This was from Byron Short on the Evo list. Mark Sipe just cross
posted to the Evo and Team.net, so I'm going to repost Byron's in
three parts to be under Mark's 10k limit.
Matt Murray
mattm@optonline.net
Byron Short wrote:
(Apologies in advance for this long, long post. But this is
a problem that I feel needs to be dealt with, and one that
I've thought about a great deal. And hey, consider this a
reasonable alternative to the SP-Turbo drivel. See, Dennis,
us stock guys can drivel with the best of 'em!)
I feel the current stock shock rule is no longer working as
intended, and have had several discussions with SEB members
about the topic. It's not an easy one to solve, but I'll
pass along my 2 cents worth.
First, the problem currently is that folks can and are
spending $3K-5K and even more on shocks in stock, and that
these shocks are a must have item in the more competitive
stock classes, especially the spec classes.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that both parts of the
equation (high cost and "must have" status) have to be true
for there to be a problem. I have always felt that the
value of these shocks was overrated. I've driven on Konis
(single and double adjustable), GAB's, and am currently on
Shocktek-warmed-over Bilsteins. I'm an admitted shock dummy
who likes to set my shocks and leave them alone. But this
past year I learned the value of these new ultra-groovy
shocks at nationals.
For those that don't know me, I don't think I'm just whining
without foundation. I've pretty much always been a top
contender at Nationals, with top five finishes from 1993
thru 2000 except 1999 (dumb tire choice in the wet) when I
was 6th. So I'm reasonably confident in my driving. When I
was considerably off the pace in 2001 I blamed it on my lack
of practice. I was no longer competing at the same
every-weekend pace I always had been in previous years, so
that must be it. Tom Berry kept on insisting that his car
was almost like cheating because it was set up so well, and
kept singing the praises of his shocks, but again, I've
always felt that it must just be me, so I chalked it up to
bad driving, and kept working harder. Finally, when I got
to nationals, the unfortunate turn of events led to a unique
opportunity to co-drive Peter Raymonds car, one of the other
Miatas on extra-groovy (tm) shocks.
The results were a surprise to everyone, but nobody more
than me. While at the Pro finale I was 9th, (and I drove
well, I might add), in my own car, I found Peter's car just
plain worked much better than mine. The shocks were clearly
the biggest reason why. Heck, we ran on my tires which I had
used in the Pro, so that couldn't have been it. Anyway,
jumping in Peters car which I had never driven before, I
took the lead in BS and held it until the last driver of the
class...Peter himself. And I can tell you I wasn't thinking
that my run was all there was, at all. I was still on a
steep learning curve. I can say with great certainty that I
drove better at the Pro, and was 9th, with mere $800
shocks. I also used GEEZ to check the hp of Peter's car
versus my car, and I definitely have nothing to whine about
there. My car seems to be more powerful than Peter's from
what GEEZ showed. So with a little bit of research, and
admittedly, only one event to go on, I'm convinced the
shocks were the difference, and a very large difference at
that.
So say what you will, but I believe the new ultra-groovy
shocks are a requirement, at least in BS, and probably the
other "spec" classes too. Given another year, I predict
they'll be "required" in most every stock class. And if you
still aren't convinced that they are a "must have" item at
the top national level, at least agree that as more and more
of the top national drivers come to this conclusion and make
the purchase, the perception will automatically become
reality.
So do we want stock class to have this kind of ante? Shocks
that run from $3000 on the really low side to $8000 on the
high side are not part of the cost-effective equation,
IMHO.
Not everyone believes this is a problem, but give it more
time. I am positive that it is, and that the problem is
only going to get worse. The really bad part, though, is
trying to figure out a solution.
I don't believe we can try to legislate shock technology, or
put in place "numbers of adjustment rules", or things like
that and truly fix the problem. In fact, many of these will
only make the problem worse.
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