Up Close & Personal With the Prodrive Ford Falcon in the Castrol Garage
Yesterday, we got a chance to talk to the team behind Prodrive’s Castrol Ford Falcon, the obvious star of theV8 Supercar series that has taken the streets this weekend. During our behind the scenes tour of the Castrol garage, we found out a lot about these beastly vehicles.
Here are some facts that you may not have known:
- All cars need to based off existing cars that are in production, Prodrive’s car is a popular Australian D-segment staple, the Ford Falcon.
- Many parts, like the roll cage, are standardised across all cars but the team still manufacture all the crucial parts to ensure every component is optimised.
- Each car costs approximately RM1,200,000. Yes, these cars are worth more than actual supercars and we haven’t even factored in any taxes!
- The 5-litre V8 Ford engine puts out more than 635 horsepower at 7450 rpm.
- The cars in this category are not at all light. In fact, this car weighs 1400 kilogrammes without a driver on board.
- Even with the weight disadvantage, Prodrive’s Ford Falcons can get to 100km/h from a stand still in just 3.5 seconds and reach nearly 300km/h.
- The car’s electronics can collect over 1000 samples of data a second and display it to the driver through the steering wheel mounted mini lcd display.
Speaking to one of the engineers at the Castrol garage, we found out that the team had made some changes to the car over the course of the race. The most visible change would be the rear wing, which is now much larger to provide drivers the downforce needed to keep the car planted in the corners.
After the garage tour we spoke to Chaz Mostert, driver of the No.6 car this weekend. Mostert has been the star of the show this season.
At just 23 years of age, he’s giving veteran driver Craig Lowndes from the rival team a reallly tough time on the track and he’s got a lot of enthusiasm for tackling challenges. Will he be able to keep his form during the qualifying round though? Well let’s see.
Prodrive Ford Falcon Specifications:
Engine
FPR-developed, 5.0-litre V8 Ford with SVO cylinder iron block and aluminium heads. Category control MoTeC engine management control system
Power
Estimated 635+ bhp limited to maximum 7450rpm
Transaxle
Albins ST6 six-speed sequential
Clutch
AP Racing triple-plate carbon 7 1/4-inch
Suspension
Front: FPR-developed double-wishbone suspension with coil over spring adjustable dampers
Rear: V8 Supercars-designed control Independent Rear Suspension (IRS), coil over adjustable rear dampers
Brakes
Front: Control pedal box, AP six-piston V8 Supercar control bake calliper, AP 395mm V8 Supercar control rotors
Rear: AP four-piston V8 Supercar control brake callipers, AP 355mm V8 Supercar control rotors
Wheels
18×12-inch aluminium control wheel
Tyres
Dunlop control tyre
Fuel Capacity
114-litre
Vehicle weight
1400kg (category minimum without driver)
Top speed
299+ kph, 0-100kph: 3.5 seconds
Data system
MoTec ACL Acquisition System with steering wheel-mounted mini-dash display and gear shift light module. 1Gb memory, up to 100 channels of data at up to 1000 samples per second
Car-to-pit
Freewave telemetry system for live data monitoring of the car
Seat
Racetech FIA specification carbon fibre Seat
Steering wheel
FPR-developed steering wheel with MoTec mini-dash LCD display, LED gearshift light module and all driver controls
About the Author
Subhash Nair Written work on dsf.my. @subhashtag on instagram. Autophiles Malaysia on Youtube.
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