Wt:HP ratio

[jp99gt]

Interesting discussion so far on wt:hp ratio.

 

I think this works well for racing classes, but not for TT. Race cars are prepped to certain levels for the track, but street cars don't share similar prep levels between manufacturers.

 

However, I do use wt:hp when someone asks a question about what class to place a car in TT. It's a starting point for a range of classes it might fit, where we then look at how well a car is designed for road racing use.

 

We did this earlier this year where a guy brought a Ford Fairmont (the real one, not a Mustang ) with a high HP motor but poor road racing suspension and tires.

 

The goal we keep in mind at OH/IN is: where do we think the lap times will fall? That is the guide used to keep the competition close and enjoyable for all.

[Greg G.]

Jim, I agree 100%. There are two cars in SoCal that I'm moving up a class regardless of whether the rules require it or not because they are now outclassing the field by so much--mine is one, and the Corvette TTC champion car is another. By the end of the season, both cars were still legal in their respective classes, but they are now getting times significantly better than the next closest cars. And, their times are competitive with the next class up. I think that the new rules changes that are going to be proposed will move both of these cars up a class anyway. But if the changes don't go through, I'm still moving the cars up for the sake of competition and fairness.

[Kerry]

Greg, sorry about all this.

[NASA Jim]

By the end of the season, both cars were still legal in their respective classes, but they are now getting times significantly better than the next closest cars.

 

Was it the car or the driver? Remember, the points system is for rating the car only.

 

Is there anything in common between the two cars mods wise that isn't accounted for in the points? (i.e. roll cages)

[Greg G.]

Jim, I believe that it was a combination of both car and driver that changed things over the year. In both cases, Keith and I improved our driving skills significantly during the year, and drove much more aggressively at the end of the year than at the beginning of the year. However, so did other drivers in our classes, yet they couldn't keep up. In the case of the Corvette, I think that the car had the potential from the start to run much faster than it did at the beginning of the year. And, I am going to address the fundamental flaws that the rules have regarding the older Corvettes in this round of rule changes (where a Corvette with less than 200 hp is rated in the same base class as one with over 425 hp). In my case, I did significant modifications to my car over the year. My SRT was actually a TTE car when I started the year, but I ran it in TTD from the start because I knew I would be modifying it up to TTD within a few months. The multiple modifications that I did to the car sigificantly changed the car over the year, changing it from a street car to a dual purpose race car. The changes involved all aspects (engine, weight, suspension, brakes, cage, etc.), so I don't think there was any one issue that the two cars had in common. Even now, my car's hp doesn't come close to some of the other base class TTC cars, but my other mods allow the car to be competitive with a stock TTC car.