----- Original Message -----
From: "Iain Mannix" <mannix@rmsolo.org>
To: "Rocky Entriken" <rocky@tri.net>
Cc: "David Hillman" <hillman@planet-torque.com>; "autox list"
<autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, October 07, 2002 7:03 PM
Subject: Re: Prepared Miata reclassing thoughts
> > > [David Hillman] I know nothing about levels of preparation in DP, but
isn't using the
> > > fact that these cars have won to prove their well-preparedness rather
> > > circular logic?
> >
> > [Rocky Entriken] Well it strikes me that the fact these cars have won --
and multiple
> > times -- makes them benchmarks for the class.
>
> [Iain Mannix] Well, sure - but if they're not prepared to the limit of the
> rules, it is kinda hard to say whether or not the Miata is an
> overdog.
>
> Note - I have _NO_ idea whether the fast DP cars are prepped to the
> limit of the rules, but I think that's what David was getting at.
Okay. First of all there is the truism that NO competition car is ever
"done." There's always a place to throw more money at it.
Beyond that, DP is a class that has been around since Day One and cannot
exactly be called a soft class. Cars have gotten better, and they have been
better prepared as the years passed. In just about any class, you look at
the top cars in the class in recent years as the benchmarks for that class.
Can another car be built better? Of course it can. But the prep level of the
Miatas is not yet at the prep level of most of the other trophy-caliber cars
in the class.
Randy Herrick and Steve Bollinger, to name a couple, are two individuals who
have the skill, talent and knowledge to build their speed (and then drive
well too). They know how to build a competition car and make it as fast as
possible. Just competing against each other has lifted them both to greater
heights, and that means cars that push the "limits" farther and farther.
Herrick is not in the class any more, but two cars that he has had a great
deal to do with are still with us. And Bollinger is definitely here. I don't
know what the skill of the Imbeaus is for their Spridget, but that car came
out of Bob King's garage and he is another with impeccable prep credentials.
You are talking now about cars that have rock-solid suspensions, engines
stressing to 15:1 or so, weights right down on the limit, some rather
inventive solutions in the gearboxes and rear ends -- and compare that to
the winning Miata with its mild engine, rubber bushings, basic shocks, etc.
Are the cars I mention prepared to the "limit" of the rules? Define "limit".
There is no rulebook limit for compression, for example, so it is whatever
you think you can get away with before the thing blows up. But of a number
of things that are allowed to be done, and which most of us in the class
have done to some degree, the Miatas -- especially the winner the past two
years -- have yet to prepare that far. If it is a winner under-prepared,
then what if it WAS prepped closer to whatever that undefinable "limit" is?
--Rocky
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