Mark J. Andy wrote:
"by and large Prepared and Mod guys don't run Pros. The reasons for this
mystify me, as I find Pro's to be the best type of autox available, but there
it is."
It's not mystifying, ask the Prep/Mod guys who used to run Pros! These cars
are built to transition at speed as quickly as possible; generate sustained
lateral g's; accelerate as fast as possible; brake as late as possible and
hopefully, the combination of car and driver is better than the next guy. So
far it's OK.
But IMO, today's Pros give you a 25 second course that simply reduces any
advantage that your modifications may have created. Speeds do not appear to
be high enough for any aero package to be fully effective; there is a physical
limit to how fast you can accelerate on a very short straight (if there is
one); and turn radii are so short that your sustainable g's are not in effect
very long. Besides all that, an autocross in a box is just not much fun in a
car capable of, and built for, much higher speeds.
Have not run a Pro for several years and thus am not up on all the rules, but
it seems that a Mod car runs first against some theoretical index (and how
good can this be with so few participants?), then is indexed again somehow. I
tried to figure this out from results somewhere and it appeared that on a
25-second course, a B Mod car would have to run a 19! I suppose this is
theoretically possible, but if it is, why don't you see more cars? I submit
that it is not even feasible to beat indexing like that; the short courses are
no fun to drive; it beats up the car and driver to no good effect; and never
mind the overheating between back to back runs problems. True you might be
competitive with another B Mod car, but since nobody else goes there, why
would I?
Just my 2-cents from a Mod car perspective. For those of you who enjoy the
Pros - have at it!
Vern
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