---"Michael R. Clements" <mrc01@flash.net> wrote:
>
> Good point. Some cars come off the showroom floor well optimized and
others do
> not. And some designs just naturally give more results when prepped.
Just for grins, I dredged up my copy of the August 1997 Car & Driver
article on autocrossing where they tested a bunch of stock vs. prepped
cars. (I know, more magazine crap, but it's the closest thing to
objective data I've seen!)
I can't be bothered typing in the results tables, but it's interesting
to note that both on skidpad and autocross course the Neon ACR showed
the largest improvement as the result of a simple tire change. Which
kind of supports Joe and Mike's assertion on car setup...perhaps
Chrysler tuned their competition package to perform best on race
tires, while the Cobra, Saturn SC2, and Miata R were set up by the
factory for their street tires. (That would be odd for the
SSB-oriented Miata R.)
So would a 328i improve as much percentage wise as the Miata? It's
all speculation until somebody slaps tires and shocks on a car and
gets it out on track. But speculation is so much fun!
BTW "hardened bushings" on a FS Cobra? I presume that was dramatic
license... :)
Craig Blome
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