Chevie Slower???

[BigFig]

Kelly's comments in the Unser thread about the Chevie being slower than last years OLDS is interesting. Is this just a BS thing or is there something to it. I thought Chevie (GM) said that they had been holding back some development but now that the Infiniti was getting competitive, they would bring more HP to the table.
Anybody know anything about this? Where is HWC when you need him?

[fastfred]

There has to be some reason Penske and Nunn chose to run last years Olds at TIW...I hear other chevy teams are going back to the Olds for a test this week in Miami...Not good if 50% or more of the Chevy teams show with Olds engines to the first race!

[mnkywrch]

Isn't Panther one of the "factory" Chevy teams?

They sure didn't seem too slow at Phoenix...

[Racewriter]

True. A lot of it could be the difference in engine builders getting up to speed with the new stuff. Still, I'd say we're going to see a lot of '01 Olds motors running well during the first half of the year.

[Mackie]

Originally posted by fastfred:
<STRONG>There has to be some reason Penske and Nunn chose to run last years Olds at TIW...I hear other chevy teams are going back to the Olds for a test this week in Miami...Not good if 50% or more of the Chevy teams show with Olds engines to the first race!</STRONG>

I don't know about Phoenix, but Nunn ran the new Chevy at Fontana, slowly!

[ February 12, 2002: Message edited by: Mackie ]

[dog-ring]

The old motors ran better at Phoenix because they had more weight which equals less flex. If the teams can't figure out which stiffer springs to use at Phoenix you will probably see many run the old motors especially on short tracks. As far as Fontana is concerned, well lets just wait for qualifying day

[CamKing]

At Fontana, where you need HP, Team Menard's Chevy was faster than all the Auroras.

At Phoenix, where handling is the key, Panthers Chevy was right at the top.

On the Dyno the new spec Chevys are about as good as the hopped up 2001 Auroras. Almost all of the Chevys at Fontana were spec engines. If you compare a top of the line 2001 Ilmor with a 2002 spec chevy, the Ilmor should be faster. The engine builders are just getting started developing upgrades for the chevy. The chevys will get faster all year, just watch.