strike in the GM plants, the 1970 Camaro and Firebird models did not come out until 1970 (instead of September, 1969) and were called 1970 1/2. Their body styles were completely different than the original 1967-1969 bodies.
When I originally bought this pain scheme, it was for a bumper-less body. I suspect that this model has the 350 cubic inch engine. Forza rates this as an A599.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 475, Torque:
468 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 3.4 seconds, top speed: 175 mph. Lap time:
1:52. Much more likely that it is a 350.
If you look closely, you can see a black tip on the factory rear spoiler. Forza's idea of "adjustable".
This livery is based upon Sam Posey's 1970 Dodge Challenger.
This image clearly shows Forza's adjustable rear spoiler. This car has the big block 440 6-Pack engine. Forza rates this as an A598.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 513, Torque: 552 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 3.7 seconds, top speed: 171 mph. Lap time:
1:52.
As I stated above, I would prefer the Boss 302 which is closely matched to the Camaro Z28. Both engines were made for Trans Am racing and thus were slower off the line with all of their power and torque available much higher in the RPM band. Forza rates this as an A591.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 496, Torque: 552 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 4.3 seconds, top speed: 170 mph. Lap time:
1:49.
The Forza adjustable rear spoiler replaces the stock Mustang BOSS spoiler seen in my 2015 racer.
The Mercury Cougar
cars are longer and heavier than their Mustang siblings. More luxurious
as well as Mercury cars always were compared to Ford versions (Crown
Victoria verses Grand Marquis, for example). Forza rates this as an A600.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 411, Torque: 518 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 3.5 seconds, top speed: 127 mph. Lap time:
1:51.
American Motors Corporation never had the sales and thus the money as "the big three" car makers. But they made some competitive muscle and performance cars which were more unique than the competition. This car has their 401 cubic inch big block engine. Forza rates this as an A600.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 437, Torque: 524 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 4.1 seconds, top speed: 135 mph. Lap time:
1:50.
The 426 Hemi Chrysler engine was the ultimate iteration of their top engine they created in the 1950's. This car was clearly made to dominate in 1/4 mile (and stoplight) drag racing rather than circuit racing. Forza rates this as an A600.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 495, Torque: 671(!) pound-feet, 0-60mph: 3.7 seconds, top speed: 164 mph. Lap time:
1:53.
Lastly and most recently made, is this 1973 Firebird Trans Am in American racing colors of white and blue.
1973 was the swan song year for muscle cars with the new emission rules strangling engine performance. This car has the Super Duty 455 cubic inch big block engine. Forza rates this as an A592.
Fully modified specifications: Horsepower: 541, Torque: 648 pound-feet, 0-60mph: 3.5 seconds, top speed: 162 mph. Lap time:
1:49.
So, despite all of the engine sizes ranging from 302 to 455 cubic inches with widely varying power output, they are all within 3 seconds per lap.
I tend to corner easier when not in an actual race, especially in this case. So in competition, each might be closer in lap times and a second or two quicker as well.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my humble blog, the research took much more effort that usual but I enjoyed it. Now, time to go racing!
Scott
April 9, 2020
#377
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