Staudacher Chassis
D Sports RacerBackgroundJon Staudacher, of Staudacher Aircraft, Inc. in Kawkawlin, MI, designed and built his own car. He calls it the Staudacher S06, S05, and S04. He first raced the S04 in 2004, as seen in the photo with white/red/black livery. The all black car is the S05, which is the 2005 version. Jon raced the S04 in 2004 at only Waterford Hills, since they don't require homologation. There were 6 race weekends, with 3 races per weekend. Jon says, "The car is very reliable, but with me as the driver it's hard to tell if the car is fast. I'm not." The tube frame and all suspension is TIG welded 4130. Nothing for the car's build was farmed out. Race ready weight is 763 lb. Jon just received [Feb. 2005] the SCCA homologation papers for the S05, so he hope to go to some other tracks in 2005. |
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| The car uses the same basic upright at all 4 corners, modified (drilled) for each application.
Jon made his own wheel centers and used Keizer rims. Brake discs are thinned VW Golf. The differential is Golf/Jetta (sealed). The half shafts are fabricated using Golf/Jetta parts (see photo). The exhaust utilizes much of the bike system (see photo). Jon says, "I'm so cheap that I even made my own steering wheel." Body Mold |
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Jon even made his own body using a female wood mold, vacuum bagging carbon fiber in it, which produced a very light body. Note that Jon does not first produce a male "buck" of the desired final bodywork. He skips this step and directly makes the female mold. |
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2006 UpdateJon has, yet again, revised the bodywork. For 2006, he merged the front and rear “fenders” for better airflow and longitudinal stiffness. The new bodies are all carbon epoxy, and weigh only 31 lbs. |
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Other Projects |
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| Jon normally designs and builds aerobatic planes. One example is pictured on the right. He says, "The cost of the propeller equals the cost to build
my DSR."
Jon has also built race boats such as a 2.5 liter modified boat (equivalent to FA cars). The boat shown on the right in the foreground is Jon's most recent boat project (2002).
It is the current national champion and world competition record holder. |
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2006Jon's latest project (as of Jan. 2006) is this 2.t liter modified boat (the Formula Atlantic of boats) The lower photo shows the under body, which produces about 1200 lb lift at 130 MPH. These tunnels are very similar to those used on sports racers, but just reversed. |
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1Photo by Dennis W, aquired from Image 39 of Gingerman 2006 - INR National.
Revised: September 09, 2006.
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