Quick Question on STU

[lateapex911]

IT brings up an interesting point, and it's rather foundational. In club racing WE police ourselves, via the 'honor system' and the competitor protest system. In Pro racing the sanctioning body is charged with policing us.

it creates a much different approach. In Pro racing, many (most) competitors try and find the space between the lines, and try and get away with whatever they can, and it's up to the officials to catch them. In club racing, it's up to your competitors to catch you. The techs in SCCA (almost always) are there to facilitate a protest, and rarely initiate a mechanical protest.
So, the NASA approach with dynos and GPS units is rather hybrid. I imagine the approach taken by competitors is a more honest one, BUT, some will see the system as one to game. yes, of COURSE it's illegal to have multiple maps, but, to a guy who wants to game the system, that's irrelevant. Kinda like radar detectors were illegal in certain states. "yea, it's illegal, so speeding!" says the speeder....LOL.

I think the approach can work, and especially in tighter classes, with limited cars and engines. I think the guys down south have done it with their big GTA cars. But, I can see where if a class becomes popular the gaming/sandbagging will be the result.

[JamesL]

I personally can't stand the approach NASA uses for the power:weight classes. Using peak hp as the only deciding factor in determining weight just doesn't seem like an accurate or fair way of doing things.

What about the area under the dyno curve? What about the power band? What about the torque(I know they do (hp+tq)/2 for the cars with greater peak torque than hp)?

If a competitor is allowed to swap any engine that their manufacturer has produced as long as they are below X peak hp(or in the case of the Super Touring Nasa classes, swap ANY engine period), the permutations to find the optimal combination of torque and area below the curve are almost endless. While, on the outside, it seems to be a cost saving idea... if the class/classes were to actually become popular (say more than 7-10 drivers at Nationals maybe?) and the competition upped the stakes, it could become enormously expensive to find the most competitive package.

[lateapex911]

^^^^
Ding ding ding.
With emphasis on "I know it sounds cheap, but if more than 7 guys show up...."

Now add in the 'game the dyno" tempation to save all that money you'd have to spend and it gets murkier.