David asked:
>Why then did the British racing cars all use wire wheels?
>...
Because unlike those of us who race them today, they were racing to sell sports
cars.
And during that time period, sports car _had_ to have wires. If you are
putting a car in
a race to be a rolling bill-board, why not make it as cool as possible?
Also, they were factory backed. Bend a wheel? Break a few spokes? Throw it
away,
grab another one...
Wire wheels are heavy, outdated, weak, and very cool looking. :)
Advantage of changing them? I doubt it, I've changed bolt-on ROstyles on my
rally 'GT
out in the woods in under a minute. (With my co-drivers help).
Hmmm, maybe improved brake cooling and so forth as others have mentioned, but
I'd still
bet it was a question of marketing. Except in the case of the Sebring Sprites;
the disc
wheels wouldn't fit on the brake system they were using.
When it comes to Solo:
A 'B is a lot of fun. I autocrossed the snot out of it with some success,
but...pick your class
wisely. I plan on running my 'B in "Street Mod 2" when I get some more time to
finish up
the V8 particulars and re-setup the car. Do tie down the battery, some tech
guys (like me)
can be pretty rough!
If you want to go out and have fun, a 'B is a great choice. Slow, but fun
handling, and bullet-proof.
If you want to go fast on the other hand, build (or buy! it's cheaper) a Midget
for the Prepared class.
I've got such a beast in the barn, no windscreen, gutted, 'glass bonnet, boot
lid, front wings, nice
big flares, on the ground...with no engine. Properly setup, a Midget is fast
and reliable. The fast
is fairly easy, the reliable on the other hand is expen$$$ive.
The "B" series engine we all love is great for "playing" autocross, but not a
winner. "A" series can
be built _hot_, but there are some probs to overcome, like the fact that there
is a crank-breaking
vibration inside the usable RPM range, and it'll cost ya $500 or more to fix
that.
There was a fellow in the San Diego region that ran a Midget in Prepared class,
it was built *right*,
I don't think I ever saw it mechanically DNF. It was also one of the fastest
production based cars
in the region.
Of course it is perfectly fine to just go out and have fun...and in that case,
stick with a 'B, you
won't be buying new axles and so forth!
-Keith Wheeler
Team Sanctuary
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