2012 IndyCar Race Car Design Proposals by Swift Engineering

 2012 IndyCar Race Car Design Proposals by Swift Engineering
2012 IndyCar Race Car DEsign Proposals by Swift Engineering - 11.02.2010

California-based race car designers Swift Engineering have released their proposals for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series vehicle.  The Dallara IndyCar chassis is now scheduled to be retired at the end of the 2011 series after nine years of service.

Officials with IRL need a car capable of hitting 235 mph (378 km/h), at a much lower cost than the Dallara's $400k pricetag.  The reduced cost will be an effort by IRL to allow teams to focus more on their drivers and marketing, while a new car could help restore interest in the beleaguered series. 

Aside from the new car, IRL will also be examining proposals for a new engine.  Currently, the series requires use of a naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter 32-valve DOHC V8 made from aluminum alloy.  Honda produces the engine, often criticised as sounding harsh and abrasive, with McLaren providing the engine management system.

Swift is in serious competition for the IndyCar bid.  Other designs are being proposed by Dallara, Lola, and newcomers DeltaWing.  For this car, Swift's partners include Cray, Mark One Composites, and Cruden America.

"Individually, each one of these partnerships is critical to Swift's continuing commitment to motorsport," said Swift chief Jan Wesley Refsdal.  "However, collectively and in conjunction with one another they will help us set new industry standards in innovative design, manufacturing and support."

Source: paddocktalk.com via jalopnik.com

San Clemente, California - USA February 2010

American race car company, Swift Engineering, Inc. is proud to announce key motorsport partnerships with industry leading companies to further its bid to design and build the next generation race car chassis for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series ®.

"Given Swift is the leading US race car design and manufacturing company and our 27-year history was founded in motorsport, it is only natural that we aspire to partner with the nations' premier open-wheel formula, the IZOD IndyCar Series," Jan Wesley Refsdal, Swift's president said.

Key business alliances have been cemented between Swift and Cray Inc. (The Supercomputer Company), Indianapolis-based Mark One Composites, Inc. and Cruden America, world leaders in motion racing simulators

"Individually, each one of these partnerships is critical to Swift's continuing commitment to motorsport; however, collectively and in conjunction with one another they will help us set new industry standards in innovative design, manufacturing and support," Refsdal stated.

Swift's strategic industry partnerships were carefully selected and cultivated through a focused effort to realize the challenge the IZOD IndyCar Series has set for its next generation car.

Cray supercomputers will be used at Swift's facility to further enhance its capabilities in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), an important tool in the design and development of aerodynamic concepts. In conjunction with Swift's existing on-site wind tunnel designs will be tested in accurate virtual models allowing for valuable driver feedback and performance data collection on Cruden's state-of-the-art 3Ctr 6-DOF motion racing simulator which is soon to be operational at Swift.

"Speed-to-market is critical in any business, but probably more so in racing as the green flag doesn't wait for anyone," Refsdal said. "Rapid development is just as much about the speed and quality of the design process as it is manufacturing. We are evolving our four-year exclusive certified composite repair relationship with Mark One Composites, Inc. to provide further manufacturing and inventory support directly to teams from its Indianapolis-based facility."

 

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 Aleksi Aleksi
What, indycar series uses the same chassis and engine for all the teams? What's the point in that? I thought one of the main aspects of car racing was to develop new technologies that can help improve regular cars. That's just retarded.
February 11, 2010 8:16 pm
 Renegade Renegade
Nope, it's a race of the drivers, not of the cars. This is not F1, buddy.
February 11, 2010 8:25 pm
 Aleksi Aleksi
Well that helps explain the quality of American cars.
February 11, 2010 9:54 pm
 Renegade Renegade
That's a stupid remark to make, do a research before you comment, it's just like the Formula 3000, GP2, Formula Nippon, Formula BMW and other brand only racing series. IndyCar dose not want to compete with F1, it's just a good show to watch, where the driver is more important then a million of electronic systems.
February 11, 2010 10:18 pm
 effington effington
are you serious? of course indycar wants to compete with F1... if they cant in any way it will die! F1 is the highest point of motor racing, whether people like it or not, so indycar is competing with it for supremacy in the racing world... it will never happen, but dont tell the marketing boys that! to me, i cant see the point in watching a full grid of identical (proposed) batmobiles race around a track... and the argument of it being about the drivers skill? name 5 indycar drivers any layman would know... $10 says i could name 5 F1 drivers, which is strange, cause apparently that form of racing is all down to 'million of electronic systems'
February 12, 2010 4:23 am
 Razz Razz
Agree with Aleksi .. in this case why they have a whole team for a racer, it must be the driver and some doctors, maybe also a trainer. As for the technical team .. only one to handle all the cars. Anyway .. this model here looks like the Batman's car :) !! coool ...
February 12, 2010 7:52 am
 scratchy996 scratchy996
@effington , IndyCar is Formula Honda. they have Honda engines and an Italian chassis.
February 12, 2010 3:26 pm
 Aleksi Aleksi
I was thinking about the same thing as Razz. If the cars are identical, why the heck do they have different teams? And what are they for? If it really was only about the best driver, there would only be one team, and all the cars would have identical settings for each race.
February 13, 2010 12:11 am
 scratchy996 scratchy996
same chassis and same engine doesn't mean same car. racing is not only on the track , each team has different team leaders with different strategies, even if the car is the same , they use different setups to fit the driver's racing style. the best team gets rewarded, that means more money from sponsors, that's the thing. if there is only one team, they would go bankrupt instantly.
February 13, 2010 8:22 pm
 MTC MTC
From the 1st picture, it just looks like the Batmobile of racing cars
February 11, 2010 8:19 pm
 Renegade Renegade
Keep the Batmobile styled car, it's awesome looking and it should attract some fans back to the IndyCar races.
February 11, 2010 8:28 pm
 Jeremiah Clarksonius Jeremiah Clarksonius
Aleski: the engine is from Honda...
February 11, 2010 10:10 pm
 599FXX 599FXX
i like the second car without the ridiculous body and front wing.
February 11, 2010 10:52 pm
 MadMaTTer MadMaTTer
i dont think it favors aerodynamics but it would be interesting to watch this in the wind tunnel
February 11, 2010 11:40 pm
 Eckenflitzer Eckenflitzer
That?s a cool and futuristic looking car, especially the first pictures. I wish F1 cars would look like this.
February 12, 2010 4:30 am
 Horniss Horniss
the first car is the best
February 12, 2010 7:08 am
 dcars62 dcars62
It might be more interesting if each of the manufactures listed could put bids on their car with an engine package that met a specification produced by IRL. The teams could pick their preferred car and engine combo.
February 12, 2010 1:58 pm
 dcars62 dcars62
IRL is primary a North American racing series with a single race in Japan and one in Sao Paulo. F1 has chosen not race in the US; thus, their is no competition between F1 and the IRL.
February 12, 2010 2:13 pm
 Mikeado Mikeado
Nice. It's like Formula Batman. Kicks the crap out of Delta Wing's proposal.
February 13, 2010 12:35 pm