Having seen Dennis Grant this weekend I had a look at the proposed STU rules
at his suggestion. Quick disclaimer. I'm relatively new to the list and
have been away from Solo for a couple of years, so I don't know what
discussion has gone on before, also I don't want to upset anyone but here
are my thoughts. While I think the basic idea is nice, I also think it's
unworkable. You could end up with some incredibly expensive vehicles that
would make some D and E Mod's look tame! For example, in the five minuets
since I read the rules how's this combo that by my reading is legal.
Start with and early Fox bodied 4 cyl Mustang, no options. These cars were
light, I'm guessing you could get one down to 2500lb's. Now for the Body we
could get commercially available carbon fiber hood, fenders, facia etc that
would reduce the weight further and allow for the tires we're about to fit.
Also because of the 93 Cobra R you can loose the back seat which is ST legal
(it may no longer be a 4 setae but it did start that way)
Suspension, the only limit is using the stock pick-ups. Well there are
companies out there who do SLA front and fully independent rear suspensions
that use all the stock Fox Pick up's.
Engine, any block from the same manufacturer that meet's the capacity limit.
How about the European Escort/Sierra Cosworth 2.0L turbo motor. In Europe
plenty of people are taking these to 2.5L with billet steel rods, crank etc.
Rework the turbo system, or even better a new twin turbo with two small
units to keep lag down. 500BHP is only a phone call and a big credit card
away for the stock engine.
With the anything goes on the body bracing you can easily overcome the soggy
noodle reputation of the Fox platform. Wow, we've suddenly got a $50,000
car that would be no fun on the street and blow away your VTEC engined
Civic.
OR another one, start with an old no option Porsche 924, drop in a late 968
Engine, and 944 Turbo S suspension/running gear. Lot's of people in Europe
are Turboing that engine. I don't even want to think about the
possibilities of a third gen RX7 twin turbo engine, unlimited tuning in any
one of the old small LIGHT 4 seat sedans that Mazda turned out!!!! The
possibilities are endless and I could go on for ever.
I realize that a lot of people have put a lot of time and effort into these
rules. But as written I don't think that they would help bring new people
into the class. The cars that people are trying to attract would be just as
outclassed as if they were running in Prepared or Mod. Just my quick
thoughts, I'm not trying to upset people.
Adrian Thompson
2002 Panther Suspension Engineer
Visteon Chassis Systems
Phone: 313 322 6544
Cell phone: 313 418 5943
Fax: 313 390 4714
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