Thanks, Aaron -- for adding your two cents. This is where I've been coming
from, when I try to contribute to this thread, and I have been feeling like
a salmon (swimming upstream).
>1) If there's something I want to do to my car and it kicks me out of a
>class, I'll probably do it because I drive my car a lot more on the street
>than I do at an autox.
My perspective exactly, all along.
> Ex. I would be classed in STR right now because the
>tires I got fell under the treadwear limit for ST. I figure, I'm gonna be
>driving on the street a whole lot more than I will at the autox and these
>tires were cheap(RE71's).
Ditto, ditto, ditto.
>I can't afford a whole other set of rims/tires
>to go compete plus I wouldn't have a place to keep them.
There have to be plenty more like you -- and me -- out there, Aaron. Young
blood will keep the sport alive, and street tires make it easy for new blood
to come into the sport. And limited mods to the car, such as ST, are not
the way to go (exclusively) if new blood is the objective. Ever seen an RR
with limited mods?
>I'm out there to have some fun with my friends and become a better driver.
Ditto. And I *still* remember my first autox, after which I commented to an
autoxer (who was trying to sell me some parts) that I only autox to be a
better driver on the street. A long time autoxer, he said to me, "Street
driving? Autocrossing has *nothing* to do with street driving." And
there's exactly why autox needs some additional perspectives.
Contributors to this List are, in the main, entrenched autoxers. That's a
good thing. But there are plenty of people we can't hear from, who would
contribute to the sport, who aren't on the List and don't fit the standard
(R tire) profile of a prospective autoxer.
I spent lots of money on my car (more than I care to think about, the latest
being a new turbo out of necessity 'cause the old one threw up its turbine
wheel all the way to the cat), all of it with the street in mind, and none
of it on tires that are only good for autoxing.
We could do the sport in general a lot of good if we would recognize this,
IMHO.
I do just what Aaron does -- I go to practices only, and don't run in class,
'cause I insist on bringing street tires. And from a rules perspective, it
looks like either CP or *maybe* STU are all that are left for me -- and are
guaranteed unwinnable/unplaceable/unshowable for me 'cause both allow R
tires.
Richard Nichols
rnichol1@san.rr.com
1986 Ford Mustang SVO / 1C
VirtualTeamSVO Member
1972 Ford Pinto Sedan / 3J - Original Owner
Displayed @ San Diego Automotive Museum
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