"Could someone explain what exactly a Pro Solo course is?"
See http://www.scca.org/amateur/prosolo2/index.html for more info
"A 94+ Celica GT looks like a good bet but I'm not sure why the Celica
seems to outperform the 94+ Acura Integra LS in ES when the Acura is
lighter and more powerful. "
This is where Per jumps in with "got torque"? Other prominent ES cars
include the older Saturn SC2, SOHC Neon, Subaru Impreza, Honda CRX/Civic
(the new SI has 160 hp, but only 111 ft lbs torque, see
http://www.honda1999.com/cars/civic_coupe/features.html for more info).
"Is there a big wheel difference or suspension difference?"
14x7's and they still can't get all the power down.
"any chance this car is going to get bumped to a faster class like DS or
GS the way the ST model got bumped?"
Um, the ST is still in HS. What's all this Celica ST to GS noise I'm
hearing? First Lorenzo from NAP looks at one events results and
concludes that ALL of the Celica's should go to GS since all 3 classes
had similar times, and now this. FYI, weather & course design play a
large part in PAX numbers. RJ's courses are great but tend to be
handling courses with lots of slaloms & mid speed corners. Morning runs
are usually in cooler weather and sometimes have to deal with left over
puddles. To answer your question, no, the Celica GT will still be in ES
next year. Now, there are a number of PROPOSED class changes for 2000.
Check your Dec 98/Apr 99 Fastrack (can we get more of these online at
http://www.scca.org/news/tech/seb/index.html ?). The Miata 1.6 MIGHT
move to CS, the Nissans MAY move to ES, etc. Nothing is carved in
stone. Write a letter, yadda, yadda...
"Are there other cars that I should consider for relatively short money
(like $10K or less)?"
SS = early C4 Corvette
AS = 2nd gen MR2 Turbo, Porsche 944 Turbo, Porsche 944S2
BS = 94+ Miata R
CS = 2nd gen NA MR2, Porsche 924S/944
DS = Neon ACR
ES = SOHC Neon, 94+ Celica GT, Saturn SC2, Civic/CRX
FS = 89-95 Camaro/Firebird/Mustang
GS = 6 cyl 93+ Probe/MX6, 3.8L Camaro/Firebird, 92-96 Prelude
HS = 4 cyl 93+ Probe/MX6, 94-95 Celica ST, Honda Civic
A buddy of mine is looking for a 911 and showed me some obscene deals on
Porsche's (944's, 914's) in San Diego, (Wisconsinite's like rust free
cars). Go to
http://www.traderpub.com/TraderPub/VehicleTrader/VehicleTrader.html and
search on Porsche, $12k and under. You could have a pair of them for
the price of a used SUV/Minivan!
Hope that helps.
Jeff "taking a weekend off" Cashmore
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