RE: Think outside the box...
>
>You really can't have light weight open class cars beating
>WRC machinery (which may come back to revisit us), even
>though that is what happened in the WRC when Peugeot and
>Citroen were running FWD Kit cars.
275bhp 2000cc 16v with 6 speed sequential (French being the innovators that they always have been), big ZF diff, nearly 500 lbs difference, and huge 14 inch discs, this was possible __only_ in the dry asphalt.
If we don't think too hard about the 1996 or '97 RAC with Stig 'Mästern' Blomqvist 3rd OA in a Skoda whose engine is none other than a VW 1600 8v. 'ÄÄÄÄh, de' var inget...' was the answer when I asked him what he thought about the result (Awwww, it weren't nuthin')
The wieght rule in and of itself can't control costs, the Oafishal Teams and rich playboys can do just what the WRC cars have done substituting exotic materials in some places to save weight, and putting it back in in truly massive drive line parts. Anybody ever bother to look at the size of the uprights, and CVs and rear diff on the baddest Sub-rats? Massive stuff letting them bang into stuff with complete impunity, stuff which would break off major parts of the normal crap that's OEM.
Perhaps if the rule could maybe be adjusted so as to read TURBO _4wd_ Open Class Cars shall weigh min. 2750lbs.
This might be accomplished if the rules making process allowed membership review and approval, which of course it doesn't.
Wonder why?
(Anything preventing a car with 2wd to enter as an OPEN class car?)
BTW, the Metro 6R4 was concieved to take advantage of the corrected displacement/min weight rule. It was _3.0_ liter so it was lighter than all the other GpB cars which were in the NEXT higher min weight catagory because of their turbo coeff. factor.
As we all know who watch them they looked wicked, and sounded like real nasty race cars, wicked!
But turbos make TORQUE, and they were kicked and stomped with steel boots.
If the idea flopped as a factory effort, why would a 2.5RS be viable against 2.0 turbos, only 500cc difference?
>
>Cheers.
John Vanlandingham