jrgordonsenior

Kaaz makes a great LSD for about $1,600. that I ran in my converted Spec Box back in 09'. It worked really well....

onefastviking

That's kind of my point tho......
If you can afford a Kaaz, and I can afford the sprint Drexler lightweight version complete with the reduced friction needle bearings (and yes there is such a beast), and I can have mine set up by my crew for each track I am at each weekend because they are on salary and also set up my Cup car, then what's the difference, right ?
Well obviously, a lot of $$$$, and some performance gain also.
So why ? Why can't we all race the same golf cart ? I understand it's not the fastest golf cart, but that was never the intention of the class to begin with.
Then add in that both are clutch pack diffs and require maintenance, as well as both really are adjustable so they can be tailored to an advantage for different tracks if you know how or can afford to have it done. Plus the $1600. is just for the part, most will also need to pay for the labor too as it's more of a job than most on here will try to tackle.

Oh, and then add in that most SPB's already claim to need trans coolers to keep the trans temps down to prevent failures, well guess what, adding a LSD diff adds friction, which is turned into heat, which puts a larger strain on the transmission resulting in potential for more trans failures. Yep, that's potential more $$$$

Spec racing is typically done to offer equal cars at a competitive cost. Let the SPB racing club members vote what they want in their class. It's their class, it should be their choice. I think the pro's and con's have all been laid out there now for them to properly decide.

J richard

I was going to say the KAAZ is about half what Gary was thinking, JR beat me to it. There are those that argue a LSD makes NO difference to them, and with the other limitations of the spec chassis I think you would be at a point of limited return on getting fancy...

Matt was working on a lower cost setup for the 5 speed but it was in the developmental stages still...

But let the cards fall where they may, our PCA racing is nonexistent and the specboxes here are getting shipped out to greener fields so it doesn't make that big of a difference to me with the exception of a few potential crossovers...

jittsl

I am so with OFV on this one and I intend to let the PCA know.

Let's concentrate on only making changes that will improve longevity with the aim of reducing costs. I can't even imagine what genius thought it was a good idea that we should all spend many hundreds of dollars on headers so that we can all pick up a horsepower or two because that would somehow make the racing better! Kind of makes me angry to think that any of us could be so silly as to suggest it. Likewise, what possible improvement will an LSD make? Making the car easier to drive does not make for better racing. Learning how to be your own LSD, and separating drivers by their ability to do so, does. And free suspension! Really? Do I have to start? I for one do not have the budget to come up with suspension sets with track specific valving and spring rates but you know someone will. To what point?

These cars are compromised cars in many ways and there are a million ways I can think of to make them faster, better handling, better stopping cars but that is not the point of a spec race car. The point is for all of us as drivers to take our skills and drive around the issues caused by the compromised nature of the car and have fun doing it. I signed up for an inexpensive (By P car standard) format as I believe most spec racers did. I hope we will not loose sight of this. I also hope that all SpecBox racers will let PCA know what they think (no matter where your opinion lies).

mglobe

One car down, one to go...

Paul 996

Folks,

As a fellow SPB driver/owner I do not agree with opening up the spec to open shocks/springs or revalving, etc. As the NASA SPB Series National Director I feel the same way and do not wish to deviate from a spec based rule set.

Beyond the cooling/reliability items, the one low cost change we could all make is to change the location of the rear 500lb spring to the front and the 450lb spring to the rear. The RA1s have a considerably softer sidewall than the R888 and we have all adjusted our suspensions accordingly. This change while it would cost us labor simply reuses the parts we have and would help us to re-balance the cars vs maxing out adjustments at the front and rear.

Eventually I can see us getting to the LSD; someday.

There are really cheap headers that work pretty darn well on our cars so I would not have major hearburn over that choice.

Best- Paul

consolidated

I'm 100% against all of the changes except for the power steering cooler, which I've never had a problem with. Keep it affordable, keep it simple.

dan212

One thing that stuck out was reprogramming ECU in GTB.. I wonder why?

onefastviking

Because cars like your Koni car, and many others like it, are already running a flash in them. All the Koni cars I know of had flashed ECU's, most 996's at that level of prep have been flashed. The 996 I have had been flashed so I never ran it as a GTB, it ran in PCA GT3S class because there a flash was allowed. I get the feeling many are running flashed ECU's in GTB, I personally know of 2 that were not including any of the Koni cars, and it's easier to allow it than police it.

onefastviking

Good points on the rules creep Paul, the SPB rules just got worked out to be the same for PCA and NASA. It's best to leave the rules to small simple changes and let the classes and car counts continue to grow in both groups. If someone really wants those items to go slightly faster, they can still do it and race in as an "E" class I believe in PCA or GT_ S in PCA, or as a GTS2 in NASA.

As for the spring change ? It's no parts cost, so that's good. But it is a labor, corner weight, and realign cost. - I would suggest that if that is implemented into the rules then allow a year to grandfather it in. That way people can do the upgrade over the next year as they need an alignment or additional work done to help offset the labor cost.

winders

Why not write the rule so you can have the stiffer springs on the front or the rear, but not both. That way, people would never have to make the change, for whatever reason, if the didn't want to.

Scott

onefastviking

I honestly don't think it's enough a change to make a difference that you can't also get with dialing in other suspension adjustments.
That being said, if enough of the SPB racers truly felt it to be a needed change then ok do it, but since it is a "Spec" class I feel it's always best to spec it one way or another.
Let the difference in the cars all be in the drivers seat, not in the garage or wallet.

Paul 996

This is all that should matter.

Astroman

Come on guys. You all don't really think that all spec cars are created equal and that the wallet doesn't matter, do you?

dan212

Oh christ... You mean I was the only one NOT cheating?? I made a point of running without a flash because I'd know.... Whats the fun in that?