On Mar 28, 2004, at 7:25 PM, Smokerbros@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 3/28/04 3:32:45 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> Sethracer@aol.com writes:
>> Except for the weight savings, the hood could be considered an
>> "appearance,
>> comfort and convenience item". The weight saved would, unless
>> compensated
>> for,
>> via an appropriate added weight, would make the car illegal. If you
>> bolted
>> an
>> equivilent weight on top of the motor - for competition only - I
>> think a
>> case
>> could be made for the car being legal, since there is no attempt to
> I hate it when I have to agree with Kevin Stevens... :-) There's no
> "comfort and convenience" component, and since the Commemorative
> Edition comes with
> the hood already painted LeMans blue, I don't see the "appearance"
> aspect. In
> addition, Section 13.1 prohibits illegal modifications, even if set to
> factory
> specs... Let's face it, the guy wants to do it to take weight off the
> car.
***Warning: the following is not a serious argument. If it were a
serious argument, you would not be advised of appropriate ways to
respond.***
Hypothetically speaking, if someone who owned a pre-2004 C5 had
problems raising the hood due to its weight/balance and a personal
physical disability, and the carbon fiber hood addressed that problem,
then it could be a 'comfort and convenience' replacement. If they also
added the required weight back in such a way that the weight and
balance of the overall car were unaffected, they could even argue it
before a Protest Committee with a straight face. Depending on their
documentation (which would have to include a diagnosis and probably
supporting x-rays/MRIs documenting their physical disability), it might
even be accepted as valid.
I have seen it claimed that the hood on the BMW Z3 models is the
largest and heaviest single piece on a (well, then) production car (I
have my doubts, but it is certain that it is a big hunk of steel.) It
isn't hard to raise due to some honking big springs. There is a CF
hood available as a replacement for it, but simply putting stiffer
springs would probably make it just as easy to raise and lower...
David
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