On Thu, Aug 08, 2002 at 09:30:01AM -0700, Anthony Tabacco wrote:
Tony, I applaud your effort. Many in favor of leaving the status quo
claim that there is very little or even no advantage to be had from
the custom shocks. If that's so, then there are an awful lot of
people who spent a lot of money to gain little or no advantage. So
either it's false, or there is a lot of money being wasted in a shock
absorber "cold war" (they have the Penskes, we gotta get
Penskes...drat, now they have Koni 28s...). Either way, I'd like to
see it stop.
So I'll see if I can contribute with criticism:
> 2) Shocks are limited to "off the shelf" units available for general
> distribution street use to the public typically including, but not limited
> to: OEM, Koni single adjustable, Bilstein, Tokiko, KYB, or available "house
> brands", or other such units that meet the criteria and intent of the rule.
> 3) The use of Koni 2800, Olin, Penske, Fox, DMS, or other such units
> specifically manufactured for the specialty racing market are specifically
> disallowed.
I think the definition gets hairy here. In my own recent discussion
with G.H. Sharp about shock options, I asked about the low price I had
seen mentioned for "30 series" Koni shocks for the Z06 ($800/set).
Normally, the 30 series are custom built shocks available as single or
double adjustable. But for the Z06 application, Koni made their "off
the shelf" model using 30 series components, complete with 30-series
part numbers. You can also get custom built 30 series for the Z06,
with a different part number.
I think the solution might be to require a minimum production run and
SEB approval, similar to the way tires are required to come in a
minimum number of sizes and be approved by the SEB.
Having the price cap will also help, but might not guarantee against
"donated" shocks, sold by a sponsor at a large discount in exchange
for promoting or advertising the sponsor.
> 4) Shocks shall be installed "as manufactured" and shall not be purchased
> from a third party in a modified condition or opened up for any reason by an
> entrant or a third party. Revalving, machining, or modifying a shock
> absorber for any reason is specifically disallowed. Except as supplied as
> OEM, the use of remote reservoirs, alloy bodies, adjustable perches, or
> welded off coil-overs is prohibited.
I don't see alloy bodies or adjustable/threaded perches to be a
problem, as long as they are a standard feature of an off-the-shelf
low cost product. We don't want to discourage companies from offering
a better product to the mass market -- and the mass market is not
constrained against height adjustment like we are. The off the shelf
Koni Sports are height adjustable with discrete perch settings for
many models, including the Miata. I wouldn't be beyond reason to see
integrated threaded perches on a mass-market shock, given what the
kids are drooling over these days.
> 5) Cost of each unit is limited to $250 per unit or 125% of OEM, whichever
> is greater."
You'll have to define the OEM price pretty clearly. MSRP at a dealer?
Dealer invoice? You'll have to similarly define how to determine the
price of the aftermarket unit.
--
john@idsfa.net John Stimson
http://www.idsfa.net/~john/ HMC Physics '94
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