tvrmonster.com
The specialist travelling very rapidly web site
15 July 2008
The NEW Sagaris is here!
.No NOT that one! This is a real one. A new one. Not resold, or brought out from the back of the shed.re-badged.and under tweaked. This is a brand new car from GTF.the Sagaris GT.
Like the other recently unveiled car, this one has had some exterior tweaks, but these are born of racing necessity. The new gull-wing doors are to aid speedy ingress and exit during the driver changes in Endurance Racing. The additional Louvers, which are everywhere; are there to reduce drag, lift and ofcourse underbody temperatures. The new fueling and fuel filler system is to improve high fuel flow under extreme loads. The new brakes? We that's obvious, they are HUGE as they have to stop what is pretty much an ICBM!
The new engine is just that, a new engine. The power plant here has been specifically developed and built for them by none other than John Eales. The UK's No1 V8 engine builder and builder of my own engine in the Monster Sagariff. The techy-babble has been withheld to some degree whilst tests and testing has been underway, but the car has an LS2 block with a load of trick internals and its own specially developed ECU programs. This should give the best combination of power, strength and value possible.
Power output was around 509bhp on the dyno (Class limit), 430 at the wheels with pretty much all of that being available from 2,800 rpm to the racing redline of 6,500 or so. Torque was around 490 lb/ft peak at 5000rpm, again available most of the time. This is going to make the car very easy to drive and stable through the revs, very important for those all important corner exit speeds. It also means that the engine is hardly stressed at all, running very "normal" Chevy power levels which is also kind to the transmission.their own Promaster sequential running to LSD.
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Recent testing has thrown up a couple of small issues, a dodgy diff, a mis-aligned belt but for a car built by enthusiasts over the winter there has been very little. Tim Hood and I grabbed a quick work after testing at Mallory. "F. me it's quick Andy. Proper quick.and so quiet, it hardly seems to be trying at all" he said. But times have shown otherwise. "At first I thought I wasn't trying hard enough, but then I noticed how quickly I was running out of gears!"
I should also say here how beautifully crafted then car is. The other GTFs were also well made, but unlike the GTF's so far, which have been based on existing Tuscan Challenge cars, this one is built from new components from the ground up, with all parts be manufactured or sourced to spec. This IS a brand new Sagaris! The attention to detail is akin to any other racecar I have seen or been lucky enough to drive, and in many cases far superior. This car has been built to withstand endurance racing at the very top level and with very little regard to cost or man hours.and it shows all over the car from just about every angle. It just exudes menace!
God I want one!
Hopes are high for the new car. It will be out at Silverstone this weekend in the Britcar 3 hr endurance Race on Sat 19th July. Qualy is at 11:20-1205 with the race from 14:10-17:10 so they'll be loads of track time. Also on the Bill is the Racesport Sagaris of Dennis Leech and Rich Stanton who won recently at Spa, there too are our old friends Topcat racing so why not come along and watch. Entry is around £10 and the tvrs should be right up there at the front for the whole meeting. When we watched them at Brands a week or two ago, The Racesport Sag pushed Fluxies Mosler into an uncharacteristic error and they led from then on, but due to a red flag ending the race early, they were caught out on their fuel stop losing out in the end to the Mosler. Not bad against a £330K purpose built Super-race car!
I'll be there to cover the race, prior to my jaunt over to Brisbane, so keep your eyes peels for some footage and Pics if you can't make it!
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