[Imp]

Along with some more competition...

Just posted to the SCCA Forums.
http://www.sccaforums.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/18/833

TECH BULLETINS
1) Stock: The following new listings, effective immediately upon publication, are added in Appendix A:
Mini Cooper S (‘05+) GS
Lotus Elise (‘05+) SS
Porsche 911 GT3 SS

Note: these recommendations still need to be approved by the BOD... but more than likely 99.9% accurate/

 

[Highlander]

Sweet!!!!

 

[Randy Chase]

IMO... the GT3 in SS is a bad idea. Oh well...

 

[del105]

Sweet!!!!

not really, SS has now become a 100k to play class and is making me rethink the Elise as my auto-x car for 05. Right now I"m thinking 00 M coupe in BS or 05 mini S in GS.

 

[DaCrema]

not really, SS has now become a 100k to play class and is making me rethink the Elise as my auto-x car for 05. Right now I"m thinking 00 M coupe in BS or 05 mini S in GS.

The MCS can be had with LSD as of Jan 05. It should be very fast in that group with the better gearing and LSD.

 

[Highlander]

not really, SS has now become a 100k to play class and is making me rethink the Elise as my auto-x car for 05.

I'd rather fight with the Z06 and GT3 in SS than be tossed in ASP. Somehow I just don't think the GT3 will be an overly dominant car.

 

[Randy Chase]

Keep in mind that there is a 12 month window where the SEB can move cars around should data warrant it.

If the GT3 kills the class, expect it to get moved.

 

[del105]

I'd rather fight with the Z06 and GT3 in SS than be tossed in ASP. Somehow I just don't think the GT3 will be an overly dominant car.

I don't think the GT3 will overly dominate the Z06 but the poor little Elise is probably gonna have some problems in that class. I guess we'll see what happens

 

[Stan]

Well it would help a lot if there were a selection of tires for the Elise...

* Smaller than stock diameter with greater than stock width and able to work well on our wheel widths and corner weights. The smaller diameter would legally lower the car and slightly help out the gearing. 245/35/17? 245/40? 225/35? etc.

* Various diameter rears to help tune gearing a bit? Maybe this could help a bit with course dependency.

* From what I have seen so far the supersticky 710 won't be out in suitable sizes for our cars. The just-announced 215/40/16 might work up front...but what to do out back. And the supersticky Hoosier seems to be stumbling and wear prone.

* Limited slip appears to be headed our way. I wonder if wider rears might help with wheelspin...maybe some retuning of the setup will be needed.

 

[Surferjer]

If I was racing nationally, I'd be very concerned. As for local autoXs, I doubt I'll ever see a GT3 there (just like I've never seen a Viper), and I'm competitive with the Vettes as is. It all sounds fine to me. Now the new killer Vette concerns me mightily. Randy-maybe you guys should sandbag for a year and get us pushed down to AS

 

[John Stimson]

As stated on the SCCA forums, the GT3 is not a GT2. It doesn't have the same low-RPM torque you get with the turbo. Greg Fordahl (multi-time national champ) ran a GT3 in Street Prepared (with the attendant suspension, wheel, and engine modifications) and put down times good enough for 6th place in SS.

I wouldn't be afraid of the GT3. I'd be more afraid of the Z06...and the C6...and the C6 Z06.

 

[z06fun]

The C6 probably won't be much of a competitor until Kuhmo or Hoosier comes out with some 19" tires.

 

[John Stimson]

Kumho has a 305 or 315/30-19 on their list of planned sizes for the V710. I don't know if that will fit on the front of a C6...

 

[elise77]

The 305 will be too small for the new Z06.....

Its gonna be on BIG rear tires...

Later

 

[maxxfish]

Are allowable modifications for SS the same as other Stock classes?

 

[Robert Puertas]

yes

 

[Surferjer]

I have it from a good source that one set of Vette drivers is very "concerned" about our Elise in SS at the PA championships. They aren't worried about me, but they are quite concerned with Perry and Brian. I wouldn't be surprised if they protest the Elise on Sunday.

Do we have anything to support the Elise in SS excluding the probable class to SS in 2005? What about this year? UI mentioned that any unclassed car goes into SS, but was quoted the 1000 cars sold rule.

Is there anything else to hang our respecitve hats on this weekend? I never realized how competitive and pathetic people could get over this hobby. Very dissappointing.

 

[zvezdah1]

Lotus has always been penalize in competition at least in the US. When the Esprits originally ran in SCCA world challenge, because they were so competitive SCCA kept making them add ballast to make it less so until the car was running with a couple hundred pounds (or more). This caused them to move over to IMSA where the same thing happened. (in IMSA they were quite competitive against Joest Porsches)

I love it that this tiny company can be a giant killer!

Chris
PS>Have no doubt the other competitors on auto x will be reading the rule books thoroughly to go against the elise.

 

[ConeFusion]

Do we have anything to support the Elise in SS excluding the probable class to SS in 2005?

Not really. The only thing we have is message board posts (from SEB members) saying that the SEB recommended to the BOD to class the Elise in SS. It still has to be approved by the BOD, and nothing is official until it's published in FasTrack.

So it's going to be at least a couple more weeks if it makes the next FasTrack. Right now, you couldn't legally run in SS.

Edit: Reading the posts on sccaforums again, I notice that the Elise classing is listed under Tech Bulletins. I'm not sure if those need to be approved by the BOD, like class changes are. But they certainly aren't official until they're published.

 

[Stan]

Well...locally Elises have been running in SS without protests. If the same previously occured with this group then the protest would be kinda sad since a local precedent would have been set you might think. Jer maybe you helped set that precedent! We just had the Tri-State Invitational and the Elise won SS. I'd hope that if the Elise does well at the PA event that a protest is not made and upheld. I suppose it's possible though. The decision was apparently already made but won't be published for another 1-2 weeks. That's plenty of time for next season. And by then way over 1,000 cars will be out there.