Forced Induction Class

Has there ever been any consideration in SCCA to have a forced induction class? It appears that, at present, SCCA doesn't class many turbo cars which is very curious to me. It seems to me (an outside observer) that many of the up-and-coming young folks are into cars running turbos. Some of these cars came equipped with them, and some are aftermarket mods, but most of them are small displacement (3 liter and less).

As a member based organization (which is losing membership to other racing series) it would make sense to take a hard look at this. Maybe have a class for 4 bangers (2.5 liters and under), 6 bangers (3.5 liters and less) and then a super class of V8 forced induction cars. Basically these are "open" classes where almost anything goes and a certain HP to weight ratio must be observed.

I know the first response from some will be "COST!!". I would bet that many of the cars competing in drifting (YAWN) cost way more than most IT cars. This crowd has the money and are willing to "think outside the box".

What do others think of this? It's just a "rough" idea and I don't have all of the answers, but it seems like it would be a great idea to boost membership and open the racing opportunity to a whole new set of drivers.

In some regions it is called ITE. Unfortunately ITE is not standardized between regions. It has many different configurations. In San Francisco Region it is pretty much run what ya brung with only 3 rules. 1. DOT tires, 2. SCCA IT saftey equip. 3. No tube chassis.
In other regions it is very restrictive.
Just depends on where you live and race.

Find the GCR online and read up on SPO and SPU. Have seen many turbo cars running there. Run whatchya brung, but need fuel cell, fire system, etc. same as GT cars. Can also run slicks.

Many a Speed World Challenge car can be seen running/testing in SP, especially in the off season.

These are good points. I realize there are classes to "drive" these cars, but some could argue that not much "racing" goes on in those classes because of the mis-matches between cars. A 2.5 liter turbo car pushing 300HP competing against a 600HP Viper or a Porsche 935 isn't going to do very well (usually).

If turbo classes existed that took engine size and HP into account I would think it would be very popular.

Just a thought.

In SFR the fastest cars are Mitsu Evo 2.0 liter turbo, Viper V-10, Porsche 928 V-8.
Weight vs HP make for some great racing.
This particular class in this region is very well attended with an average of 20+ cars. It is a class that many ITS cars run as a second class.

There is an existing National class that allows turbos. T2 has the Mitsu EVO and the Dodge SRT-4. Both turbo-ed cars. SSC also has the the Mini Cooper-S, a supercharged car. We currently have at least on of each in our shop, (yea, bragging here), including the Run Offs Winning SSC Mini of Pete Taylor.

So, forced induction is currently allowed. Read the GCR, (available online), and see whats out there.

George

No offense but the guys driving ITE don't really think a T2 or any SS car to be very racy.
Most ITE cars are prepared very well and are quite fast. I believe that most ITE guys are driving the car they have always wanted to. They just don't fit into the mold of SCCA classes or were built for other classes or reasons.

Several years ago, the SCCA had a number of cars running turbos in Showroom Stock and even in the pro ranks. They became such a Pandora's box to police that they were eliminated from competition. Rules of preparation and method of inspection have changed, so they are now making a come back. Good chance it will be short lived, IMHO.

Not all regions/divisions have the same rules for ITE, SPO, or SPU. I&#39;d say, if you were building a turbo Geo Metro, or whatever, check the rules in your area, or find one that you can race in without a two day tow. <_<

What Cbuzz is saying is true, at least here in SFR land.
We have....
new evo turbos
Vipers
Porsche 928 wc car (which I saw driving down my street the other day....)
Lexus IS300
BMW M3
amongst other things... 2nd gen Rx7&#39;s (Hi Charlie!) running a 2nd class (ITS/E) as well as other toys, that simply do not fit in ITanything else


Marcus

I would think that a class structure such as IT would never work for forced induction for the same reason several have mentioned; it&#39;s too hard to police and too easy to cheat. That&#39;s why I think it would almost have to be an "open" class based on displacement and weight. Trying to regulate modifications and horsepower would be almost impossible.

Let us all debate something here.

I have seen a WRX with a peak and hold boost gauge under the hood (mechanical guage). He was only able to run "factory boost" USCCAC rules. If you mounted a gauge under the hood that had a line unrestricted to the intake manifold and could measure boost that was sealed by a governing body ie: SCCA, ICSCC, NASA ect... and only run factory boost then would turbos be more accepted into IT? Some policing will be needed by the race stewards during the weekend. Spot inspections, a reading if you finished in the top 5 or 10 or 20 at the scales, so on, so on......

I am just thinking that there is alot of newer cars (WRX, Audi A4 1.8T, VW Golf 1.8T, Audi TT 1.8T to name a few) that are missing out on being built, and new blood taken into the ranks. Turbos/superchargers are a way of life now and need to be treated as such and not thrown out.

Let the debate begin.

Jon

Jon,
Just a personal opinion. I don&#39;t think it would work, although, it would be nice if it did. But that&#39;s in a perfect world. There are countless items in the rules already written that totally control any cheating, yet are frequently used to cheat. Seems as though the more you try to tighten up on the rules, the more the rules breakers find holes. The only class of race car that I&#39;ve ever seen that had strict rules that, when broken, are easy to spot, is Spec Racer Ford. That&#39;s because any and everything involving the car is owned and controlled by the SCCA. I don&#39;t even want to think how they would come up with a Spec IT car. lol

Measuring and policing boost and HP would be futile. There are too many ways to cheat. Like I said earlier, it would have to be an open class based on displacement and weight. Prepare the cars to GCR safety specs and come up with some formula like 1.6 to 2.5 litre minimum weight is X, 2.6 to 3.0 litre minimum weight is Y, etc. I&#39;m not sure what the exact formula would be, but you get the idea.

Like VW16VRacer states; there are many good cars out there with turbos and the up and coming crowd is really taking to them. Personally, it causes me great pain (and laughter) watching these kids today drag race front wheel drive turbo civics and "drifiting". These are some really well preparred cars with really enthusiastic kids (with money) doing REALLY stupid things with them.

I think it would be cool to do something that keeps high-tech, small bore sports cars on the road courses (where they belong) and off of the drag strip and drift tracks. SCCA could be a really good venue for this.

Just my .02

So if you have a peak and hold guage mounted away from the driver under a hood with pins, with a unrestricted line from a tap in the intake manifold, that will need to be checked, and this guage measures peak boost at any given time during a race and the only way to reset it is by lifting the hood and mechanicaly reset it and cars are impounded after the race and one can protest another if the said first person thinks that person two&#39;s car is running over factory boost, then why wouldn&#39;t turbos be somewhat policeable (is that a word?)

Now lets get something clear here, I race a 16V Golf, I have no intrest in building a turbo car, I just want to hear the pros and cons. Get creative and tell me how you would get past the guage, run over factory boost and get away with it. I am trying to find the WRX I saw with this guage so some of you can look at it and see what you think.

Jon

Alexands -
I think you are on the right track but you are pitting the "remember whens" against the "look what the club could be" and the "remembers" still win..... unfortunately. This club is still shaking at the knees about competition adjustments and things such as weight ballast placement or those new fangled air intake tubes. Blah Blah Blah.... Most of the folks that have read your post either thought, "I remember when" and "How could we possibly" when we should be thinking "Let&#39;s try it out and adjust as needed."
This is classic SCCA (Secret Car Club of America) and the reason it will not change anytime soon is because the younger generation and other potential members that you realize the club is missing out on is not embraced or even considered when they bring up ideas like yours. I like your idea and question...It would be great to see some of these cars that "drifters" are building and see if they could really pilot them at speed around a road course and the untapped driver talent would probably be phenominal.
Happy Motoring