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Protoform Stratus 3.0

Protoform Stratus 3.0

Old 12-16-2004, 02:41 AM
  #16  
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It'll be interesting to see if ROAR and IFMAR approve this one - it looks nothing like the real Stratus apart from the grille/headlights (look at the roofline and trunklid) and there's also the minor detail that the late-model Stratus has never been road raced (meaning the 2.0 version should never have been approved at all).

I like what Dale and Protoform can do, they always make quality stuff but this NASCAR-like tendency to massage bodies into things that don't resemble road-going cars is just getting out of hand. The Alfa, the Mazda, etc....
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Old 12-16-2004, 04:33 AM
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Nice! i like the look of it but the headlights look like nascar lights
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Old 12-16-2004, 05:09 AM
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Franck : I've just been on the dodge website and i think it's not that bad. They could have updated the grid/headlight because the latest verion is a bit different though.

The main question is : does anyone knows if and where the 2005 stratus is raced in a touring car class ? From what I see it is not at all, which would not make it legal at all. I've been on the FIA website and d/l the list of touring cars that are approved, and the stratus is only approved until 2004, so unledd there is an update, this shell will not be legal at all.
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Old 12-16-2004, 05:46 AM
  #19  
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Originally posted by Frank McKinney

I like what Dale and Protoform can do, they always make quality stuff but this NASCAR-like tendency to massage bodies into things that don't resemble road-going cars is just getting out of hand. The Alfa, the Mazda, etc....
The Alfa and Mazda are some of the most popular cars in the SCCA Touring class.
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Old 12-16-2004, 06:19 AM
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The new car is actually very similar in siloette to a parma alfa (if you look at both bodies from the side) only differences are that the 3.0 win is slightly further forward and higher up, and that the parma is sligher more square up front but lacks the spliter that continues up around the wheel wells. Also the lines that go from the sides up of the hood up through to the top of the windsheild should catch some air as well. But the actually cabin is as i said before the same side profile as a parma, but the top is a litte more rouned and narrorower at the top.

And as far as does one run? Does it really matter? I dont see any BMW 3 series sedan bodies, or a real racing versin of the vaxual or SEAT or anything minus the alfa (which the bodies that rc companies make are based off the older version that doesnt currently run) that is run in major touring car series.
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Old 12-16-2004, 06:24 AM
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I know I am very interested in the body for my Pro4. Looks are stunning and I would guess works great on the track. These are RC racecars and how they handle is always more important to me then how realistic they are.

Great job Dale on the new body!

Jeff
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Old 12-16-2004, 06:25 AM
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Originally posted by stormperson
The new car is actually very similar in siloette to a parma alfa (if you look at both bodies from the side)
wait untill you have them both on hand.. they are very very different.. pics just dont do it justice.


kb
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Old 12-16-2004, 06:48 AM
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looks proven!

when you look at the proportions it is a near copy of the parma alfa. what am i talking about?

i am talking about:

- small rear overhang section
- narrow trunk section (it tapers as you go from the top of the wheel well up and back)
- small roof area/pod (this actually looks almost identical to the parma and is probably the primary element responsible for the wide success)
- relative placement of the above mentioned section - front to back

the front end appears similar to the stratus 2.0, but from there back it's very parma. i'm not talking about the specific lines, but on the bigger scale here.

this body will be awesome, and the revision that the wing mounting got is a nice touch. add to that the good detailed stickers and nice clean lines of the stratus, and the quality lexan of protoform, and we've got a winner.


ps - i actually like the parma for it's thinner lexan in sposts.
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Old 12-16-2004, 06:57 AM
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Pro4Capece - I was referring to the bubble-shaped cabin of the 6 and 156 R/C versions. I know every R/C body manufacturer massages the shape of their racing bodies to some extent but look at the proportions of the trunklid, the angles of the curves on the roof, etc.

I know a lot of people aren't bothered about it (and for club racing who cares about the ROAR body rules), but ROAR rules say the body must represent a car that is actually raced. After the NATCC ended years ago, the Stratus wasn't raced anywhere (except I think the BTCC for one year) and that was the first generation Stratus. The new version and the new 2005 version have never been road raced AFAIK. It's up to the manufacturer (Protoform) to prove the real car has been raced so I'm curious how something like that got past ROAR rules.
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Old 12-16-2004, 07:40 AM
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I didnt judge it from the pics, I lined up both a Stratus 3.0 last night with a parma alfa since a local protoform driver had just gotten his. He ran it and I was extremely impressed with how good it looked and went.
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Old 12-16-2004, 08:33 AM
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I am so tired of this it had to be raced on a track rule. Here's a news flash. Full scale touring car racing is nothing compared to F1 and NASCAR. Manufacturers are not running over themselves to get new cars out for FAI, BTCC or Speed Cup racing.

I propose we should be able to race any body based on a production 2 door or 4 door sedan. It has to be described as a sedan by the manufacturer. That is the only rule. This way we wont be running Saleen S7 and Ferrari Enzo's next year.
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Old 12-16-2004, 08:47 AM
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I agree with you Adrian. What if these Touring Cars series go belly up like they are almost always rumored to do every year? Are all the bodies then made illegal because they are not raced? Does the car have to be raced or just approved to race?

P.S. The word sedan automatically eliminates anything 2 door.
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Old 12-16-2004, 08:49 AM
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I propose we should be able to race any body based on a production 2 door or 4 door sedan. It has to be described as a sedan by the manufacturer. That is the only rule. This way we wont be running Saleen S7 and Ferrari Enzo's next year.
agreed.

i would also like to see more bodies along the vein of the crowd pleaser sedan. a purpose built race body that is not a version of a full scale sedan. man, if i were a designer, i would be going nuts here releasing a new body to the bosses for review every month.

the trouble comes when it starts getting out of hand like the monster trucks with claws, horns and generally obscene shapes coming off of them. i think that is the intent behind the stringent roar rules--- to keep our hobby looking like true relicas of full scale racing. but it is stiffling, considering we get only a few bodies to choose from that are both legal, and competent on the track. half of which are the 2nd and 3rd generations of the same sedan.
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Old 12-16-2004, 08:58 AM
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If you want to change the ROAR rules, join ROAR and propose the rule changes. Until the rules are changed, the bodies have to 4-door cars run in a full-size race series.
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Old 12-16-2004, 09:01 AM
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What REALLY goes wrong is what happening to 1/12th bodies. Dale made sort of realistic bodies like the P35 and their Speed 8. Then Parma relase their Speed 8 optimized to be a pure R/C race car (Door stop shape). Protoform replies with the Ascari and Speed 12. They look cool in a Japanese anime sort of way but not like a real car.

It would be bad for sedans to go that way.
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