Street Touring proposed rule changes in 2018 April Fasttrack
I'm not a fan of either of these proposals. I'm wondering what you other ST people think?
Quote:
#21325 Minimum seat weight, steering wheels, airbags
The STAC is soliciting member feedback on increasing the minimum weight of allowed
replacement aftermarket seats. This is to better align the allowances with the weights of
today’s common seats and mounting hardware.
Change 14.2.B as follows:
“B. The driver and front passenger seats may be replaced with the following
restrictions. The seating surface must be fully upholstered. The top of the seat,
or an attached headrest, may not be below the center of the driver’s head. The
seat, including mounting hardware, must weigh at least 25 35 pounds and must be
attached using the OE body mounting holes/studs. Additional mounting points may
be added.”
The current 25 lb minimum weight results in a legal weight reduction when swapping seats in most cars. Even at 35 lbs, some cars will still shed weight. Some, by having to ballast up to the new minimum, could end up with replacement seats that are heavier than OEM (older cars, perhaps). Why is one arbitrary number better than another?
Weight reduction is not the only reason why people change their seats. It may not even be the main reason. Most people want to limit body movement in order to improve car control, or make the car more suitable and safer for other uses, such as track. Adding ballast, if not done with care, is certainly not going to make the seat safer.
[WHINE]Besides, it's going to be a hassle to remove my seats and hardware, weigh them, and add ballast. Street Touring is supposed to include the kinds of common performance car modifications that regular people in real life do every day to make their car more fun, better looking, or safer to drive. In real life, nobody weighs their seats and adds ballast. Only dumb autocrossers do that.[/WHINE]
Quote:
The STAC is also soliciting member feedback on the following changes to require intact
SRS/Airbag systems effective January 1, 2020.
Modify 14.2.B and 14.2.D as follows:
“B. The driver and front passenger seats may be replaced with the following
restrictions. The seating surface must be fully upholstered. The top of the seat, or
an attached headrest, may not be below the center of the driver’s head. The seat,
including mounting hardware, must weigh at least 25 pounds and must be attached
using the OE body mounting holes/studs. Additional mounting points may be
added. Seats with an integral airbag may not be modified or changed.”
“D. Any steering wheel may be used with the following restrictions. An alternate
steering wheel assembly, including all mounting hardware, which replaces an airbag-
equipped wheel is not required to have an airbag but must weigh at least as much as
the standard assembly. Steering wheels with an integral airbag may not be modified
or changed. An alternate wheel is not required to have a horn button.”
This is clearly the work of namby-pamby safety nazis who are afraid to modify their daily driver to be competitive, so they want to force everyone else to compete in cars as hobbled, mundane, and boring as theirs.
If you keep eliminating things that distinguish Street Touring from Street, you might as well merge the classes.
This makes it impossible to build a safe and fun dual-purpose autocross and track Street Touring car. You can build one or the other, take your pick.
Plus, if this becomes effective in 2020, all of us who swapped our our OEM-airbag equipped seats and steering wheels for non-airbag equipped alternatives are going to have to source OEM replacements for our current setup. That is just going to force a lot of cars into premature retirement.
