KEY POINTS:
1980s
Budget: "In the eighties I was the driver and not paying the bills, but I would have thought the cost for a top team would be around A$100,000."
Engines: 'In old terms they were 308 cubic inches - about five litre engines. They developed about 380/400 horsepower on carburettors. They weren't very reliable, in fact it was awful, because there wasn't any attention paid to engine methodology or service care. Engines didn't blow up by themselves, someone had to have done something stupid."
Brakes: "You'd put the brakes on, and sometimes you'd wonder if they were working. They couldn't match the tyre technology and would only work at about 50 per cent. I remember coming back from Europe after racing Formula One cars and driving one of those early V8s. During an endurance race, I came back into the pits and said I didn't think the brakes were working. Peter Brock drove the thing and said they were fine."
Aerodynamics: "About as much as a brick at the speeds we were going. They were very, very scary. You couldn't get within three to four metres of any other car, because they were too unstable. Now you can just about sit on the bumper."
Repair Costs: "If you had a big accident you literally wrote the car off. The chassis would buckle or twist. The whole investment would be written off. There was nothing to salvage."
2007
Budget: 'We're talking about two-car teams these days and the minimum would be around $6 million, and up to $8.7 million for a four-car team. The money available today is a reflection of market forces, and sponsors are seeing a better return for their investment. And of course, there's a lot more TV now."
Engines: "They're still five litre engines but we're getting up to 620 horsepower out of them now. Because of the meticulous attention to detail, and R&D, these engines are very reliable."
Brakes: "There's no comparison today. You can lock any tyre up at any given time now, even with the advances in tyre technology. They're superb now. Down the back straight at Pukekohe they'll bring the car down from 280km/h to 51km/h in about two-thirds of the distance they would have in the 1980s."
Aerodynamics: "You have to have a good aerodynamic set-up to make the cars safe at the speeds they go now. The down force generated by the front and rear wings, as fitted now, negate a lot of lift and the car weighs the same at 300km/h as it would at rest." The car weighs approximately 1.5 tonnes at rest, and needs to have the same 1.5 tonnes of down force at high speed to keep it on the track, or it'll take off. "The cars are more stable and therefore more controllable."
Repair Costs: "The central part of the car is so strong now that it's only the panels that need replacing. The replacement panel cost is in the region of around $40,000. Even after a big off, if you take off the bent bits, the core of the car, most of the time is undamaged. And sometimes you can be back racing in a matter of hours."
