Food for Thought for Atlantic Owners HOME
The next open wheel step up from an Atlantic would be either an F1 or Indy/ChampCar running in Historic Sportscar Racing. The closed wheel alternative would probably be a GTP like my Chevy Spice. Without doubt, a modern F1 is a work of art. In theory, they should also be competitive with an Indy or ChampCar of the same vintage. In reality, the Indy/ChampCar seems to have an advantage and they are significantly easier and cheaper to run. In addition, they are safer than F1s of the same vintage. If you are running a competitive RT-41, 008 or 014, you may be surprised at how cost effective the next step up really is. Although I have never run one, I am told that a Hasselgren or Loyning engine is good for about 750 miles and runs six thousand dollars on average to refresh. We typically run laps in the 125 mph range at Road America and Watkins Glen. I would guess an Atlantic would be in the 100 mph range and thus engine life is about seven and a half hours. That puts the engines in the eight hundred dollars per hour range. My math may be a bit off either way here but it is a good starting guess. Compare $800 per hour for an Atlantic engine with just under $500 per hour for the XB in the 95 Firestone Lola IndyCar. It is actually cheaper to run the IndyCar! It is also a lot more fun. I understand there is more to running a car than just an engine. However, most everything else compares favorably as well. You will spend about the same for tires in a weekend (I consume one set per event at $1800 per set). The turbo and waste gates are extra maintenance but these items are more than off set by the substantial reduction in gearbox and upright maintenance. Anyway, the point of this page is to show potential USBOSS runners that IndyCars, unlike F1s, are not crazy money to run. They are a lot faster than Atlantics and at least as safe. I hope you will give it some thought.