Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track Have You Ever?.... Poll Question

This is a big debate, and I've slowly formed an opinion on the matter.

In real auto racing, cheat like hell. It's part of the game, and it's half the challenge (and fun).

In autocross, where it's all amatures trying to be the best and tweaking a car and driving it, it ruins the fun. If you are showing up for the first time, run where you should! I would ignore truly insignificant things: a stock but knauberized Contour can run in GS - that's just too much nitpicking. But a real mod, like an intake, should bump you - even if it doesn't really matter. CF hood? SM. Just run there, and compare times against stock.

There are exceptions. If you're trying to build a car for a class - like I am - and you are having trouble making it legal, run anyway. BUT, only if it gives you no significant advantage, and you let competitors know. When my HVAC inlet leaked and flooded my pass. footwell, I had to remove some sound-deadening that got moldy. That's a bump to prepared or something, and there's no way to replace it that's not expensive and a huge PITA. Aside from these technicalities, just run stock. I want an accusump, which gives no performance benifit (for me - there are reasons it's not allowed), and would help me with oil starvation. But, that's something I can help, so even though it doesn't make me faster, I'm doing without.

Have I mentioned I love the SCCA? I love the stock class where a cat-back exhaust and R-tires are legal but a short throw shifter isn't. Hmm, a piece used once, maybe twice, that saves .000000002 seconds is NOT legal; but a piece that adds power (exhaust) constantly and tires that, alone, shave entire seconds ARE legal---in a STOCK class. Dumbest rule evar.

Want to save money and use that FSVT fuel pump in your otherwise stock CSVT? Boom, Street Prepared.

Want to SAVE blowing your engine while ADDING weight by gettng an Accusump? Too bad, not in a stock class; you'll just have to take your chances that your daily driver is going to keep it's internals, well internal.

There are a lot of good reasons the rules are they way they are. Check out my recent thread on sccaforums delving into the topic, if you haven't seen it already. Exhaust is something that wears out and needs replacing, and so are shocks/struts. Today it's not a big deal to get oem, since they last so long, but that wasn't always the case. Even now, it's still a lot cheaper to get an off-brand muffler to replace your rusted-out exhaust. The front swaybar was a safety regulation on older cars, and like some other rules, it is still around because rule stability is important. I don't always agree with the classing structure, but it's still pretty good. Newbies are going to be outclasses because they can't drive, no because they're in SM. I've beaten drivers in just about every category, as well as been dusted by HS cars on cheap street tires. I'm sure there are lots of people with 3.0L turbo Contours who would lose GS their first few times out.

Just run in whatever class is legal, and compare times to similar drivers in similar cars. I often run against paltry STS fields, so I chase down the DSP guys (There's a Neon that's similarly modded to be, but on slicks, a sick E30 325i, and a semi-stock Scirocco), and a GS Cooper S that has taken PAX at some BIG events last year (maybe not this year, though, with the PAX change). They give me rabbit times to work on, since I know my car should be close. Someday I'll beat GS, STS, and DSP in raw times...

Well, for me personally I could run in a class of all track cars for all I care. Yeah it sucks I cant really compare my times with those in SM (better suited to STS), but Im not trying to be competitive anyway. Im just there to have fun and become more familiar with my cars performance at its limits.