Charlie, I'm pretty with you on the second post, though 3-5 HP does make it substantially harder to pass. We all know SM racers would sell their soul for a 3 HP bump clear of the field. We are not pros by any means, but where I race, the top guys laptimes are often extremely close - several times this season well within 1/10th second. In those situations, little things matter. Some of them we can control, others not. We can do a better job with HP than we've done in the past.

On the first post, it seems your car was in a great state of tune at sea level, less so at 4,400 feet. The dyno was just reflecting what actually happend. Our cars have a one step change in fueling to adjust for altitude - cuts fuel by 6% - not very precise. They will go out of tune and lose power with elevation changes. If you carefully dial in your car, it should be in the best tune for whatever hardware it has (restrictor, etc.) at that point. If it then it goes out of tune, you do not get caught out by this rule, you just have less HP .

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Joe - you are ambitious, man! It's important to remember we don't live in a vacuum, what NASA gives away in dynos to our class, it would also have to do the same to CMC, GTS, AI, etc. There is not a precedent for that. Its a big ask. Also, we tend not to announce what we're going to tech ahead of time, even the day of the event.

I completely disagree with this rule(and not sure why we who pay our entry fees and don't complain about other "cheater" motors weren't consulted?). As has been said in this thread, and many times before, driver not car is what is fast. My motor was built by the same shop who built most of the Norcal motors. They are not a race shop and just build quality, durable engines for a great price. There are a few guys who have different motors, a few built by 944 "experts" and I pull right with them down any straight. The difference comes when I get to a turn. Their level of car prep and attention to detail, plus driving skill/experience makes the difference. I admit I haven't in the past spent the effort, not necessarily money, on making my car right. When asked where my shocks are set, I used to answer "full stiff, I think", so clearly I wasn't prepared to run up front.

The one and only time I was on a dyno I pulled a 137 and change. Since then I changed to lighter gear oil and different motor oil. Am I now over? I don't know but now I have to look over my shoulder and could possibly be spending time on the dyno instead of enjoying the weekend with my friends and family and may be branded with the stigma of cheater. Also if the same guy built everybody's engine are we all over and should we dq the whole event even if nobody complains. Wouldn't a better solution instead of a seemingly arbitrary number be a percentage based figure, say 5% over the field average?

I also don't understand how this rule will be enforced or applied. Does a formal complaint need to be filed or will a random car be pulled for inspection. If it's based on a formal complaint that could open the door to harrassment, although not likely in my region. Will it just be the winner? Maybe these details have been worked out and you just haven't passed them along to us but if not, this is not very well thought out.

I race on a very tight budget and can't compete with the big boys money wise but I feel I can, with a little hard work have just as good a car as anyone out there in spec944. Our rules as written and enforced are very good and keep the field as level as possible but make this clear, RACING IS NEVER EQUAL! Adding new requirements, despite the best intentions rarely works.

I firmly believe if 2-3hp is making or breaking your race your paychecks should be signed by Penske or Mclaren!

RD, I did talk with people who disagree with this, and I talked with your series director as well. I am sorry I can't talk to every racer out there.

Let me put a bit more perspective on this.

In the MW/GL, we see the same mobile dyno that has been to Nationals & MIller. We see it 2-3 times a year (including Nationals), and have had dozens of cars on it. We have seen some dyno variation in that the cars dyno low when cold. We have not a single car that would have been DQ'd under this rule until this year. This is before we were controlling tire pressures, which testing (on SM's) has shown can vary measure HP by about 3 between low pressures (around 30 PSI), and high pressures (around 40 PSI). The current rule sets the test pressure at 30 PSI, which would tend to skew the results lower.

As far as your situation, you are set up perfectly! We have seen gains of around 2 HP from switching to thinner oil. You would have to gain around 3 HP (and presumably some TQ) to fall out. If this makes you nervous, then switch back to your old oil, and you are good. alternatively, you could test using the new protocol, and see where you really stand. You might be surprised that you make no more HP than you did before.

As far as HP, we are seeing gaps approaching 10 HP between pro motors, and good motors (this is not even considering lower performing motors). A 135 HP motor may be fairly hard to tell from a 138HP motor. Put that 135 HP motor up against a 144 HP motor, and it's really significant. Bring that 144 HP motor down to 138, and it's a fair race from a motor perspective. Hopefully this helps put things in more perspective. I don't expect everything to be with 2-3 HP, but we can do better than the current spread. Telling guys like Norm Hamden - who's stuck with 135 HP - to suck it up and drive that much better than those with 5-9 more HP isn't going over very well. If 2-3 HP doesn't mean anything, you won't miss it when it's gone .

Yes the driver, and car setup matters more, but when both drivers are very good, HP can be the deciding difference, and that is not what this class is about.

As far as compliance, you could be selected for a dyno if there is one available. Your series director would decide what positions get pulled. Yes, someone could protest you, and after they paid their bond, and followed the procedure in the CCR, you could be asked to go to a dyno. There are penalties for bad faith protests. Protests at a regional level are vanishingly rare. If someone wants to harass you, they can do it now.

Racers...
Another thing to consider is that this HP cap is not to catch "Cheaters". It's to stop the progression of higher and higher HPs showing up every year. If no cap is in place, then a few years from now what if 150hp is the norm? High HP and High $ engine builds is not what 944SPEC is about.

While this rule was primarily driven by where we are at now by hard data, the state of the art does continue to evolve.

I get questions all the time about building a "competitive motor."
I'd like this to be a simple conversation.
Take any motor, build it carefully with the reliability mods listed in the rules, and spend an hour tuning it. Do it yourself for $2K, or have any decent mechanic do it for $4k or less. Done. Go compete at Nationals at whatever level your driving skills allow.

Right now, I have to ask at what level they want to compete, and what they budget they have.

Eric, can you share the data (with out naming names) of the top 3 hp ratings from Nationals for the last 4 years?
I would like to see the progression of hp numbers.
It seems to me that 6-8 years ago a 135hp car was common.
And can you explain the formula for the new hp cap rating?

Thanks,

Charlie