I gotta jump in after reading this- Someone wrote:
> Take DS. You'd allow Neons their motor mounts, and that's it. Any
> slower car gets extra stuff to pull them up equal to the Neon, but no
> higher. Neons got cheaper to run (assuming they break motor mounts on
> a regular basis) and while "lesser" cars may cost more, at least they
> now get the chance to win.
You really don't see the big picture. OK, say I have a '88-'91 CRX
against the current car for the class- Neon ACR in DS. The owner of the
Neon is obviously kicking by butt and all he had to do was buy the car
and put some sticky tires on it. Me OTOH, I have to find a way of
getting more power and _torque_ out of my CRX under the stock rules, and
spending all sorts of money tuning the suspension to match the
performance of the Neon. Given the amount of product out there, the
permutations of the "equivalent-to-Neon" package for my CRX are endless
and you guys want to compile and document all that in a per car
rulebook?! After all my modifications, now can you honestly say that
it's still "Stock"?
But wait, that's assuming my driving skill is equivalent to the Neon
owner's. Otherwise we'd all have to hire one single person to test our
cars for "equivalence". What happens if the test driver finds that my
CRX is now faster than a Neon with him driving it? Does it suddenly
become illegal? Aw shucks, I spent all that time and money, and now I
have to de-tune the car and submit it for re-testing. Or what if my
driving improves enough over the course of the season? Do I suddenly
become protestable that day I beat the Neon? Let's see..if I win, I get
protested and thrown out. Geez, that's _really_ an incentive to win
ain't it.
You see how cumbersome this is getting with only two cars in question?
Your rule book for your particular car just got _very_ thick. In fact I
would guess that each per car rule book would be as thick as the
Prepared category allowances. So to keep everyone honest, I'd have to
buy 21 separate rule books for a small class like DS. Whew, I'm glad
I'm not some poor sucker running HS- he'd have to buy a whole library.
By allowing all other "lesser" cars to make modifications, you make the
cost of competing higher for all other competitors except the Neon
people. If I was faced with that reality, common sense would tell me
that I should spend less money on the purchase of a Neon and tires,
rather than deal with the hassle of developing a car over time just to
be "equivalent". Hell I don't want equivalence, I WANNA WIN. You think
DS and BS are spec classes now, wait' til you see what happens if your
per car allowances are introduced. Per car allowances do not satisfy
any of the core values.
This is the same old "I stock" argument. "I should be able to run
whatever I want and be just as good." I can't think of any sport where
that philosophy holds water. Choices are not random if you must satisfy
an end result. For example 2 + x = 4, and 'x' can be any one number you
choose. What number are you going to choose? Under the current Stock
rules, you'd choose '2' (or '1+1' or maybe even '8/4' in the case of
G-Stock) if you want to win (or be equivalent to the winners). Under a
per car system, you'd have to analyze all the infinite permutations of
'2' to arrive at the answer. Meanwhile the guy in the Neon is kicking
your butt while you do the math.
The argument that "it's too much work" is very valid when you consider
the amount of time it would take to properly classify a per car system.
SEB members devote/volunteer much time as it is to maintain the current
health of the sport. Remember, these folks have day jobs too.
Flame away.
-c.
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Cliff Loh, Vancouver, B.C. CANADA
"I started out with nothing
& still have most of it left."
vcmc001@ibm.net
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