New fasttrack is out and boy oh boy......

[MWenning]

CS questions

I was planning to run CS this year. After reading the Fast Track I have some questions. Would'nt the BS cars have a decided hp advantage over existing CS cars? Also, if they move the 1.8L Miata to ES, they would at least have some chasis similarity but the hp advantage would go to the 1.8L, so it is the same deal is it not? I'm concerned that they are obsoleting(sp?) cars that have been in balanced class competition for years for class population goals...why? Thoughts please.
Thanks,
Gramps Wenning

[jimkana]

While the CS stock cars may be a bit down on power, they may also be substantially lighter. Mike, your Miata is at least 500 pounds lighter than my Rx-8, and as we know, Weight is the Enemy.

[seanittner]

All this is exactly why I moved to prepared... we don't move cars around.. and there isn't the car of this year syndrome..

[waflet]

hideeho
i only race localy, so my coments reflect only local results.

i went back & looked @ times for bs, cs, & es from last season. the fast group of guys/girls were all pretty close. then there was a gap back to the rest of the pack, which were all pretty close. at this level of compatition, what you drive is WAY less important than how you drive.

for example, look @ my case. i drive a turbo miata. tons of power, good handling, everything you could ask for in an auto-x car. but, i get beat by miatas w/ the same mods done on suspension that have w/ no turbo or anything else to substantialy increase horse power. is it because they have a better car? no, suspension is the same & i have more hp. it is all the loose nut behind the wheel needing to be tightened. it took me 8 years, double the hp, & tons of suspension work, but i finaly beat chris warren. what is it going to take to beat john waight or lyle kain? another 100hp & moton shocks? no, it will take PRACTICE.

[JohnW8]

I'd take 100 events worth of seat time over 100 hp any day in an AutoX car.

[Focus]

Yeah, many cars hop classes when they go to SP ... the Evo, for instance, hops to BSP from AS (currently). These changes might actually bring many cars in line like this ... Evo and STi from AS to BS to match BSP.

I'd be all about some HSP or even GSP. lol

[slowautoxr]

Just to be clear, there is nothing in the February Fastrack concerning any class in Street Prepared.

[VroomGrrl]

hideeho
at this level of compatition, what you drive is WAY less important than how you drive. .... what is it going to take to beat john waight or lyle kain? another 100hp & moton shocks? no, it will take PRACTICE.

hideeho!

As a newbie, I have to tell you, I am banking 100% on the above. Of course my approach may be different from some because I didn't come here to get into racing or competing. I am here to learn how to drive my car.

I can't lie. It is very tempting to give in to the siren call of mods and tweaks, not to mention the famous "while you're in there" syndrome "X will make your car faster, Y will really improve your handling!" Maybe so. But what will I learn about driving my car if I start out with my focus on changing things about the car?

Reminds me of when I started learning to play violin, at a certain point in jr hi, all my friends were upgrading from cheapo rentals to higher quality violins and bows (and cases and rosin and strings and bridges and pegs and and and). They did sound better. They let me try them out. Everything was sooo much easier, nicer, cleaner, sounded better. I got it in my head that I was never going to be able to advance (and compete! first chair in orchestra!) unless I had a better instrument.

Then I went to a master class, and as luck would have it, the "master" reached for MY crappy rental violin to do some of his demonstrations. The things he was able to do just left me slackjawed. How humbling. My violin was NOT what needed upgrading. Yes, the first chair player in the orchestra DID have a much nicer violin. But it wasn't MY violin keeping me from being able to play as well as she did and advance from 4th chair to 1st. That day DID eventually come - eventually my violin teacher said, "IT'S TIME" if you want to be competitive. But it was many years later than I *wanted* a new fiddle.

I have ridden shotgun in my car with enough awesome drivers to know that I've probably got a good 20 years of seat time and learning how to drive ahead of me before I get to the point where it's anything about the car holding me back from improving my performance on the course.

Now. I am counting on yall to remind me of the above and rub my nose right in it when I start talking about Brembos and Konis and boy would I love a Momo wheel and and....

PS #1 the above does not apply to safety improvements (hello racing seats! hello harnesses!)
PS #2 the above does not apply to ANY IMPROVEMENT OF ANY KIND which will put me ahead of the Honda Odyssey franken-minivan this season

[Focus]

I dont see the Konis as a problem since they're legal for stock class.... haha I love mine.
But seriously, you've got a great mindset. I should start hanging out with you more so some of that might rub off.

[chuck schultz]

safety improvements (hello racing seats! hello harnesses!)

I may be alone in this, but I really don't like seeing aftermarket seats and harnesses in a car without at least a roll bar. I don't want to be an immovable object if the roof becomes an irresistible force.

[zukitek]

Just to be clear, there is nothing in the February Fastrack concerning any class in Street Prepared.

That is absolutely true.I mainly was just speculating on how what _is _ being proposed could affect Street Prepared .It actually _only_ mentions combining BS and CS,and bringing in some cars that are not classified as Stock right now to AS.

RR

[Focus]

I may be alone in this, but I really don't like seeing aftermarket seats and harnesses in a car without at least a roll bar. I don't want to be an immovable object if the roof becomes an irresistible force.

Wouldn't that depend on the vehicle? On one of the focus forums this was debated. For our cars, even the worst rollovers can't move the B pillars, while the A's will crunch. I'm not about to get seats, and I'm not a crash expert, but wouldn't you want to be in a solid seat if your car smashed like that?

Harnesses are still good, right?

[Jamie Holladay]

Wouldn't that depend on the vehicle? On one of the focus forums this was debated. For our cars, even the worst rollovers can't move the B pillars, while the A's will crunch. I'm not about to get seats, and I'm not a crash expert, but wouldn't you want to be in a solid seat if your car smashed like that?

Harnesses are still good, right?

I am mostly with Chuck here. The seats don't bother me as bad, but they are not TRUELY safe without a roll bar. I have a huge problem with harness and no roll bar. A harness will KEEP YOU IN PLACE and if the vehicle were to roll you have no protection from the roof being crushed in an making you a no-neck. A seat belt will at least allow your body to move toward the right and reducing this risk somewhat. More or less letting you "duck" the roof cave in. Harness without roll bars are not safe.

[BoostedFD]

I agree with Jamie, and Chuck.

And the only place I'd use a harness without a roll bar would be an AutoX where the chance of a roll over is very very slim. Which is the main reason I don't have a harness in my car, because I'm not sure I want really want to put a roll bar in it.

[waflet]

hideeho
you always have "there's a chance" but i don't think any car made from the '80s on has to worry about the roof colapsing in any type of accident you could realisticly have on the street or auto-x course. of course this does not apply to the track where velocity is GREATLY increased. this also does not apply to convertables at any speed. rollover structural integrity is one of the things the government tests. short of the car droping from a height, something really heavy droping on the car, or rolling on its side & getting hit in the roof by a semi, the b-pilars/hoop should stay intact even after multiple rollovers. i rolled an early 80s fiesta 1 1/2 rolls, dragged it on its roof about 100yds, flipped it back over & the b-pilar was still there. the center front of the roof was colapsed, but my head was never touched. for auto-x only i don't see a problem w/ a harness w/o a roll bar, not on the street (there is that chance of a cliff or something falling on you), & absolutly not on the track, but only for auto-x.