Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track Contour Classes at Spring Zing

Now I'm assuming that we're not going to have people running on street tires competing with those of us on race rubber. I'm also thinking that those with the LSD shoud not be in the same class as those without. Same for lowered suspensions.

I wanted to get a dialogue going about what classes/rules we are going to have.


I propose classes. But I'm not sure where to put the LSD. But it's a start for discussion I would think.

1. Basically stock
2. Race rubber basically stock
3. Suspension lowered etc etc. Race rubber
4. Supercharged/larger displacement Race Rubber


Then again this could be academic as everything is already decided. I hope not, as I'd like to think we have some influence on the process.

What do you guys think?

Well, first off I think a dialogue is a good idea on this subject.

One thing I do NEED to point out is we can't go crazy with classes. Last year worked out pretty well with the classes.
Last year the class breakdown was like this:
Contour Stock
Contour Modifed
SVT Contour Stock
SVT Contour Modified
Taurus SHO Stock (Gen 1 & 2)
Taurus SHO Modified (Gen 1 & 2)
Taurus SHO Stock (Gen 3)
Taurus SHO Modified (Gen 3)

The guy who won had crazy suspension mods and he still wasn't much quicker then some of the stock contour entrants.

Next year we are going to be seeing some cars that are a little more "out there" so rules adjustments are going to be a must.
-Mark

so if i had an intake and cat-back exhaust, would i be running in stock or modified? also, being there are four and six cylinder contours, do we all run in the same class?

Well, if it is going to be run in conjunction with the WMR regional event at the University again, I propose that those of you with race rubber simply run GS. That was going to be my intention, anyway. Most of the guys with mad suspension mods run STS, so we don't think race rubber will be an issue.

TheMark - The SZ classes are completely separate from the standard SCCA classes running. You must run in one of the Spring Zing Cup Classes to be eligible to win the Spring Zing Cup.

Last year we had 4cyl & 6cyl running together, the reason behind it was there was only 1 Zetec (to my knowledge) entered in the Spring Zing Cup.
-Mark

Ok, I get the picture.

Well, I do agree with Mark, in that we should not go class crazy... but, I don't really consider race rubber as a modification.

I think it was shown last year that, for the most part, the SEs were faster than the SVTs, so I see no need for that distinction anymore.

What about a Contour Race Prepared category? Pretty much an anything-goes class... Or call it Contour - Open.

We'd be dropping one class from last year with this configuration.

~TM

An open class is in the works, there are soem unanswered points with the class and whether or not it will include the people competing in the Ultimate Contour Competition.

As for combining the SVT's and regular contours, I don't think its going to happen. Before anyone jumps down my throat over it please listen to my resoning.

The reason behind the model split was more for scoring & heat purposes then anything else. In the end the fastest time out of all the classes took the win.

The problem with that setup is next year we are going to have more "Open" type cars competing compared to this years Spring Zing where the three cars that would have been classified as open didn't compete for various reasons (mine had a bad CV & Motormount, Brad's left on a trailor, Trapps never got his working correctly).

I guess what my biggest concern with the Cup is keeping the competition fair for everyone. An open class could easily take the ability to win away from anyone not running in the class. So that is something that really has to be discussed.

Now on the subject of race tires... Race tires will not be allowed.
-Mark

I like the idea of an open class. However DOT approved tires should be allowed. I spend a lot of time at the autoX. AutoX tears up tires very very quickly. You could say each run is about 1000 miles of regular wear. That's why I go through the trouble of starting at 6 am. Loading my car and going to the AutoX, changing my tires there. Because of this, I've also not put on as good a street tire as I may have. Reason??? Simple, I do my high performance driving on the track. I need/use a good all season tire, albeit high-performance, for the street. It satisfies my basic needs and helps me control my costs.

When I go to spring zing. I also go with the intention of winning. However I'm not dropping an additional $500 just to run there.

I run GS in SCCA and I think that pretty much should sum things up. I'm stock, I run stock and I concentrate on my driving skills. I am serious about competing. That's why I have race rubber with DOT (ie street legal) approval. There are enough of us out there doing the same thing I don't see why that should not be allowed.

I also think that we shouldn't go crazy with classes either. I think that those of us who have spent the time and money investing in our cars(or driving skills) would be more than happy to invest in some Kuhmo's or something similiar. I bet many people have them already.

The people who are there who have never done this before or just once in a blue moon. Don't take this seriously, they can compete, but they take the hit of not coming optimized for running. They are there to have fun. I am too, but I plan on doing my damndest to post the best time. And race rubber is worth 3 seconds on a 60 second course.

I understand wanting to keep this as fair as possible. But I also disagree about the tire thing. These cars are VERY twitchy at the limit, and race rubber will hurt you more than help you if your not careful. Street tires are much more forgiving.

I am certainly curious as to how many people, if given the opportunity to use race rubber, will show up with it.

I am gonna EAT you up DAVE
Stock tires and all!!!!! :p

On those bald things??? Yeah.. if you can make it through the winter without sliding into the wall.