BlackKat

Dale Epp: You got a Private Message

MobileIT

If Dale is reading this, I really would like to find out why the G6? The car has no racing credibility, and from what I know about the car, it never will (I will not bother with the reasons right now, and if anyone knows differently, feel free to say so). I cannot believe that there was a substantial number of people outside of North America that were jumping up and down saying "we want a G6," and as you can gather from the comments left in this discussion, most Pontiac touring car fans from North America would probably have asked for a GTO. It is just so inexplicable to me.

JayBee

iTrader: (31)

...and your point is?

Still Bill

iTrader: (16)

What performance r/c body has any "racing credibility"? I cannot think of one that is legal for ROAR/IFMAR.

Anders Myrberg

Anyone know how to bring in a thumbnail here?

sosidge

The thumbnail is created when you attach a photo using the forum's attachment system.

Anders Myrberg

THANKS!!

OK, weīre all set!

AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

Because it looks really cool and since it is aimed at Carpet/Foam tire racing and 90% of these races have nothing to do with ROAR, people will run them.

People complain about why we always race the same body. Its because the body manufacturers are limited by this "It must have competed in a TC series" rule.

I think we need to abandon this. I think Body manufacturers should have the freedom to make a body shell of Production 2 door coupe or 4 door sedan on the market. No GT or Exotic cars.

daleepp

MobileIT;
You have some good questions and they really needed to be asked.
I'll be the first to confess that G6 doesn't "rock my world" like an Audi RS4 or a BMW M3 CSL, however the criteria for choosing a particular body style to fit a specialized application has become fairly complicated these days. From a pure "passion" point of view, the only GM product out there that turns my crank is the latest Corvette. ( Hence, I'm just putting the finishing touches on a 200mm C6-R mold for the RC enthusiast )
1 - It may be a backwards approach, but sometimes when planning a new project, I have a particular rc car-body "shape/profile" in my mind, and when this happens I need to find the proper real-car design to best fit within "that" particular profile or framework. The G6 is a perfect example. Because I wanted to come up with a "carpet only" rc body, I knew that there were some key surface proportions that were not negotiable. When I went to the SEMA show last fall and saw the G6 GXP, I knew my search was over. http://www.automotive.com/features/a...GXP-front.html When I saw the G6 GXP if front of me, it was like I saw an oversized rc body. It just needed a few "enhancements" here and there.
You see, there's an honest attempt on our part at PROTOform to try to capture as least some realism if at all possible. I realize it's a fine line that we walk and there are many critics out there that a quick to jump on us and let us know when we've "crossed it" (especially my friends in the UK) however my goal is to find some happy medium, as is done in the full-size racing world. Yes, I could make more realistic bodies, and the soon-to-be-released Corvette C6-R will show that. The whole topic is quite subjective.
Why not do a GTO instead you ask? Wrong shape, wrong proportions - simple as that. When I started this project the GTO had no more of a roadracing heritage than a G6 did. Its only recently that it started racing in the Grand Am series. Trying to get a GTO rc body to work well (be competitive) and still look anything like the real car would be a very tough task. The fact that the GTO is a "2 door" coupe means it will still not be looked at as "legal" at many local tracks and in many sedan racing series around the world. I realize that ROAR and others have written the rules to include 2-door styles, however there is still a stigma that 2-door "sedan" bodies need to be overcome in most parts of the world.
I'm fairly confident that we will see the G6 raced in the Grand Am Cup series at some point in time. http://www.speedtv.com/programs/122/
2 - Is it possible to get the body "licensed?" This issue really limits the choices of "available" body styles dramatically. At Proline/PROTOform we only produce bodies that are fully licensed with the real manufacturers. We knew that the G6 was a body that we could definitely recieve the licensing rights to, in order to legally be able to bring it to the marketplace.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

Dale

MobileIT

Of the existing competitive bodies, the Mazda 6 is one of the dominant cars in Speed World Challenge. The Accord has credentials in Europe. If you want less competitive bodies, HPI has a Vauxhall Astra (I do not know if it is ROAR legal, but it is a real raced car) as are a couple of other of their cars (Acura RSX, BMW and Mercedes in particular are raced in North America).

Regarding AdrianM's comment, there are a *lot* of potential cars which are not being made. The Audi A4, and I think the A6 as well, the Dodge Neon (SRT), Acura TSX (actually I think someone has the TSX out, but I am not sure), Chevy Cobalt (which has now won 3 Grand Am TS class races) and the older Pontiace Sunfire (which has been ran in Speed World Challenge for years, basically unsponsored) are examples.

By the way, I do like the look of the G6, and I might eventually buy one, whether or not it is ROAR legal. Actually, I like the Infinity G35, which I do not think is still available. I just cannot understand why did he bother with the G6 when there are so many other things he could have done?

AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

I have talked to Dale about some of the bodies you have mentioned. I know that licensing issues have stopped Dale from making half of them. Between international R/C sanctioning bodies and auto manufacturers R/C body companies have to put up with a lot just to bring a new body to market.

MobileIT

I think you posted your reply while I was writing mine. :-)

I understand it now. Very interesting.

I do have doubts about it competing in Speed World Challenge. The car is basically a Chevy Malibu with stretched wheelbase (Malibu is 106.3" and I think the G6 is 113"). A wheelbase that long is going to kill the handling on the twistier road courses.

daleepp

MobileIT; Your right about the long wheelbase. I wrongly assumed the G6 platform and wheelbase was the same as the Cobalt (which is raced in the Grand Am Cup) Guess it might be a while before we see it on a race track.

Dale

TRF_SPAIN

Acura TSX= Euro Honda Accord so...already made also ))

L.Fairtrace

iTrader: (24)

I'll just say I doubt there will be many G6's in the main this weekend, But we'll see.