On Wed, Dec 28, 2005 at 11:00:00PM -0800, PAUL TIBBALS wrote:
> For what it's worth, I haven't kept the stock shock absorbers on any
> vehicle I've owned longer than a year.
(...)
> So I am not sure that I would want to go for the OEM requirement
> there, though again it's a leveling influence.
Agreed. Basic aftermarket adjustable shocks are generally no more
expensive than OE. And in fact, the ability to add non-stock shocks
is more of a leveling influence, at least locally, than forcing people
to use OE only. There can be a huge difference in the performance of
the original equipment shocks offered on different cars, or even
different option packages on the same car. But just about every car
has a basic adjustable high performance aftermarket shock available.
Going beyond that level of shock absorber doesn't gain much
performance for most cars.
> But as far as the R tires, I could have lived without them in
> Stock.
I'd be perfectly happy to be required to run a daily-drivable high
performance tire like the Yokohama AD-07 or Hankook RS2 or Falken
RT-615. I wouldn't have to change my tires for local events, although
I would still have to keep an extra set for National events.
That assumes that the rule could be written so that the real-life
outcome is as I described above. However, nobody has really come up
with a way to write the tire rule that will work. Treadwear doesn't
work. If you just applied the STS tire rules to Stock, Kumho could
take the V710 and add rubber to make the grooves deeper until it
met the treadwear requirement. Then the end user could take the tire
and shave it back down to 4/32" and run the same tire that the current
rules allow. But it would probably be more expensive due to the extra
rubber in the tire and the R&D cost of adding another tire to their
line.
I don't know if anyone else noticed that once Falken established
dominance in the ST* classes, the following year's autocross tire cost
50% more on average. It happened. Fortunately Hankook stepped in at
Falken's old price point. Maybe there are enough low-end tire
manufacturers who want to improve their image by making a great ST*
tire that competition will keep prices low. Maybe not. I don't see
it going on forever.
The tire and shock issues get debated every winter at great length.
If you're interested in seeing the variety of arguments and
counterarguments that have been used, you can visit SCCAforums.com and
search the archives. Or just about any other car forum with an
autocross section -- I know there's plenty of it on Miata.net.
--
john@idsfa.net John Stimson
http://www.idsfa.net/~john/ HMC Physics '94
----- End forwarded message -----
--
john@idsfa.net John Stimson
http://www.idsfa.net/~john/ HMC Physics '94
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