Jim (Popsracr@aol.com) wrote:
>The fast ES car for now looks to be the latest iteration of the Celica GT.
>It's as light as an ST but has 140 hp, variable valve timing and less
>overhang. Some have seen it in action (Per's) and it's going to be the
>latest to set the trend in spec car classes. Once shocks come out and with
a
>little more development, it'll be so fast that it'll run DS times.
Great just what we need... another car running DS times. It seems like ES,
GS and HS all run DS times. And sometimes they all run CS times! I remember
when there used to be a difference in speed from DS through HS. If all the
cars are running the same speed, then why aren't they all in the same class?
Good example is the Type-R... when it first came out, it went straight to
CSP. I don't know the particulars of how it got moved to GS, but it doesn't
make sense. The car has stiffer springs/shocks and bigger swaybars/brakes
than a stock GS-R, and they are in the same class? Huh? And the All-wheel
drive turbo DSM cars in GS? 210 h.p. and all-wheel drive?
I think all Celica's (no matter what the h.p. they all seem about as fast),
the Type-R and the Eclipse should be moved into DS (maybe AS for the
Eclipses) They are all way too fast for GS. That way GS could be fought
out among similarly competitive cars... the Probe, MX-6, Camaro, GS-R, VW
Corrado and Contour. All of these cars have very similar performance
potential, and GS was shaping up to be a very competitive and interesting
class... instead of another spec SCCA shootout class between $26k cars
since the Type-R and Eclipse have gone in.
Think of it this way...
DS --> Neon, Type-R, Celica (all but ST), Eclipse, SE-R, etc.
ES --> Civic Si (new), Celica ST, MX-6 4-cyl, 16v VW's, etc.
FS --> Unchanged
GS --> Probe, MX-6, Camaro, GS-R, VW Corrado, Contour, etc.
HS --> Civic HX, Civic 1500, Paseo, 8v VW's, New Beetle, etc.
Now, doesn't that seem to make sense...? I have been watching the
performance potential of these cars, and scouring results for comparative
times, always making sure that there were good drivers in each car. After
all my research, this is what makes sense to me.
Unfortunately, the SCCA seems to be respond more to individual requests
rather than taking a hard look at the past results and performance
potential. At least it seems that way to me... anyone have a more intimate
understanding of how cars are classed/re-classed that could enlighten me?
Anyone have any input on why the classes seem really lopsided right now?
-Jason Saini
Chicago, IL
|