Jim, (and CRB)
I agree with the first post here completely. THIS IS THE SINGLE REASON THAT THE MIDWEST SPEC MIATA GROUP GOT TOGETHER LAS DECEMBER AND PICKED NASA THIS YEAR.
Add to this that I don't think it is a given that we pass. I took the rule book and had specific valve job tools created and then the rules morphed after doing 4 motors, to where another blend radius was altered by .020 - really? this matters? Furthermore, mine would pass but I could not get local tech to look at it until I was a majors competitor, and then they eyeball using tools I can no longer buy.... but I digress...
TECH PROCESS WAS OK? I am sure all good intentions here, but I read on the Autox forum that Goring's tech problem was that they made a mistake entering measurements into the compression ratio formula. Not a mistake measuring, but a mistake calculating. This error was carried forward all the way thru the appeals process BECAUSE IT WAS NOT TRANSPARENT AND TECH WOULD NOT SHARE THE PROCESS ALONG THE WAY. This lack of transparency has to stop before we move forward.
Originally Posted by
Greg Amy
Accurately measuring combustion chamber volume, bore, and stroke (to the degree we need for a national championship) can be fidgety and time-consuming, and doing it in the field requires some skill and patience.
Accurately calculating compression ratio from the above-obtained information is a four-line Excel spreadsheet, easily obtained from the Googlez (assuming you don't already know how to do it).
I sure hope the error was in the latter, and not the former...
GA
It was a fat finger on the bore measurement that pushed it over and why re-CCing didn't change anything. They eventually found that they had entered an incorrect measurement for the bore and when run with the correct number it was on the conservative side of legal, just as intended.
SM can run standard or first over, which is why the spreadsheet calc did not have a default number for bore entered in from the beginning. They had to type it in, turns out if you type it in wrong you get wrong results. They only CC'd it twice before they told Goring's crew to tear down the bottom end. . Also, just as a note, this was not a transparent process. The error was only discovered after Goring's mother insisted that they show them the numbers that they came up with.
So, maybe this is a good thread to bring up suggestions I feel would move this class forward. If you are looking for an air tight turn key engineered solution then stop reading. If you are interested in a good faith leap of forward progress, then here is my opinion:
- Lead SCCA road racing with a culture shift. Write into the SM specific rules a tech procedure, because the category rules trump the GCR
- Competitor revue tech period of some amount, of some cars. Make sure last place is invited and comfortable in looking over the cars for 30 minutes, even if last place is not in the tech area. I would have hood up and one side wheels off, like solo. 30 minutes would be good start.
- Change the requirement of a protest to be filed before the race to being allowed up to 45 min after the race. AGAIN, OUR CLASS ONLY is fine. This is critical to the new process working out.
- This mandatory tech period will create more friends than adversaries, and make the class feel better in general. LET THIS PROCESS WORK FOR A YEAR AND ALL THE "GOTCHA" TECH THAT PISSES PEOPLE OFF WILL REDUCE SIGNIFICANTLY OR BE ELIMINATED...
The next piece of the puzzle I think is required is to make the cheats irrelevant on a case by case basis, as systematically as possible.
The horsepower effective cheats, put behind a SIR sonic restrictor so they are irrelevant. If you have a 115hp SIR on a 99, and then pull the head, pocket port the head, swirl polish valves, add some cam lift, and extrude hone the intake - then put it back together and you will have 115hp. Our rules already have us so close that this piece of the puzzle really should make tearing apart the motor and head down to the valve keepers irrelevant. If you can verify bore and stroke, comp ratio with a whistler, and a stall test - then Competitor A can rest assured that Competitor B is as close to the same HP output as any racing available.
Even if all this isn't perfect, the general feeling of the competitors and the general evaluation of SM by everyone else would improve greatly.
Add to that another televised race as good as daytona and the class is looking pretty damn good.
My .02,
Kyle