-------- Begin Included Message -----------
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 14:43:13 -0800
From: johnde@cats.UCSC.EDU
Subject: Street Prepared
Well, this is in response the gentleman who was dissin' Street Prepared.
First off, I drive my car on the street all the time- no problem. It's not
much fun in bumper to bumper, but what is? The main reason that I see that
these cars are trailered, is that it allows competitors to get the car ready
for an autox, and not have to worry about breaking, putting the tires on,
ect. It does allow you to enjoy the day a bit more. And what about the
stock guys, do you mean to imply that none of them trailer their cars?
.......text deleted ..........
Finally, it seems to me that if you want to make SP less expensive, you
would have to reclassify all the cars, and create about as many classes as
there is in Stock. I would'nt neccesarily be against that, but I would be
against simply changing the rules and not adjusting the classes. I guess
that bothers me the most. I don't know if the reason for SP was to create
an incredibly cheap form of motorsport anyway. It does give the competitor
another formula to use to prepare a car- maybe that's all there is to it.
In general, all the classes are as cheap as you want to make them. You have
to answer the question whether you want to be competitve on a National level,
Regional level, Local level, or simply among a subgroup in your class.
----- End Included Message -----
Please don't confuse my comment with trailering cars. If someone has the money
and doesn't mind spending it on a trailer, that's OK; but I don't think that
you should have to trailer a car if you don't want to. The problem with the
current SP rules is that if you want to be competitive you must prepare you to
such a level that is will NOT BE STREET LEGAL in many states. When that is
occurring, there is nothing "street" about it. Then you have no choice but to
invest in a fun car and a trailer.
Just because you drive you SP car on the street just tells me that you have
a non-competitive car. I also think that the current groupings are pretty
reaonable, but the SP groupings are only reasonable if you undertake all the
modifications allowed. The groupings would have evolved differently if the
level of modification was more limited.
My suggestion is not to create more classes, but to slowly over a period of
several years to slowly move SP back into street legal configurations. This
would primarily affect induction, engine, exhaust, and drivetrain changes; and
it would allow for gradual change and adjustments in class groupings. In the
end I think the sport would be better served by providing a lower cost step up
from Stock.
I disagree that SP is an "incredibly cheap form of motorsport" unless you are
comparing it to club racing. But it is considerably more expensive than stock.
Stock is bad enough with additional tires/wheels, shocks, and sway bar.
Sure, you can only spend a little which may leave you non-competitive at a
national, regional, or local level. But if you are going to take that
approach, you might as well only have AM!
I don't recommend this sport to just anyone anymore (unless they've already got
a very competitive car and they're ready to go out and buy at least $1000 worth
of extras). Sad really.
Mark
|