![]() In 1997, the Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company (AVESCO) was created to run the series and find ways to expand its popularity. And, on the Touring Car circuit, they've gained quite a reputation as race cars. They're particularly popular as police cars and taxicabs, because of their durability and powerful engines. Why the Commodore and the Falcon? Part of the reason may be that these muscular 8-cylinder vehicles are the two most popular passenger cars in Australia. (Although the Falcon is made in the United States too, the version used in V8 Supercars is the Australian model.) Many different types of cars have won the Australian Touring Car Championship over the years, but in 1995 the rules were changed to specify that only two makes of cars were allowed: the Holden Commodore, a General Motors car made exclusively in Australia, and the Ford Falcon. ![]() The car he drove in the winning race was a Jaguar Mark I. The first was held on the Gnoo Blas circuit in Orange, New South Wales, and the winning driver was David McKay, who went on to become a racing journalist for the Australian Daily Telegraph. Until 1968, it was a single race, not a series. So while V8 Supercar racing may be more affordable than some other forms of racing, it's still pricey.The history of V8 Supercars goes back to 1960, when it was known as the Australian Touring Car Championship. V8 Supercar teams use two cars and keeping these cars in running order for an entire championship season can cost as much as $10 million. Price: So how much can the V8 Supercar teams spend on their vehicles? Exact figures are not available, but are estimated at around $600,000 per car, with $130,000 going to the engine.Tires: Driving teams are allowed a set number of tires for each race, with one set allowed to be of a softer construction than the Dunlop control tire used as a standard for the vehicles.Suspension: The front suspension uses a double-wishbone design while the rear is a solid axle suspension.Brakes: Brakes are steel brakes as opposed to carbon brakes.Aerodynamics: The aerodynamics packages used on V8 Supercars must all be similar, using the same types of spoilers, air dam on the front and side skirts.It should be a Ford or Chevy 5-liter engine capable of producing between 620 and 650 horsepower and with a compression ratio of 10 to 1. Engine: V8 Supercars must have a front engine with rear-wheel drive.(Space-frame construction is used in buildings as well as in vehicles.) Space-frame construction is not typically used in production models, however, and is not allowed in V8 Supercars, which are based on standard Commodore and Falcon bodyshells. This keeps the bodies of the cars rigid but light. The Body: In the racing world, it is common to build the body of a car based on space-frame construction, in which a series of struts are laid out in a geometric pattern based on triangular shapes.Here are some of the key restrictions imposed by Project Blueprint: Project Blueprint lay down certain rules that were intended to keep the races as close as possible, so that the cars would have roughly the same racing capabilities. ![]() In 2003, Project Blueprint was introduced to V8 Supercar racing. It's how the car is driven that counts, not how it's built. And V8 Supercar racing emphasizes the drivers, not the cars, so the cars need to be as standardized as possible to keep the playing field level. V8 Supercar racing is meant to be affordable, so that drivers and their sponsors don't have to spend millions of dollars on custom-designed state-of-the-art race cars. However, there are very strict rules for how the cars can be customized. But these aren't the out-of-factory models. Starting in 1995, it was decided that V8 Supercar racing would be restricted to two models of car, the Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon, both of them Australian-built models.
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