I've been following this with more than a fair amount of interest. I
toyed with the idea of running a vintage car for a number of years
(following 2 years of serious kart racing during which safety concerns
persuaded me to leave the sport) until kid #3 came along (no serious
consideration for racing until far in the future now, chaos begins with
3 small children). For now, I'll just stick with autoxing the Sprite
and to track days in my '85 BMW 535i, a daily driver with 350K miles
with which I still give fits to far faster modern cars.
My Dad runs a late model stock car at VIR track member days and in NASA
(roadracing at VIR). The NASA attitude on motors is really pretty
interesting. The top 5 and a few random cars are stuck on the portable
dyno and if they exceed 390hp (? I'm not sure if this is the magic
number, but it is specific) and/or spin over 6K rpms (this is limited by
a specific electronic unit), then they get tossed for that event and
automatically invited to the dyno for the next few events when they show
back up again.
Since we know that high rpm escalates costs very significantly, limiting
this would appear to be a wonderful way of limiting overall costs and
potential hp. If there was desire to keep costs further under control,
then stick everyone on the portable dyno and don't let them exceed a
target hp at the rear wheels. Let them run whatever displacement that
the permitted block supports so long as the hp at the wheel isn't
exceeded. This way, no one is cheating as the rules get away from what
is permitted internally vs what can be easily and quickly measured
externally. No more teardowns needed. Sure with this kind of stuff
there is still overprep available. One could still build a supertrick
motor with very low friction and very lightweight parts to gain some
small acceleration advantage, but the effects of over prep would be
seriously minimized. Without the hp, flares, big tires, and big brakes
just slow you down, so retaining a vintage look would be advantageous
(at least for Spridgets). Limit hp and rpm based upon displacement of
the block, set rules for the appropriate blocks in chassis, and let the
racing begin.
I'm appalled when the rules permit running hewland gears in a ribcase
(or do not prevent it because its hard to check against running straight
cut gears) while preventing the use of any replacement box. As far as
allowing any year Mini to run a 1275 and a not allow a Bugeye to run
one, this is just crazy. These cars are contemporaries running from the
same block design, limiting one chassis (due to its unique body)
displays an alarming lack of knowledge on the part of those running the
show. Its not as if these cars are changing from year to year like
SCCA, everyone knows the cars and their development potential. If you
want to run a 948, great, prep it to whatever degree you want but don't
exceed 75 hp at the wheel, but if you want to run a 1275 you better
limit prep or be prepared to be tossed.
IMHO, Vintage racing organizations need to consider stepping away from
SCCA-like rules into something less restrictive and invasive to check
and maintain while making over prep within the rules less advantageous.
Jackson Zimmermann
'64 AH Sprite (sold and titled as '64 but 1/4 elliptic car with side
curtains, SCCA allows updating for 3 years, does this mean that due to
my title I can legally update to its current 1275 even if the factory
said the 1/4 elliptic was not produced past 1963?, this is the kind of
stuff that crazy rules make!)
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