Finally got the time to look on the forum, pesky work got in the way again, anyone know how to become independently wealthy. So in one afternoon read all 34 pages of comments on rules changes. It revealed a very spirited and informed debate. To the person running the SE region and growing the class starting at "0" ,excellent suggestions on how to grow a region. We should all take notes on the ideas used.
My vote on the ideas
Welding the bumper pistons YES these are not a safety item on the car they were a requirement by the federal government to mandate a 5 MPH bumper hit that would result in no damage. Not something needed on a race car.
Adding foam after cutting out spare tire well for safety. NO unless I am missing something foam is flammable material and the fumes from it are toxic, why add flammable material to a race car.
Short shifter YES with a caveat. It appears majority think that the shifter mechanism in the car is a weak point in the car if raced. At a $90 cost this is an inexpensive fix. My caveat is will this result in adding strain to the transmission and result in breakage of another transmission component. If it does not then allow but specify parts allowed.
Wheels allow a specified after market due to limited supply of optimum stock wheels. YES My views I suspect will be declined but my opinion is as follows. Look at the tire and how we squeeze it on a 7" wheel it looks silly and I suspect compromises the performance of the tire so I would like to see at 9" wheel instead. I would also like to see a lighter wheel to help improve performance as well. However given we are a spec class that wishes to control racing costs this wheel would have to be at the same cost as the current cost of a cookie cutter wheel. If not the total extra cost could not be more than $50.
One note racing is not cheap and we should not promote ourselves as cheap racing. We do not cut costs for any reason. The result is a car that lacks optimized performance within our rules and can result in safety concerns. What we are is economical or controlled cost racing. The time we spent on dyno rules and the control of engine modifications has been a great example of cost control. Spec suspension parts are another example. The wheel suggestion and short shifter suggestion are both within the idea of having a controlled cost racing class.
Finally my one suggestion. Allow moving the battery from the high front location to the right rear. First it helps corner balance the car. Second it allows using a stock car battery which are economical. One does not have to spent extra money to buy a light weight racing battery to minimize the current poor weight location. As an aside using the normal size car battery reduces the need to bump start cars because the race battery is just not powerful charge or electric power for the car.
