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[PaddyPrix]

Happy new year ! Any updates on the build ?

Greetings and a well-belated but still Happy New Year to you as well, curious reader.

TL;DR: Nah, cage painted.

Like everyone else, money is tight which has the car sitting for longer than I'd like it to. We've all heard some variation of "the best way to win a million racing... is to start with 10 [million]", and since I wasn't born to wealthy parents, possess beautiful honkers for TikTok dances, or in a racing-related business where I'm gathering potential customers, it's harder to justify when execs (with no qualms about AI driving your car into oncoming traffic) are laying your types off in record numbers for their stock buybacks and shareholders by gutting SG&A. Politics aside, that sucks and I'm sure we can all agree on that. I had also almost entirely paid for the Stripper with well-timed AMC and GME options, and with Bitcoin halving coming up in just 69 days, things should get interesting in many altcoin markets.

The passion and want is still there, and spent last season instructing pro bono publico and cheering on my friends, something I happily look forward to once again for this season. I was talking to a friend the other week who suggested that I just toss my old stuff in and go back out and have fun, but that's honestly just about the last thing I would do, especially when you take a look at some of those deep pockets there are in a pretty loaded national field. I have done a bunch of research behind the scenes and (s)talked to a bunch of customers/users to figure out something that should be pretty competitive, and best of all cheap... comparatively speaking. I had a blast building the last one, and when things get going, I promise to do a much better job documenting it as I go, reasoning and outcomes, good and bad that come out from it, and maybe share a bunch of the data that most others hold so near and dear.

 

[Don Lariviere]

However, that was just me. You've got something somewhat unique to you with that you probably have more skinny Toyo RR miles than just about anybody, and at 275 width too. I was playing with some numbers on the classing calculator, and if you think you can keep up with 275's (sub-282) you could almost cover the 0.4 cost with the 0.3+ from the skinnies... or you could go up to 315's (sidewall/written) and the 1.6+ from going RR's lets you drop a lot of weight and/or add a bunch of power, which might be tough coming from the 3v, but no longer bound to the restrictor plates and whatnot.

edit: Also, classwise, SoCal TT3 is decently busy and populated with S197 and S550 Mustangs, a Miata on roids, and a few others. ST2 is also decently busy, still gridding 6+ (Vette, M3, Noble M400(?), Elan NP01, a few Rush mini-protos), which should have you recouping some moneys regardless of what tire you run. TT1 might be a little too far without a big power-adder and slicks, and ST1 and ST3 are just about nonexistent.

So I have been messing with the calculator for the last couple hours... So if I target TT3 (I'm not really a time trials guy...) and I take the sub-282 (+0.3) the Toyo RR (+1.6) and the non-production (-0.4) and my weight with driver of 3330lbs My average power can be 388hp. If I look at the times I ran at Chuckwalla it would put me right in the middle of TT3, but was only at 332Hp at the wheels. Looks like I would need to drop 4-5 seconds to get to the front, I don't think 56Hp would get that car there the way it is. Do those numbers from the form sound right?

So I think my plan is going to shoot for ST-2 and drop the weight to 3200 (maybe lower), 315 toyo RRs (-0.3 and +1.6) and non-production (-0.4) That would get me up to 450hp (LS-3 with a small cam!) with bigger tires which I think I could get that to work with the ST-2 times I'm seeing. In ST/TT I'll also get to lower the car another inch over the AI rules which will help a bit too.

I'm also trying to see if I can get the TA2 car to fit into ST-1, that would be fun. It's really close on power with the SCCA restrictor they have to run. I'd have to add 100lbs of lead to get it to 2930 with driver, it already has 170lbs of lead in it so what's 100 more!

Thanks for the info!!

 

[PaddyPrix]

So I have been messing with the calculator for the last couple hours... So if I target TT3 (I'm not really a time trials guy...) and I take the sub-282 (+0.3) the Toyo RR (+1.6) and the non-production (-0.4) and my weight with driver of 3330lbs My average power can be 388hp. If I look at the times I ran at Chuckwalla it would put me right in the middle of TT3, but was only at 332Hp at the wheels. Looks like I would need to drop 4-5 seconds to get to the front, I don't think 56Hp would get that car there the way it is. Do those numbers from the form sound right?

So I think my plan is going to shoot for ST-2 and drop the weight to 3200 (maybe lower), 315 toyo RRs (-0.3 and +1.6) and non-production (-0.4) That would get me up to 450hp (LS-3 with a small cam!) with bigger tires which I think I could get that to work with the ST-2 times I'm seeing. In ST/TT I'll also get to lower the car another inch over the AI rules which will help a bit too.

I'm also trying to see if I can get the TA2 car to fit into ST-1, that would be fun. It's really close on power with the SCCA restrictor they have to run. I'd have to add 100lbs of lead to get it to 2930 with driver, it already has 170lbs of lead in it so what's 100 more!

Thanks for the info!!

I think your plan for ST2 is the way to go. You also could go silly on aero, I was practically running a 4x8 sheet of plywood on the front, and from the last I read through them, there's nothing much about the wing and nothing about the rear diffuser, as long as it's attached to the car. Would love to see the TA2 out there as well.

I get what you mean about TT's, just trying to provide some options, and I'm sure it'll shuffle some when we check out the lineups and car counts that'll be finalizing shortly. Went from 30ish car fields with 944s and Miatas, down to maybe 6-8, with e30 and e46 getting bigger and bigger.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I would suggest two items, and the first is skip the Toyo RRs as many of the 200 TWR tires are faster and though they will not quite give you as many mod points you should be fine with weight and hp. Second, not sure why you are not clearly meeting TT3 classifications with your hp rating and your weight? With a 200 TWR tire you are solidly in there and you are pretty close using Hoosiers or another sticky gumball.
I had trouble misreading the Classification Chart years back and I wonder if you may be reading too much into it also?