Jeff sez:
>There are certainly cheaper ways for people to get into our sport and
>have a great deal of fun. To start with a shifter kart is not a cheap thing
>(Note I did not use the term car) One good example would be an older
>solo vee. You can probably buy a reliable one for 2,500 that could be
>competitive locally and provide big fun for the driver. They are also
>light enough that you can stretch tires a long ways and hold that cost
>down. (and you can buy a serious pile of tires for the difference in
>purchase price. )
To begin with, If price is the main consideration, there are plenty of shifter
kart packages available USED for very reasonable prices. I have seen as
low as $3500, and that included some spares. Would it necessarily be
nationally competitive? Doubt it, but how far away from that would your
$2500 F-Vee be? Light years. You can't equate buying a beater Vee to
buying a NEW (insert other competitive vehicle here). Even if you're
only interested in "regional fun" driving, a kart would be reasonably cost-
effective. BTW, I'm not convinced a Vee is really a "car" either...
>Another thing I don't understand about Karts, is why on earth is the SEB
>going to allow them to be DRIVEN between grid and impound. This is against
>every safety rule put out on the karts and just plain goes beyond any sort
>of common sense. To most of the tow rigs that are driving around the
>nationals site a cart is similar to bug, both in visibility and in what the
>driver will feel when running over one. I just don't get it. Why put an
>event with 900 competitors at risk for the convenience of 12 people. Put
>all of the carts on one flat trailer in the grid and consider that the
>beginning of impound for them.
The karts are a little bigger than the roller skates you seem to be thinking
of. Are you going to volunteer the Semi-trailer flatbed to haul them on?
And wouldn't the presence of such a huge rig in the grid area be a major
safety concern by itself? I was one of the drivers PUSHING a kart from
the North course to impound last year. My memory of a very sore back
from that tells me that the possibility of injury (from bent-over pushing) is
way higher than driving the karts in a single file line, all together.
That said, I have to wonder out loud why an easily obtainable or fabricated
device is not in the possession of each and every kart owner. At kart racing
venues, the vehicles are generally pushed in the pit areas, and smart drivers
or crew use a simple t-bar. The top of the "T" is held by someone walking
behind the kart, while an adapter on the other end attaches to the steering
wheel hub. Voila! Control, straight up walking, etc. Still, I see a
negligible
safety risk to driving karts to/from grids en masse. All alone? Push with a
T-Bar, or on a wheeled lift. If/when I get a kart, I'll have a T-Bar, and
use it.
> Remember real cars have more than on cylinder and don't mix oil and gas on
>purpose. #65 EM
Upset that you can't get upwards of 300hp/liter (normally aspirated, yet) out
of your multi-cylinder motor? You appear to be turning green (with envy).
And about the oil/gas mix.... I'd like to watch as you attempt to convince
Gary Milligan and Joe Cheng of that. Or some of the other AM guys. Or
any of the F440/500 drivers....
Alan Sheidler
|