shwah
12-19-2006, 02:31 PM
In other threads some interesting conversations have cropped up about class growth (classifying new cars) and class movement (moving a car from the wrong class to where it belongs, or moving a tweener to the 'other class').
Many seem to imply that the reason no one responds to calls for identifying new cars for their class is that they don't want more competition. I imagine that it is more of a case that people are worrying about thier own issues and are waiting for 'them' to magically move cars into the class. Of course the process does not identify our rules makers as 'them', it identifies us and our potential future competitors. However if we don't take action that means that 'them' is comprised of people that don't even have a copy of our rules, and just wants to know if his model X has a place to race.
And there you have it. We don't have a case of protectionism, we have a case of apathy. Yet another case supporting a process that automatically reviews any car that is inserted into SS and T classes for IT classification. Make it automatic.
A separate phenomena has been the impression that people are getting that if you don't think your favorite car is competitive for whatever reason, it should be reviewed for a class change and/or weight change. To this I can only say - NO WAY, IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY AND I HOPE IT NEVER DOES. The fact is that some cars have warts and are less competitive than others. That is the way it goes. For instance it is a PITA for me to even try to put an aftermarket ECU in my VW, and it is downright impossible for the first generation VWs (and others). Whether we could see real gains isn't the point - assuming there were, that is just the way it is with this car.
My personal views on the new cars in the class deal: The more the merrier. The more new and interesting cars that I get to race against, the more legitimate any successes I have are, and the more fun the racing is. I would love to see the Mini, New Beetle, Golf IV, Jetta IV, newer Hondas, Hyundais, Kias, Mitsu Mirage, or anything else that fits the process in ITB. I don't mind moving cars down or up from another class, provided the weight is handled as it would be with a new classification - leave an opening for a one time fix of any mistake made. Bring the 924 down. I would love to have 10-15 ITB guys to race against every time I take the track instead of 3-6.
I don't think my view is really different than most of the folks in IT. Is there a real movement out there to keep our classes stagnant and (IMO) dying over then next decades?
Many seem to imply that the reason no one responds to calls for identifying new cars for their class is that they don't want more competition. I imagine that it is more of a case that people are worrying about thier own issues and are waiting for 'them' to magically move cars into the class. Of course the process does not identify our rules makers as 'them', it identifies us and our potential future competitors. However if we don't take action that means that 'them' is comprised of people that don't even have a copy of our rules, and just wants to know if his model X has a place to race.
And there you have it. We don't have a case of protectionism, we have a case of apathy. Yet another case supporting a process that automatically reviews any car that is inserted into SS and T classes for IT classification. Make it automatic.
A separate phenomena has been the impression that people are getting that if you don't think your favorite car is competitive for whatever reason, it should be reviewed for a class change and/or weight change. To this I can only say - NO WAY, IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY AND I HOPE IT NEVER DOES. The fact is that some cars have warts and are less competitive than others. That is the way it goes. For instance it is a PITA for me to even try to put an aftermarket ECU in my VW, and it is downright impossible for the first generation VWs (and others). Whether we could see real gains isn't the point - assuming there were, that is just the way it is with this car.
My personal views on the new cars in the class deal: The more the merrier. The more new and interesting cars that I get to race against, the more legitimate any successes I have are, and the more fun the racing is. I would love to see the Mini, New Beetle, Golf IV, Jetta IV, newer Hondas, Hyundais, Kias, Mitsu Mirage, or anything else that fits the process in ITB. I don't mind moving cars down or up from another class, provided the weight is handled as it would be with a new classification - leave an opening for a one time fix of any mistake made. Bring the 924 down. I would love to have 10-15 ITB guys to race against every time I take the track instead of 3-6.
I don't think my view is really different than most of the folks in IT. Is there a real movement out there to keep our classes stagnant and (IMO) dying over then next decades?