Asilhouette racing car is a race car which, although bearing a superficial resemblance to a production model, differs mechanically in fundamental ways. The purpose of silhouette cars is to provide a manufacturer with a tangible link to their consumer product offerings so as to derive maximum marketing benefit from their investment in the sport. They also provide spectators with familiar, identifiable car models.
Silhouette cars often employ radically different chassis construction techniques, such as tubular space framesorcarbon-fibretubs in place of regular monocoques, and many also have completely different drivetrain configurations than their road-going counterparts. The body shells themselves are generally made of lightweight materials such as fibreglass or carbon fibre, and often, few parts (or none at all) are shared between the race and road versions of the cars. These changes are aimed at improving the desirable characteristics of the vehicle, such as increasing the stiffness of the chassis[1] or the output of the engine.[2]
