Alas! I wish I had that problem. I am forced by SCCA to run in a class that
has a minimum weight of 1000 pounds. In spite of everything I have done
to lighten the car, it still weighs in at about 1475 pounds. Needless to say
that is a weight penalty that makes it pretty much non-competitive
against the Lotus 7 knock-offs that are dominating the class nationally. While
I do well on the regional level, there is no hope of my ever being
able to compete in national events until the SCCA Solo Events Board (SEB)
finally recognizes that they are keeping a lot of cars from going to the
nationals by the current class structure.
So far, the only answers I have gotten when I have expressed my concerns, is to
replace all the body panels with carbon fiber. And that is something
I definitely refuse to do. What it boils down to is what defines "Modified
Production Cars"? THe current thinking is that as long as it "Looks" like
a production car, it qualifies.
Hopefully, someone will wake up before they completely disenfreanchise a lot of
people trying to compete with a "Real" Car. Whether that will ever
happen is really debatable because the SEB asked the Modified Advisory
Committee (MAC) to suggest a change in class structure to separate the
so-called "silhouette cars" from the "Real" cars in the Modified classes.
While that sounds encouraging, it is more lip service than anything else
because the MAC is currently staffed by car "Builders" who are among the worst
offenders when it comes to creating silhouette cars. It is sorta like
putting the Fox in charge of guarding the hen house.
Cheers,
Joe (C)
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