SCCA - Street proposal

[BMcCann]

The long and short of it:

-No longer called Stock...its now called Street
-No more R-comps, 140tw for 2014, 200tw for 2015
-Two-way adjustable shocks only, no more remote reservoirs
-Camber plates allowed
-sway bars on both ends of the car, if wanted
-those that have remote reservoirs and R-comps can play in _SP (limited prep) category

My thoughts:
I like it....but I don't own a car in a high-HP class and haven't dumped $$$$ into purple crack and/or A$Ts. Limited prep seems like the bastard stepchild to SP.

What are your thoughts?

[OZMDD]

Seems like a reasonable starting point to me. The corvettes are going to burn crosses on peoples lawns. I like the addition of camber and sway bar allowances, and the wheel diameter flexibility.

The reclass is going to be a friggin nightmare.

LP sounds like a failure waiting to happen.

[BMcCann]

The only way I see people doing LP is if it gets its own PAX. No one wants to run with SP numbers just because they have external reservoirs. Have fun, Rick Ruth.

[tailchaser]

Seems like a great idea to me. Hasn't this (or a close cousin) been proposed every year since 1988, though?

[sean]

The only way I see people doing LP is if it gets its own PAX. No one wants to run with SP numbers just because they have external reservoirs. Have fun, Rick Ruth.

An LP car (which would have camber + bars + pimp shocks + Rcomps) would NOT run in its normal SP class.

For example an SS corvette with full on SP prep runs in SSP. But SS corvette with LP prep might run in ASP or (more likely) BSP.

[ken o]

Or run NASA-X where you only take points for the mods you have and are classed accordingly.

[modernbeat]

Ken, where's the LIKE button?

[Robert]

I have not read the rule, just going by what you posted. I like it. I would lose the bump adjustment on my shocks, that would be kind of a bummer. I also would worry how far people will take the sway bars on both ends. We will go to extremes, I am thinking 3-4 in bar on the front and whatever I need in the back to get the car balanced.

[OZMDD]

OK, so where do the NASA-X events get posted?

[tailchaser]

Move to the east coast... somewhere near VIR will work well.

[jrj512]

I like and support the proposed changes. I think it is a step in the right direction. There will be issues to iron out, but I like that they are willing to make drastic changes for the good of the sport.

[ken o]

OK, so where do the NASA-X events get posted?

Working on it.

[OZMDD]

Agree with JJ. I know the SS folks are impacted negatively, but the rest of the Stock classes are basically non-existant in N Texas, aside from KB in CS and a couple of HS minis. Maybe other regions have better turnout for Stock classes, but I don't hear much. Seems like most Stock class registrants are people with unmodified cars who run on street tires, at the regional level.

Good move, I think.

[Fair!]

I like Ken's idea the most. NASA-X FTW!

Read this to learn more about this proposed SCCA Street category: http://www.solomatters.com/2013/03/s...sal-explained/

[CosmosMpower]

If you're going to allow double adjustable shocks, sway bars on both ends and camber plate why not just allow springs too?

Everything else sounds good to me. Will the tire manufacturers start making a new crop of tires marked as 200 treadwear but are really still as soft and grippy as the current 140TW? Treadwear is subjective anyway. I doubt Hankook, Dunlop, Toyo will give up their market share on street tires designed for racing.

[OZMDD]

Once you add springs, you are basically at Street Touring Lite. Stock springs limit the impact of aftermarket dampers. I'd have preferred the single sway bar rule to remain as-is, but its a minor thing IMHO.

As for the TW issue, BFG already did that with the Rival. I will say that it seems to be quite durable, but it is nearly as sticky as an R-comp. Robert J was noticing the gravel stuck to my tires after a run, almost as much as KB's HoHo's.

[altiain]

I like the proposal, and Street is probably where I would end up at, since I can't really justify the expense of a dedicated autocross car.

One personal comment - I understand why they made the wheel diameter allowance (so that cars with - for example - factory 14" wheels could step up to 15" wheels), but I'd like to see something that allowed "update/backdate" for wheel sizes for car model years on the same line.

For example, my AP1 S2000 came from the factory with 16x6 F/16x7 R wheel sizes. I think the widest "competitive" street tire I could get would be a 225, since most manufacturers don't bother making many 16" tire sizes any more.

Under this proposal, I could run a set of 17x6 F/17X7 R wheels, but that would probably mean custom front wheels with the S2000's oddball offsets. On the other hand, if I could use OEM AP2 S2000 sizes (17x7 front, 17x8.5 R) I get more options, including inexpensive used OEM wheels.

[CosmosMpower]

Once you add springs, you are basically at Street Touring Lite. Stock springs limit the impact of aftermarket dampers. I'd have preferred the single sway bar rule to remain as-is, but its a minor thing IMHO.

As for the TW issue, BFG already did that with the Rival. I will say that it seems to be quite durable, but it is nearly as sticky as an R-comp. Robert J was noticing the gravel stuck to my tires after a run, almost as much as KB's HoHo's.

That's what I'm saying, might as well make the spring allowance and run ST lite and SP lite if you're going to allow camber and swaybars.

As far as less $ per run the manufacturers will keep one upping each other with sticky tires marking them as 200 treadwear but they won't actually last much longer than today's tires I'm guessing. I think it should be open to any true street tire (140+). The cost savings between 140 and 200 is trivial compared to A6's and any street tire (in most sizes at least).

[OZMDD]

Well, what happens to a "stock" car at that point? At least under the oem spring rule, a decent number of truly stock cars (other than tires) will still be competitive on a regional level, but not with a spring change. The 3 Miata gens and Mini Cooper are perfect examples of cars that can be driven as-is or with better dampers and still be driver-dependent. Once they swap springs, they run away from the stock spring cars.

I expect 200 to be the new 140 soon. I'd wager that the next iteration of UHP tires from Hankook and Toyo (among others) will all be 200+ and as sticky as ever.

[Robert]

I have sent in my letter in support of the class. I asked for a limit of 1.6 in. dia. max. on sway bars.