craig71188 Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 (edited) This has been listed for sale in my sig for a while but never really posted here (duh!) 2005 Barras/Van Diemen RF89 This is a prototype built in England in 2005 by Karl Barras in 2005. Two seat sports racer utilizing Van Diemen RF89 suspension (stock geometry), LD200 and a Sierra 8V 2.0L motor. After getting the car ready to run again (fluids changed, new front pads, repair clutch master cyl/linkage, fresh (ish) Hoosiers and revised gearing) and running a few autocrosses, I find I want to go back to a center seat car. As such, I will offer it up for sale. The car would be a good candidate for P2, possibly NASA enduros or just a great sturdy track day car. As it sits it weighs approx. 1400 lbs w/fuel, no driver. Size wise the car has a 98" WB, 13' 4" O/A Length (from tip of splitter to rear tip of wing) and an O/A width of 67". O/A height to top of rollbar is 44". I'm not sure of total fuel capacity, documents with the car listed 3 gallons, but I added 5 gallons to the cell once the fuel pump started scavenging air. I don't know if/how much more it may hold. Car drives well, feels very stable and solid -- understeers at low speed/tighter corners, probably still some understeer at higher speeds but minimal. This is based on a few autocrosses -- car came to me with radial F2000 tires and was horrid to drive -- the return to bias Hoosiers is like night and day! Car has 6" F / 8" R Compomotives mounted w/R25 compound Hoosiers (20x7x13 F and 22x9x13 R) and one spare set of the same wheels mounted w/ new Hoosier R25 hand grooved "Intermediates"(stored a few years). Current gearsets in the car are 14:36 Fixed layshaft 1st / 17:35 2nd / 19:32 3rd / 21:30 4th. Included are a 22:28 and a non integral 1st gear layshaft. Ring and pinion is a 13:36. In addition, I have 1 unmounted set of new Hoosier R25 hand grooved "Intermediates" (have been stored a few years)Also included are a few sets of Hoosier R35 S2000 takeoffs --again a few years old -- good if you just want to run some track days with the car. Also included are molds for the front and rear bodywork and the air intake "scoop". The current body work is very heavy. The car has a CASC Logbook with annual inspections in '08, '10, '12 and '14 but only shows one race in 2008. There is also a book of calculations done during the original construction of the chassis -- a bit over my pay grade, but interesting reading for the engineer. Car is "ready to autocross", probably should go back on a set of scales and have the alignment checked along with a "nut & bolt" before going to a track day. If one wanted to go P2, lighter bodywork and an MZR motor would likely net close to a 200 lb weight reduction. For track days, modify the Sierra or go a mod Zetec and have fun for a LOT less than a Stohr/Radical/Speeds. As to "driver size". I am 5'11" and 220 lbs (32" inseam) -- I have a seat insert in the car that is a couple inches thick at top, thicker at the bottom and you can see my seating position in some of the photos in the album. Cockpit width is not a problem, taller drivers with broad shoulders may find the roll bar bracing is less than comfortable. Short and wide -- tall and slim (possibly up to 6' 2" --guestimate) should be able to find a comfortable fit in the car. Asking $10,500 (Traqmate & camera in photos not included in sale) or can be sold w/16' enclosed trailer for $13,500 Current gallery of hi-res photos can be found here: http://s1286.photobucket.com/user/jc...5%20BVD%20RF89 Edited October 26, 2016 by craig71188 Killed bad links Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90G60 Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 FYI: all 3 links appear to be dead. Sounds like a cool car GLWS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grudes Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g19/magickei16/capn.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/5790139038.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig71188 Posted October 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 History of the car from P.O.: Long story short, I was making the deal to buy this sports racer when a deal on a Miata V-8 came about. Instead of asking for my deposit back, I decided to buy both cars and figure out which one I want to keep. I decided that the Miata would allow me more time on track than the sports racer and therefore I'm keeping that one. Now the BARRAS will get advertised and sold. I've been able to make contact with the car's builder, Karl Barras, and he has been very gracious in answering numerous questions that I've had. I have his original notebooks with all of the sketches, calculations and build notes. I also have the CASC logbook and body moulds(front nose, rear tail and air intake cowl). Since purchasing the car, I've acquired a second set of Compomotive wheels(6" & 8"), 2 sets of Hoosier F2000 tires and a set of Hoosier rains which are now mounted on the second set of wheels. **** The car will never be a competitive roadrace car due to its weight and lower HP output from the current engine, but with a Zetec or Duratec swap, you could get much closer to the HP capacity of the LD200 transaxle(180 HP) and be +20-25 HP over the current motor. I've been told that it would probably make a better endurance race car with the current set-up and installation of a larger fuel tank. I personally think that it is a great platform for someone graduating from a sedan to a real race car. They can learn suspension set-up and hone their driving skills on a budget. **** Here is a description of the car from the paperwork when the car was imported into Canada: " The Barras 2005 sports racing car is a two seat, 2 litre, mid-engined, sports racing car designed and built to the dimensional and equipment requirements, with the exception of the engine type, as specified by the SRCC Sports 2000 formula. The car uses the engine, transmission, front and rear suspension and selected accessories from the Van Diemen RF89 FF2000 single seat car produced for the Brands Hatch Formula Forward "Alliance and Leicester" series. This formula and series became defunct due to lack of entries around 1999 to 2000. This particular car in it's original single seat form, was run by Pete Alexander and driven by Richard Olly. I believe it was a series front runner at the time. The final season of the series was abandoned after 5 events. This engine had therefore seen only 5 races following a full re-build by Derek Scarrow. The major difference between the Formula Ford 2000 (and therefore Sports 2000) equipment and the equipment on this Brands Hatch formula cars, was the engine. These BH cars were fitted with the Ford N9 Sierra 20O0cc, dohc, 8 valve engine fitted briefly to Ford Sierras between approximately 1988-91, pre-Zetec range. Several cars were fitted with Zetec engines and raced or hill climbed. The engines converted for this formula were fitted with dry sump equipment, homologated camshafts and electronic engine control equipment to produce 155 to 160 bhp. A brief description of the systems fitted to the sports racing car is given below. Engine - Ford Sierra engine as described above, solidly mounted to chassis, with dry sump lubrication, fuel injection, electronic ignition and charging system. Aluminium 14 litre dry sump tank, chassis mounted Transmission - Hewland LD 200, 4 speed and reverse, mounted to engine via clutch housing/spacer. Hydraulic operated clutch. Gear change rhs of cockpit, Front suspension & steering - Van Diemen layout with top rockers, adjustable inboard mounted coil/damper units and wide based lower wishbones, Geometry as original layout, fully adjustable. Suspension mounted on aluminium plates bolted to chassis. lnboard manually adjustable anti roll bar. Steering rack with central input and universally jointed steering shaft. Rear suspension - Van Diemen layout with top rockers, adjustable inboard coil/damper units, lower wishbones mounted directly to transmission casing. Geometry as original layout and fully adjustable. Manually adjustable anti roll bar mounted on transmission. Chassis - New custom designed large tube space frame in 38mm diameter round and square tubing, 1.5 and 1.2mm thick, mild steel, fully MIG welded. Floor, seat bulkhead and cockpit sides clad in 0.9mm mild steel sheet welded to frame. Roll hoop and lateral diagonal manufactured by Rollcentre welded to chassis. Attachment bushes for engine/transmission mountings, front suspension plates, pedals and other structural mounts are welded to frame. Plywood floors provided for bodyside pontoons. Brakes - Original RF89 equipment, with cockpit adjustable brake balance control. Wheels and tyres - 6"x13" and 8"x13" diameter wheels front and rear respectively. One set fitted with Avon slicks and second set fitted with Avon wets. Cooling system - Twin coolant radiators, one per side in body pontoons, fed from front mounted air intakes. Radiators are new and fitted with new hoses and connections. Aluminium coolant header tank. Engine oil cooler fitted on top of transmission with air intake in rear body. Fuel system - 3 gallon fuel tank mounted in centre of car. Electric fuel pump and filter. Electrical system - 12v battery and charging system. Rear rain light. Instruments - usual tachometer and coolant temperature and oil pressure guages. lgnition/charging system includes cutoff switch. Fire extinguishing system - SPA manually cable operated AFFF system with 2 nozzles in the engine/transmission bay Bodywork - Five piece detachable GRP bodywork. Body side pontoons and cockpit surround sections are retained to chassis with socket button head M5 screws. Front end and rear engine bay sections are fully demountable and retained by overcentre and spring clips. GRP moulds are included for front and rear sections. Front end section includes integral splitter. Carbon fiber rear aerofoil is adjustable for height and angle and is centrally mounted from the rear of the transmission." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig71188 Posted October 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 FYI: all 3 links appear to be dead. Sounds like a cool car GLWS. I removed the two links to Apexspeed - you may need a sign in to access them after all. The Photobucket link is still valid, but their site has been up and down a lot recently. Craigslist ad is posted in the thread - will be updating it soon and will repost if URL changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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