Your current thoughts on the COT?

[wedge]

I've kept an open mind, erring towards wanting it to succeed.

I think its worth :up: :up:

It's been a difficult car to set up right and there's constant talk of wanting to get clean air but I think its shown that it can produce good races.

What are your thoughts then and now?

[harvick#1]

It Blows then, It Blows now.

next question

[NickFalzone]

I don'thate it like some fans, but I felt the racing was better with the old car. Drivers seemed to like it alot more also.

[Sparky1329]

The COT is still fugly and it's done nothing to improve the racing. It seems to be more durable and drivers have applauded the safety aspects of it which is a good thing. When it was ready to be put into service Chad Knaus contended that the old car could've been altered to achieve the same results.

If NASCAR was smart and teams had the resources they'd let the crew chiefs tweak one of their cars to their hearts' content just to see if they could do a better job. I'm not talking about a COT that they're racing but a sort of sample car that they could test. My money would be on the crew chiefs to come up wth a car that raced and handled better.

[The instant classic]

i dont like the COT car but its gonna be around for along time, so trying to get use to it

[Jonesi]

On the first few goals I think it's a success.
1. Safety No question (between CoT, HANS & SAFER racing is definately safer.)
2. Equalize competition between mftrs.
3. Durability. These cars hit the wall and continue like the old ones never did. Teams are making do with fewer chassis.

Needs work on handling at some tracks. With the old cars (and in other race series) if the car is off in handling and the crew can't find the right settings, you could usually dial it back and find a slower "comfortable" setup. As in the saying "If you're comfortable in the car you're not going fast enough." With the CoT, if it's not running right there's not necessarily a slower safe setting to go to.
They need to add some adjustability. Maybe driver adjustable swaybar(s). Formula & Sports have it, it can't be that expensive to add to the CoT.

Also the CoT is favoring drivers who like a real loose setup (Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards) over drivers who prefer a neutral or tight setup (Jeff Gordon, DE jr, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman)

[RaceFanStan]

I like the looks of the COT & it is safer ...
it is here to stay, so I try not to think about whether I like it or not. :s

[call_me_andrew]

The COT is a great idea with awful execution. I'm all for standardizing the chassis, but i'm 100% against standardizing the body.

NASCAR doesn't seem to know what they want from it either. They built it to punch a big hole in the air which makes it draft well at Talladega, but at a downforce track it'll amplify aeropush.

Adding front downforce won't do much to correct the problem. As soon as the car gets in traffic the push will be worse than before.

[wedge]

What would be an ideal way to deal with aeropush?

[harvick#1]

getting rid of the rear wing for starters

[Haulin'AssAndTurnin Left]

Rumour is that NASCAR has a few things in the works regarding the COT Looks-wise and chassis wise to make it a little more adjustable and more pleasing to the eye.

[Mark in Oshawa]

getting rid of the rear wing for starters

That will dump aero push but the car so loose it will be undriveable. They put that wing on there for a reason, and it wasn't to make the car look neat.

[Mark in Oshawa]

On the first few goals I think it's a success.
1. Safety No question (between CoT, HANS & SAFER racing is definately safer.)
2. Equalize competition between mftrs.
3. Durability. These cars hit the wall and continue like the old ones never did. Teams are making do with fewer chassis.

Needs work on handling at some tracks. With the old cars (and in other race series) if the car is off in handling and the crew can't find the right settings, you could usually dial it back and find a slower "comfortable" setup. As in the saying "If you're comfortable in the car you're not going fast enough." With the CoT, if it's not running right there's not necessarily a slower safe setting to go to.
They need to add some adjustability. Maybe driver adjustable swaybar(s). Formula & Sports have it, it can't be that expensive to add to the CoT.

Also the CoT is favoring drivers who like a real loose setup (Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards) over drivers who prefer a neutral or tight setup (Jeff Gordon, DE jr, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman)

I agree with you I think for the most part Jonesi.

I think the old car was a weird looking beast that little or no relvence to what was on the street, so the COT at least cannot be held to a standard that it doesn't look like the street car either.

I liked the old car and most of the races with it, BUT, and this is a HUGE BUT, I knew the safety concerns were the driving force initially for this car.

The by-product is a car that is a lot more miserable to drive when it is off, and a car that is still to my eye not always the best looking car. It has however put on a lot more interesting races, and on flat tracks of a mile or so or less it is awesome, and it is great on superspeedways. It is the cookie cutter tracks that it hasn't always put on the best show. Guess what? The old car didn't either.

Plus, after some of the things I have heard and read about what people "think" is a good race, I am of the opinion y'all wouldn't be happy unless the cars were 5 wide, and 2 of ended up on fire in a wild wreck in a photo finish to make a few of you happy.