...in the hope that there are a few out there who are willing to offer a bit
of thought to a question that has nothing to do with the big-event SCCA level
of autox. This list isn't exclusively for discussion of that level of the
sport, is it?
As I've mentioned, I don't wish to purchase special purpose, autox only
tires. We have had a street tire class locally for a few years now. All Stock
and SP cars lumped into one class and the PAX index used to determine the
order of finish.
Here is a little sample of what happens over a period of years using
the PAX to determine a competition:
Let's say we have an SS car and an HS car competing in our street tire
class over a period of a few years. To keep this example simple we shall
imagine that each year in one event the SS car turns a raw time of 55sec
flat, the HS car a 59.25.
Here is how the competition would go thru the years:
Using the actual PAX factors for each of these years,
In 1995 the SS car would have posted a PAXed time of 46.365, the HS car
a time of 46.333 -- the HS car wins by .032
In 1996 the SS car gets an identical 46.365, the HS gets 46.511 -- HS
loses by.146
1998 would find SS getting 46.145, HS 46.689 -- HS loses by .544
1999SS logs a 45.650 and HS 46.511 -- HS loses by .785
If a street tire class is a sort of throwaway joke that isn't important
enough to organize in a stable, consistent way so that the outcome reflects
driving accomplishment and progress, then it doesn't matter.
If the class is intended to attract drivers who like to compete in at
least a semi-serious contest and who do not wish to invest in race tires then
it deserves a format that reflects a bit more attention to the formula that
decides the outcome.
A suggestion that one purchase a car that the PAX favors would go
against one of the reasons the class was created in the first place -- to
provide a low cost class for those so inclined. Buying the hot car each year
as the PAX defines it would hardly be low cost.
It is just as bad to be in the SS car and know that you are having an
advantage handed to you that gets bigger each year as it is to be on the
short end in HS. It is the instability and constant changing that makes it
unsatisfying to compete, whichever way it goes.
The changes go thru all classes, of course, not just the two I chose
for examples just to keep it short and simple.
My suggestion has been to let the street tire cars compete in their
regular classes right along with the R tire cars but use a percentage
handicap to even the competition. At first I thought about 5% was a good
number. The RTP index in the factors for ST and STR makes a difference of
about 4.5% between those 2 classes in which the tires are the only
difference. Being based on some data from a number of events that is probably
a better number.
I have read of some regions that do something like this but use a flat
2sec difference. That doesn't take into account that 2sec on a short 45sec
run is a bigger difference than on a longer, say, 65 sec run. A percentage
handicap takes care of that.
This percentage idea will draw fire from the R tire contingent because
they will say that the money they have spent for tires will be wasted and
negated by giving street tire cars a handicap.
So I'm asking for some ideas, if anyone has any to offer, as to how the
street tire class could be organized in a way that makes sense, and is stable
and fair.
Thanx
Ray Elliott
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