Originally Posted by
Chip42
no offense Chris but I think you're making it out to have more impact than it will if passed. roughly half of the cars in B and nearly all of those in C can already run 13" wheels. fewer in A and just 2 in S. but the bigger boys need wider tires and availability just isn't there, so I wouldn't expect a run on the 13x7" market.
yeah, you are right that there are a number of less obvious advantages to be had by going smaller, which in regards to my ealrier post has NOTHING to do with engine size.
There are all sorts of inequalities across IT in how a rule affects one specific car vs another and I don't see this as being all that out of place among them. additionally, a small mixup in the on-track order might occur. I'll agree with that assessment assuming a full field of to the hilt cars - so maybe top 5 at the ARRC? IT competition is balanced by power to weight, and that will not change with this rule where as a washer bottle COULD allow a few cars to make more power due to better intake routing, for example. THAT could upset the class balance under this model. The proposed wheel diameter change affects everyone in a more consistent way than probably any other rule in the book - the benefits are free to all who can fit smaller wheels.
I think the intent of this rule is to allow the big-wheeled guys like the new beetle, mazda protege MP3, or mini cooper a path to more availability (down to common 15 or 14" sizes) and is defensible as the opportunity already exists to tune gearing. everything else that has been mentioned many times already, such as CG/ride height/air dam clearance/brake torque are already unevenly allowed and will simply affect the existing classifications more evenly. yeah, it'll be nice to get a ~5% increase in brake torque. it'll be nicer still to see more cars out there running wheels they don't mind dropping off a curb. this is IT, it's supposed to be affordable racing.