I've tried to stay out of this...but... just a few observations, first an
analogy...
Fact- the large majority of fighterpilot ?kills? are by a very small percentage
of pilots.
The same applies to drivers winningraces, there is a small percentage of
drivers who win the majority ofthe races.
Why?
Because they have good equipment, andare better than most other drivers.
Note that I say (type) good equipment,not necessarily the best, although they
quite frequently do have thebest equipment.
A ?good? driver in a front-lineracecar with all the goodies will often get
beaten by a real hotshoedriving a lesser car.
The point is that having a ?faster?car, with all of the whiz-bang go-fast
widgets, doesn't necessarilymean a guaranteed win.
The other point is that we need to notlose the concept of ?the spirit of
Vintage racing?.
No explanation necessary.
Re rules, legal/cheater stuff, asidefrom safety-related upgrades that address
well-known problems, iff'nit was up to me, which it isn't, it would be simple
to go back to thebasics and require Triumph-based components, limit tire choice
to adegree, rim width (as Kas already pointed out), and (drum roll)... Ihate to
suggest it... just maybe consider actually limiting bore size?
Or not.
(Note that this is directed at thevintage racers here; the guys & gals running
Prod or GT etc, gofor it, stretch that rulebook until the pages start to rip!)
Just a few thoughts,
Glen Efinger
-----Original Message-----
From: Kas Kastner via Fot <fot at autox.team.net>
To: Tony Drews <tony at tonydrews.com>; FOT <fot at autox.team.net>
Sent: Sat, Mar 10, 2018 3:11 pm
Subject: Re: [Fot] Has anybody ran these new brake calipers?
There are times when you wish you had just shut up and let the thread pass you
by. I have just had one of those times. It was not my intent to cast any
aspersions but just to tell how it was back when. It was a different world. If
you wanted to make a phone call you needed a nickle but a phone box was on
every corner and gasoline was 28 cents a gallon and it was 100 octane. So
maybe I should have commented on that instead.
Certainly if you adhere to the old rules the field would seen be down to three
or four cars and they might not make it to the end of a race. I have no
complaint about the present manner of preparation or driving either. Have a
good time and use what ever is needed to get to the end.
Never be beaten by equipment.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 11:18 PM, Tony Drews via Fot <fot at autox.team.net>
wrote:
Bill, I've really tried, but I can't help but respond to being called out
in this one. I know you said it doesn't matter to you, lets just race -
and that's my feeling too.
Not sure how a brake question turned into the annual "what is vintage"
debate - seems late in the season for it this time...
But... For the record, it's a Ford 8" rear end, not a 9". Remember when
we used to break axles and roll our cars? I do, very vividly. The memory
of the pavement whizzing by my left ear as I was sliding on the drivers
door before the car started to barrel roll is indelibly printed in my
memory. Before the "southwick" axle conversion (which uses Ford 8" rear
axle axles by the way), the fix for this was to put a Ford 8" or a Dana
rear axle in the car instead of the stock unit. It was a SAFETY
change, not a performance improvement. That's what the prior owner did to
my car - put in a Ford 8" so it wouldn't roll. It weighs more than a
Triumph axle, and has roughly the same ratios available as a Triumph unit.
To switch to a Triumph axle would cost enough I'd need to take at least
half a season off of racing, probably a full season. Afterwards, my car
would be FASTER because it would weigh LESS. Is the Ford axle legal?
Probably not, now that the Southwick conversion is accepted by every
vintage organization in the US for safety reasons. Is it worth taking a
year off of racing to put the "correct" part there? I say - no, lets race
instead....
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