Andy Bettencourt
Super Moderator
Well the class is still very new. Changes have come every year so far in an effort to achieve parity have they not?
well now that is the real conversation is it not. in order to be inclusive and not drive away real touring car should there be an adder for cars that are not sedans?If I had any confidence that this CRB would put the ballast on the sports/GT cars necessary to achieve any kind of parity, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
K
But in the end what Sports/GT type cars are being a problem in STL? I'd contend it's not a Z3, S2000, or even a NSX, if there's only one or two Sports/Gt cars being an issue then why throw all the Sports/Gt cars out with the bath water? So to speak in mixed metaphor.
well now that is the real conversation is it not. in order to be inclusive and not drive away real touring car should there be an adder for cars that are not sedans?
There is.
RWD with strut front add 3.5% to their baseline weight
RWD all other add 5.5% to their baseline weight
FWD strut -2.5% from their baseline weight
If you had to write down the parameters right now, I am sure I could find cars that don't work on both sides of the fence (meaning 'I did mean to exclude that and it's not' and 'I didn't mean to exclude that and it is')
Sitting there throwing stones becomes quite tiring, quite quickly.I don't know but I'm not going to do the homework here.
Irrelevant. Engines and chassis are considered separately in Super Touring, which is exactly why I've been saying - for how many years now? - that the direct useful comparisons are a Honda Integra with a K20 installed versus a Honda S2000 with the same K20 installed. Or a Mazda Protege with the MZR installed versus a Mazda Miata with the MZR installed.There is actually more at play here than just chassis.
Which is exactly why the CRB tossed a flat plate restrictor on that engine after the 2013 Runoffs. Pay attention, brother.Isn't there some concern that the K20 can make more power than intended?
I know I'm not offering a solution, but seriously, some of you vulcans seriously miss the point. this is a place where people throw away money that would be better spent in college and retirement savings, philanthropy, whatever. as soon as the experience is "not fun" enough that someone thinks about that vs. WANTING to spend the money to come out and play, they'll stop. since everyone seems to like metaphors here: the carrot has to appear in reach, and it has to look fresh and tasty, too.
"Data"...you make me chuckle all the time, Andy...ok, as always you're right: we have no "data", therefore we have no proof of a problem. Therefore, we have nothing to support what we see as an apparent and looming issues, so therefore we are wrong. There's no data, so a problem does not exist. We all envision seeing many, many more non-sports cars coming into Super Touring Light in droves, many more build threads, to the point where we can expect at least 50% "non-sports cars" numbers within the next competition year or two, at which point we can declare "parity". All is well.
I'm glad someone finally brought that to my attention. I truly feel much better now.
GA
As far as the miata goes.. I tend to agree a lot with what Andy said and I was at Watkins Glen. Brian Shanfield is a very good driver, (as good as the best SM guys I race with routinely IMO) former NASA champion. His car is good, but not fully developed either, just swapped cams to meet the rule. We have raced VERY close all year. I don't think either of us have been stickering up each race. Brians car falls off after 1/2 the race or so. But in the first half of every race, we are as even as you can possibly make a miata and a FWD car. At Watkins, if I was not in his draft we were dead even up the esses. I had to make sure I was in his draft to be able to make any ground. Previously I thought the club hit the car a little too hard on the restrictor plate. After watkins I feel the honda easily makes back that 4-5 hp and probably a little more. That is a luxury no Miata driver will ever have in STL, You need to build the car to the edge( or over) reliability to get close on power to the Hondas. I would love an option of a Mazda engine that I could run stock and win with. It doesn't exist.
And we have talked about this too. We know perception can swing the pendulum. But I refuse to allow that swing to happen based on top level SM's beating up on low level STL cars. It's short sighted and those people who bitch about SM's in STL need a reality check. They should NOT be faster than you. Use them as a bogey for development. Once you pass them, then get another target.
If we are talking about REAL STL Miata, then I continue to ask where the data is that shows this dominance. As you said, the Miata effect (TME) can bring top drivers in top cars to the surface quickly and it can affect perception...but it shouldn't to the people in the know. Drago has a top car and it's driven extremely well. He was run with, and out-qualified by on a power & handling track, a FWD Honda with restrictions. This does not address our 'apples to apples' issue in my post above, but to say that currently the Miata's can't be beaten is silly.
Maybe the pendulum has to swing so far the other way that the numbers look stooopid good for FWD. Then you get them built, and adjust the other way for parity?