M758

944 Spec (SP1) and GTC classes I believe are the most driver intensive simply because they are designed as spec classes. Boxster spec would also fall in this group. Now the competitive racing level in each class depends on which race you go to who is there and there are other classes with large strong fields, but in all of the "stock classes" there are cars to beat and cars that stand little chance. Also the rules allow one to really spend alot to optimize the car in ways that at not always apparent. Even so some of these classed get populated by guys in the same cars with the same mods so can be quite driver intensive.

MJR911

A great driver can win in any class with any of the cars at a decent prep level. Go where the most entrants are in the races you'd run.

H is looking solid for the Glen this coming weekend.

Chaos

I would love to see a Dyno roll into a PCA Club Race !

Brian P

What would be the purpose? Of the cars that I've raced against, there have been only one or two that have stuck out in my mind as having a bit too much power, and it's fairly obvious when we are on the track - there's no need for a dyno to see the power difference.

What are they going to do if a car has too much HP on a dyno? Check it for cheating violations... Presumably they should be doing that already if they see some car have excessive power on the track.

Sean F

DQ, give it a 13...

like they did at Daytona (or was it Sebring) where they caught guys running illegal software.

Enforce the wt/hp ratio in the pca rule book

BostonDMD

I think NASA does a HP/weight ratio to try to properly classify and "equalize" the cars in each class......

DrJupeman

I largely agree with Brian. They don't need a dyno to catch the most blatant guys. PCA has the tools to do some reasonably exhaustive inspections sans dyno.

As for enforcing hp/wt, that's a bit misguided given that the rules quote stock hp but allow changes that will alter stock hp. So what will you enforce to? Otherwise you're proposing NASA-like classes which I'm not arguing the virtues of, its just not PCA's setup right now.

Brian P

This is exactly my point. They did this without the benefit of a dyno, right? Do you think they would look harder if they had a high dyno number? Hopefully the evidence on the track would be all that they need.

Difficult at best. With the headers, exhaust, etc changes that are allowed, I doubt that there are many cars putting out the stock HP numbers. How much over the stock numbers will be allowed?

Don't get me wrong - I think cheaters should be exposed and then punished (and a "oh, I bought the car this way" line should never be allowed to work). I just don't see a dyno has being necessary for doing this.

Sean F

add weight to make ratio

problem is we're not catching cheaters

John H

It would be funny to see people squirming. I think that's what Gregg was inferring with his post.

Phokaioglaukos

Any guesses on whether Spec Boxster will attract a dozen or so cars in the east next season? That would be very attractive to me. A spec class makes a huge amount of sense to me, and it's what I'm doing now, but it'd be nice to race a Porsche.

MJR911

+1 Chris.

jakermc

In just a few months Texas went from 0 SpecBoxsters to 11 that I know of that are either completed or under construction. All you you need is a good champion for the class and I think it will take off. It really is a fun, economical way to race (if there is such a thing).

It's interesting to me that many PCA racers worry about cheating but I've never run into that in our TX region of NASA. I'm not sure if its the required dyno run that calms the fears or if the people attracted to NASA just approach the sport differently. The guys here seem more likely to carry extra weight to avoid the embarrassment of a DQ versus pushing the limit.

For othes that run NASA in other regions, is cheating an issue where you are?

Brian P

I hear ya. It drives me crazy that so many D class cars can pull me on the straights.

Azikara

Brian,

Saw your car run at Mid-O (O was in G) and was happy to see it going so fast! Good job with it. I was watching you with interest because I really wanted to get a Boxster for old F.

As for your main question: It's tough because it's difficult to remain objective when emotions of a race get in the way. Certainly there are guys going beyond the law out there. But the guys at the top have perfectly prepared cars AND are great drivers. You cannot race competitively if you don't carry a lot of speed into the corners and you cannot carry speed if you are not a good driver. It helps to have power in the straights but most of the battles are won/lost due to corner speed and exit. It's amazing how many people in club racing don't come close to maximizing exit speed. Go to a karting track and race some real good karters in equal karts. They will pull away from you coming out of a turn. You brain wants to say, "hey, that guy is cheating, he has more hp than me" but you're not looking at how he maximized his exit speed. The other area that the good guys differ in is braking. Braking is not for slowing a car down. It's for speeding it up. Too often folks over brake because they think taking it deep is faster. But they give away everything they've gained because in the rush to get everything done they've not allowed themselves to attain the correct (high) entry speed. They often over-slow the car and give it all away. Softer earlier braking is faster against most guys except the very best because it will allow you to attain high entry speed more consistently. The guys who can do this AND brake late are exceptional.

Sorry to ramble, but my point is that ALL PCA drivers at the top of their class (unless they're a class of 1) are able to do the above VERY well - regardless of car preparation.

So getting back to mods. Yes, there are cars out there that are "maximized". I think the most common is re-flashing a factory chip and then a lot of folks have hot internals. Only reason I know is because I was just in the market for a race car and was amazed at how every one I looked at from a certain part of the country had the same "special treatment".

So what can you do? Put up with it. Focus on the friendships you make at the track, the great people who share your passion and the privilege of being able to take part. If it's not fun, then another avenue needs to be pursued.