The brp Porsche GT2 has been used in recent races in the MARS and MASCAR series. I wanted to see the difference in times with the body setup for racing, without the wing, and with a larger rear window for the Fray. This body was tested without windows. In the first test, it was run in the normal, new out of the bag status. It ran a 4.334 in 24 laps, body weighed 3.2 grams. The rockers were dragging, so before the next run the body was sanded to clear the track. It still weighed 3.2 grams and ran a 4.244 in 22 laps, slightly under the bare chassis run. All body weights in this test are with a rear screw.
The next run was without the wing, in 25 laps, I ran the best of 4.192, the body now weighs 3.1 grams. The final step on the Porsche is to open up the rear window, to expose the driven gear. In this configuration, I ran 4.176 in 26 laps, the body weighing 2.8 grams.
This is a Johnny Lightning 59 Vette coupe, I did 12 of these in various colors for the 2001 New Jersey Shootout...this is old school, where you tried to get the body as light as possible. This body ran a 4.268, in 24 laps, and weighing 1.4 grams...slower than the bare chassis.
The Fandango Alfa Romeo 147 GTA was a race prize, thanks Jack! The little Alfa, couldn't be lowered from as delivered state, because it wraps around the rear of the chassis. It only managed a 4.395 in 24 laps, weighing 3.0 gm.
The brp Nissan/Datsun 300ZX looks the part of a Fray racer, with a huge rear window to frame the driven gear. I have not tried this body for racing before, so I dremeled it out to race prep it. When done I had it pretty low and light, 1.9 grams with my standard 325 SmoothON resin, not the Featherlite...which is illegal at the Fray! In 25 laps, I had a best of 4.101, best of the day! I opened up the T-Top to lighten it some more. This time I could only manage 4.135 in 27 laps, and body now weighs 1.8 gm. Possibly the 4.101 was a fluke, but this body handled very well.
The Datsun 260Z has been my primary race body for almost a year. I did sand the inner rockers down to meet the 1/8" Fray limit, this makes the body look at little less porky on the sides! This body weighed 1.8 gm, and ran 4.222 in 26 laps.
This is the Greg Davis Ferrari 550 Maranello, loaned by John Smith. It weighed 3.0 grams, and ran also at 4.222 in 27 laps. I expect to see a lot of these bodies at the Fray, especially from the California teams. I've seen quite a few of them being driven by Wizzard team drivers in the MASCAR series. This is an excellent handling LWB body, that completely fits around the gear plate. The window was not fitted, but bubbles out to cover the gearplate. I could be lightened quite a bit, but has thin rockers, well under the 1/8" limit...I think it could be made a bit faster, but since it wasn't my body, the dremel saw no action!
The brp Supra can be lowered quite a bit, but still has some weight in the rear to effect the handling. I ran a 4.225 in 23 laps, weighing 2.9 grams. We also have the Mazda RX-7 as another LWB tuner car, but I think the Supra is representative of that car as well.
This is GOGO's SWB Mercedes SL Coupe, another race prize...thanks Steve! This body comes pretty light, 2.3 grams in fact. It ran 4.167 in 29 laps, and felt very stable. This body had an unusual rear post setup, which contributed to the light and low rear end. This trick could also be done on any body where the post is attached on the side to the body. The brp 300ZX has that front and rear, so I may need to try that on the next one!...TOM