You all don't remember the down-sides of the Renaults (not that I'm saying they were wrong, BUT!) The carbs starved in certain corners, the oiled air-filter elements let in way too much dirt which wore out the rings, the transmissions puked up fourth gear at the least bit of unload/load (ie. Pocono Raceway), the exhaust note was also a flat fahrt noise...We've had it GREAT with this engine/trans combo...all I would say, to improve this is to allow straight cut gears with dog rings in the gear box to allow the transmissions to live longer. Plus, of course, new track records everywhere because of "No Clutch Required" if it's a "crash-box" ... oh and, yes, it was 1580#s for the Renault. They boosted it to 1640 #s for the Ford SRF originally, but fat arses voted in the 1670#s, eventually. Wonder who that could have been, Clay????

Dave is right about the SR - at Roebling you had to get the float level just right in the carb of it would fuel starve in the carousel. And bungy cords hooked to the shifter were standard equipment on many (most?) Renaults. I know that the first time I ever drove Turn 5 at Roebling with both hands on the wheel was when I ran their for the 1st time as an SRF instead of a Renault.

The bungy cord could be reversed at Blackhawk Farms. You could run the whole lap in third gear.
After the start, both hands on the wheel and the left foot on the dead pedal. You might have to feather a bit if you caught a good draft down the straight.

H.(like autocrossing without cones)B.

we just tighten the pivot bolt under the seat and have a stiffer shift when it starts popping out of 3rd.

Actually we learned something a year ago. the reach to 3rd was long enough so that guys weren't getting the 4-3 shift right half the time and causing premature gearbox issues. we bent the shifter back about 1.5" and our gearbox life has increased dramatically as a result.

not that one car is that much better than the other, just one is that much CHEAPER than the other.

Hopefully Eric and Enterprises will keep up on supply problems before they happen, since I fear that a driveline change will price SRF out of existence. there are lots of cool options in the 20K range and if the Renault to Ford swap is any indication of what will be required to convert again, the price is likely to bring the car well over 20K while dropping the value of Fords.

as long as the dyno performance can be kept within range, couldn't the top end be sourced from a domestic model and just tweaked for power to meet the spec?

watching this topic unfold over the next few years with the keen eye of a vulture.

Jerry A. wrote:Not that I ever want to migrate to a new engine, but if it ever does happen down the road please try to find an engine without a "farm tractor" exhaust

After spending a 3 day weekend in the TMS garages in close proximity to endlessly idleing and revving F500's, I no longer have any complaints whatsoever about the sound of an SRF exhaust!

Ed

Yes, Ed, did you notice that I might have found that just a little annoying?

Steve
(now hated by at least 6 F500 people)

Hey Dave - I might have been involved in the weight wars - may have even been one of the ring leaders!! I loved the renault even with its faults. I haven't been able to be competitive in the SRF but probably due to lack of seat time (3-4 race weekends per year), long layoffs due to multiple knee and hernia surgeries and plus I am FAT (hit the scales at 271 last time I looked). I am just a dinosaur as Perkins says - plus I am a slide rule engineer in a computer world and I am screwed!!

Clay: What's a slide rule?

kramer - hahaha - I'll bring mine to TWS and show you

Clay-he's only gonna' ask you where you plug it in...