Originally posted by Joe Harlan+Dec 15 2005, 07:03 AM-->
So Tom , Your talking to a guy that thinks removing the Motec rule would be way better than allowing more stuff to be pulled off the car. Why is your car not competitive in ITB?
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Without starting that discussion again, it is a Rabbit GTI.
Originally posted by ddewhurst@Dec 15 2005, 07:09 AM
Tom, it sounds like your evolve to race in a different class.
I do race a different class. The car is set up for NASA GTI cup, which is a similar level of prep as IT, but with a lower weight and slightly hotter cam. Even with these advantages, our class track records are still slower than the better ITB lap times any given weekend.
<!--QuoteBegin-Andy Bettencourt@Dec 15 2005, 07:11 AM
I hear this one a lot. It would create mayhem. Kirk is spot on - you then have to define what you can or can't do. You have something in that I think can be removed...and there is inequity.
With regard to 'who cares as long as you meet minimum", that creates class killers. Some cars have a tough time making weight. No problem for them, they now get to run where they should be...but what about all the car that require ballast now? They start throwing away this and that - and then start 'hiding' ballast in perfect spots. 50 lb mufflers in the right rear, lead in the lower cage tubes / frame rails...somebody then creates a car that meets minimum that out brakes, out handles and never seems to go away...
We have class killers now, (CRX in ITA, BMW 2002 and Volvos in ITB, etc)I don't see how that is any different. Hiding ballast is clearly cheating for competitive advantage, the rules are clear on where/how ballast can be carried. What baffles me is the attitude some people have that not having a turn signal stalk is "cheating" as much as having an illegal engine.
Besides, you say you find it silly that you could be protested for not having a heater in your car - I find it equally as silly that you wouldn't have one in - because the rules require it. These are simple things that people get lazy about - and that sure as sh*t is no excuse to not have a legal race car.
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I do have a legal race car, for the classes I race. I haven't removed anything from the car (except sound deadening crap from the interior). When I bought the car, it had no heater, no turn signal or wiper stalks (but has a wiper switch on the dash, which works) no heater/vent control panel, no glove box, no parking brake handle, no rear wiper, and one of the rear side marker reflectors is missing and the hole covered.
I picked up a heater core and a stock cam from a junk yard, but all the other piddly sh*t that offers no competitive advantage but is
against the rules, and frankly is too much effort and expense to add to race in (what in my region anyway) is a dead class.
Instead, when I race with SCCA, I will enter ITE where my car is fully legal, and my POS ~95 HP rabbit can do battle with Porsche 911s & 928s, Mistubishi Evos, BMW M3s, a 350Z, and a bunch of other cars that run 15-20 seconds per lap faster than me. I really don't give a sh*t, either way, I have the same chance of winning in either group, and I am not talking about the car.
For those of you who think I am advocating no rules at all, you are entirely missing the point.
Tom