> Hi DG
> I agree with taking a look at the 2 seaters.
They've already been looked at - and rejected. See below for why.
> If car size is a concern maybe we could consider engine cylinder number as
> the filter factor, regardless of front/rear wheel drive + all the other
> filters.
That doesn't help at all. There is at least a 2000lb varience between the
lightest 4 cylinder cars and the heaviest 4 cylinder cars. That's not a typo,
that really is two thousand pounds.
OK, so maybe 3500lb 4cyls are rare enough (and non performance orientated
enough) that we don't care about them. But I DO know that there's lots of 4cyls
in the 2600-2900 lb area. Let in the 1500lb CRXen, and you've got a mere
1100-1400 lb weight disparity, perhaps even more when that CRX puts on his c/f
hood.
Take out the 2-seaters, and the lower end of the weight range jumps way up. It
seems to me that the ultra-lightweight MX-3 is 2200lbs in SP trim. Well that's a
400-700lb weight disparity. Still pretty freakin' bad if you're on the heavy
side, but nowhere _near_ as bad as 1400lbs.
And cars like the MX-3 are oddities. The average weight for 4 seaters is
probably in the 2500 lb range (The Type R is 2500-ish) So then the "average" car
is maybe 300lbs off the lightweights, and the heavyweights are 400 lbs off the
average. That's doable. It still pays to be on the lighter end of the spectrum,
but at least the heavier cars have a chance.
I figure that up to a 700 lb difference falls into the driver skill noise level,
in that a 700lb heavier car whose driver is having an awesome day can probably
beat the driver of a 700lb lighter car who is having an OK day at least some of
the time. But at a 1400lb difference, the lighter car's driver can drive like a
complete moron and still win.
We saw this firsthand in P2 this year. It was possible for 3000lb Talons to
occasionally beat 2500lb RX-7s, if the Talon driver was having a good day and
the RX-7 driver was a little off. It didn't happen very often, but it did happen
- which means that it's possible. But even exceptional RX-7 drivers had to work
_very_ hard to catch 1500lb CRXen that were down almost 100HP. Take away that
power disparity, and it's a wash.
And that's just weight. Size counts too. Smaller cars fit easier in slaloms,
they can get a little sideways without hitting anything, and they pivot like
crazy. CRXen and Miatae at speed have impossibly tight turning radii that larger
cars - irregardless of weight - just can't match.
So if we let 2 seaters into STU, the car to have quickly becomes a turbocharged
Miata or CRX. Hell, I'd bet the Harnish CRX could win in STU in CSP trim right
now!
Well, then you've just killed off all the appeal for the vast majority of the
people STU is supposed to be for, "Sport Compact Car" riceboy types with Talons,
Integras, Civics, Impressas, Cougars, and the like. Instead, you have a class
for Miatae and CRXen. Gee, like these cars don't have enough classes to dominate
already. Do we _really_ need another Miata class?
So no, the 2 seaters don't belong in STU. The weight disparity between the 4
seaters is bad enough at 700lbs-ish. I see no need to make it any worse. In
fact, I predict that if STU takes off the way I think it will, in a couple of
years I expect STU will be split into STU-light and STU-heavy to level the
playing field even more within the context of 4-seaters.
If there are enough 2-seaters out there that want to play by STU rules, then let
them create "Steet Sports Unlimited" for 2 seaters and demonstrate that they can
make a viable class of it, the same way STU is trying to now. But the
size/weight disparity in STU is bad enough as it is, please don't try and make
it any worse.
DG
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