I've just got caught up with this thread. This is a great discussion and even more so, it's very good to see that the ones in charge are both interested and listening. Thank you very much. IT is a great place to be part of.
Having a formula in place that takes into account many factors with which all cars are then judged with is a great way of doing it. Unfortunately, the difficult (if not impossible) part is assessing the correct importance of each of these factors. If some of these factors are not appreciated correctly, even a perfect formula will result in some erroneous outputs. That doesn't mean the formula is incorrect, but just that what each questionable factor is worth should be re-considered. Obviously doing this poses a potentially even greater problem since the results of the original process have all already been published, and changing even one factor's value would necessitate in running many of the cars affected through it again. Fortunately, the only cars affected by the changes in question (below) would be the FWD ITS cars, which there are few to begin with. After reading this thread, it seems that there might be 3 main changes in the process that seem logical.
1. The handicap that FWD plays at the higher weights and higher engine outputs seen in ITS needs to be re-evaluated.
2. The handicap that an inferior (60/40) weight distribution when compared to a perfect (50/50) weight distribution plays at the higher weights seen in ITS has to be re-evaluated. (It is very important to note that the disadvantages created by weight distribution alone, are different and than those created by FWD. Think of the benefits that a Miata with 50/50 distribution would have over a Miata with a 60/40 distribution in areas such as optimizing the car's handling/balance and braking. For the latter not in terms of wear/fade throughout a race, but in terms of actual maximum physical braking performance that all 4 wheels can provide based on the car's weight distribution.)
3. The handicap that difference in brake size is worth at the higher weights and higher power levels seen in ITS. In this case, not in terms of actual maximum physical braking performance, but in terms of wear/fade throughout a race.
It seems that the current process considers adders/subtractors for these 3 factors that are constant, irrespective of weight and power. However, the general consensus of this discussion might be that for these 3 factors, at least some linearly dependant values that are a function of a car's weight and power might prove to be more reflective of real world performance. [/b]
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