Super Taikyu

A few posts back I mentioned a little bit about the China Touring Car Championship, and proceeded with a blah blah blah about how much I loved watching Super Touring on tv as a kid. As I had stated, the series still lives on through other series internationally.

Recently, I’ve been watching some videos of the Super Taikyu series on YouTube. It has some pretty interesting regulations. Basically modifications can be done to suspension and body, but drivetrain must be left relatively stock, with the exception of exhaust and intake modification.

As it was explained to me, the series is more of a stepping stone for drivers looking to advance to other series of racing. Super Taikyu, which translates to “Super Endurance”, is an entry-level endurance race with several classes in between (ST1 through ST5) with classification based on engine displacement and drivetrain layout. Sounds fairly straightforward.

Here is a video that I found online

And another one of the Fujitsubo GDB-E Super Taikyu car

So I guess for me the appeal is that there is no major focus on power adders. At least for the ST5-ST3 category, that is. It’s no different than taking a stock showroom model, stripping it down, putting in a cage and a few necessary interior parts, fitting slicks and adjustable suspension, an exhaust and an intake, and that’s it.

For ST1 & ST2, they also allow performance clutch and lsd’s. Although extra power can be had from ecu tuning, it is still very limited. Factory force-induction cars can benefit from aftermarket intercoolers. wow.

They run somewhere around 60 laps for each event.

I suppose it’s not in every privateer’s budget to build such a car. But the ST4 & ST5 categories are well within reach. Again, simple modifications (there’s nothing simple about racing, however) and less of a focus on high power sounds pretty fun and somewhat of a challenge. I wouldn’t mind building up a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris/Vitz to putt putt around the track.

Really wish we still had the TEIN Yaris…

China Touring Car Championship

While watching Speed TV one day, I caught a glimpse of their segment from Mobil 1 The Grid and they featured the China Touring Car Championship (CTCC).

As a kid, I remember watching the short-lived North American Touring Car Championship on ESPN, with racers such as Randy Pobst and Peter Cunningham as contenders. The high strung 4 cylinder engines, super low ride heights, 19″ wheels, and subtle but quite functional body kits looked and sounded awesome.

There were also the cars of the Japanese Touring Car Championships! They looked even better!

Honda AccordWRXPrimeraOpel Vectra

Needless to say, the CTCC quickly drew my interests. And I know that TEIN supports a few vehicles in both of their categories (1600cc and 2000cc).

Check out this link from www.grid1.tv

As for cars we sponsor, the Ford Focus looks to be one of the most competitive platforms. But we also sponsor a Honda Accord and Hyundai i30 and KIA Forte.

 

Overall, this looks to be a very exciting series of motorsports. I’m actually a fan of Touring Cars as they best represent production vehicles available to the public. Some of these setups are quite unique. But again, since they bare a strong resemblance to what we drive, it’s much more interesting to me. Not that I don’t appreciate open wheel race cars and such. It’s just that the Touring Car series has a different appeal.

It may not have the following like Formula 1, WRC (also production car based, but with a super high budget), or even Nascar, but it sure has a special place for people like some of us who appreciate seeing production vehicles on the racetrack. Fortunately in North America, we still get to watch Touring Cars. Speed TV shows the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, and there’s still a U.S. Touring Car series.

Now, if only they can bring back Touring Estate race cars…