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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 751
Veteran CEG\'er
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Veteran CEG\'er
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 751 |
A little history about Street Mod. It all started when Dennis Grant wanted to boost the crap out of his DSM. At the time, the only class that this would take it to was either mod or prepared. Yikes. So he petitioned the SCCA and was eventually given provisional status.
Other drivers, particularly those with Mustangs had substantial suspension modifications (K-members and subframe connectors) that also put them into XP or XM classes. Through the years, these were put into SM and SM2.
Now that there's unlimited boost in XSP, the pony cars might be able to eventually get the SFCs allowed, as they're as wobbly as a noodle otherwise. Even more so than our cars.
Whirling dervish of FFOG.
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 751
Veteran CEG\'er
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Veteran CEG\'er
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Posts: 751 |
Originally posted by SVTfrog:
Just don't tell anyone.
That's the worst idea ever. Why is there such an aversion to running the car a class where it's legal? For ufcks sake.
Cheating is a great way to get ostrasized in this community.
Whirling dervish of FFOG.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 21,653
I have no life
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I have no life
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 21,653 |
I don't do it... but there are a lotta people I know who only make it to a couple events a year and techincally should be in a class that won't let them compare to what they should be comparing to. Usually these people aren't close to being the fastest. Now if it was one of the faster cars, then yeah definitely be in the right class.
There was a car that ran with 60 treadwear rated tires in STS once. I let him know that they weren't class legal, but also told him it doesn't really matter, since he wasn't near the fastest cars and is not a regular to our region.
Maybe I should start running SM, because here the SM cars are slower than our STS cars and I could easily trophy.  But I'm not, because I like to run in a class that was designed for like cars.
98.5 SVT
91 Escort GT (almost sold)
96 ATX Zetec (i brake to watch you swerve)
FS: SVT rear sway bar
WTB: Very cheap beater
CEG Dragon Run - October 13-15
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,100
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,100 |
Originally posted by SVTfrog:
I don't do it... but there are a lotta people I know who only make it to a couple events a year and techincally should be in a class that won't let them compare to what they should be comparing to. Usually these people aren't close to being the fastest. Now if it was one of the faster cars, then yeah definitely be in the right class.
Maybe I should start running SM, because here the SM cars are slower than our STS cars and I could easily trophy. But I'm not, because I like to run in a class that was designed for like cars.
I have never had a problem with just looking at my time compared to the class I think I should compare against if I am in a different class.
If you care that much about a trophy send me your address i'll send you a few pf my first place E-Stock plaques.
Cherry picking classes can work but I have enough trophys that I don't care about them. If SM is slower than STS I would guess most of the SM guys are ones that have put that one little mod on their car (like that little hairdryer or something) and got bumped to SM so I don't see why other people that have small SM mods would have a problem bumping up to that class.
Beaten - 2003 MazdaSpeed Protege 29K <- broken hearted
Daily/Weekend Beater - 1990 miata 138K - AutoX every weekend = Adult driven on weekends
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,194
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
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Posts: 1,194 |
I've been in an autocross event one time but I was driving a C5 Z06 instead of my Contour. That car made it almost too easy except for trying to get out of corners without oversteer.
The guy I work for used to do tons of autocrossing but he said he had to relearn everything when he went to road-racing. Eventually he ended up doing pretty well in the Speedvision World Challenge.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 21,653
I have no life
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I have no life
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 21,653 |
No I don't care about trophies. I was saying I COULD but won't.
I just think the classes aren't setup perfect. It discourages people from autoxing. 90% of the time people stumble upon autox, they have already modded their cars and have something that puts them in a very uncompetive class. Things like this discourage some people from participating. It's not a problem I have, but I've seen many people complain about it and never return because of it.
Since you do it for fun, why would it matter to you if the slower cars run in class they're not perfectly legal for? They're not gonna take points away from any body that's trying to rack up regional points.
98.5 SVT
91 Escort GT (almost sold)
96 ATX Zetec (i brake to watch you swerve)
FS: SVT rear sway bar
WTB: Very cheap beater
CEG Dragon Run - October 13-15
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,867
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,867 |
Originally posted by SVTfrog:
Since you do it for fun, why would it matter to you if the slower cars run in class they're not perfectly legal for? They're not gonna take points away from any body that's trying to rack up regional points.
Slippery slope, that.
Function before fashion.
'96 Contour SE
"Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,867
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Oct 2000
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Originally posted by SVTfrog:
I just think the classes aren't setup perfect. It discourages people from autoxing. 90% of the time people stumble upon autox, they have already modded their cars and have something that puts them in a very uncompetive class. Things like this discourage some people from participating.
There is a class for every car, but no class is perfect for every driver all the time. That's the breaks.
I think what discourages most of the people you're talking about is attitude. They "stumbled upon" autocross, yet expect to be in the trophies the first time out. Whoops! They modded their car for fun, and now they're not competitive in the class that kicks them into. So what? Better luck next car. Meanwhile, run in "street open" or just do "fun runs" and have fun.
Function before fashion.
'96 Contour SE
"Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,100
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,100 |
Originally posted by RogerB:
Originally posted by SVTfrog:
Since you do it for fun, why would it matter to you if the slower cars run in class they're not perfectly legal for? They're not gonna take points away from any body that's trying to rack up regional points.
Slippery slope, that.
Much so, very.
Beaten - 2003 MazdaSpeed Protege 29K <- broken hearted
Daily/Weekend Beater - 1990 miata 138K - AutoX every weekend = Adult driven on weekends
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,100
Hard-core CEG\'er
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Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,100 |
Originally posted by RogerB:
Originally posted by SVTfrog:
I just think the classes aren't setup perfect. It discourages people from autoxing. 90% of the time people stumble upon autox, they have already modded their cars and have something that puts them in a very uncompetive class. Things like this discourage some people from participating.
There is a class for every car, but no class is perfect for every driver all the time. That's the breaks.
I think what discourages most of the people you're talking about is attitude. They "stumbled upon" autocross, yet expect to be in the trophies the first time out. Whoops! They modded their car for fun, and now they're not competitive in the class that kicks them into. So what? Better luck next car. Meanwhile, run in "street open" or just do "fun runs" and have fun.
If you don't like the SCCA classes try NASA. They run classes in a way that seems to be more fair to the people that you are talking about.
http://nasa-tt.com/rules.php
http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/Time-Trial-Rules.pdf
Thbey assess points based on the mods you have on your car you move up classes based on that. I have some issues with their classing but some people like it better. Both of my cars end up in the same class (Mazdaspeed Protege, Mazda Miata 1.6L) and I can tell you that they are not the same speed.
I have a friend that when he first started autox he had a turbo on his miata and that was pretty much it. He placed near the back of the class (SM2) as you would expect. That next year he worked on upgrading his car and his skills and within a year he was winning SM2 locally and this year was in the top half nationally.
Beaten - 2003 MazdaSpeed Protege 29K <- broken hearted
Daily/Weekend Beater - 1990 miata 138K - AutoX every weekend = Adult driven on weekends
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