Race-Rodz closed by stating that his words were his opinion. BUT, history has shown that his opinion is radical. Entire car manufacturers Ferrari, Lambo, etc. exist by taking money from people who, for the most part, NEVER track their cars.

In the early 60's, Enzo Ferrari was more than happy to take money from Hollywood celebs when he made the 250 California Spyders. And that tradition continues today with most supercars. That 1000HP TT car can accelerate from 60 to 120 FASTER than my 500HP car (the reduction in time keeps you from getting busted) I wish I had more power just for that reason alone.

All that is expected of these cars is that they accelerate, stop, and steer. The David Freiburgers and Race-Rodz of the world who insist that the cars must accelerate in 1/4 mile increments or post a lap time are wrong. First and foremost, these cars are hot rods--not race cars. They are forms of individual expression, built to the desires and standards of their owners.

Corvette Z06, F430, or P-T car, it is entirely possible to accelerate, stop and steer without ever hitting a track. Tracking your car is a choice--and a good one, but still just a choice.

If you judge how, when, and where I use my car, you violate the spirit of hot rodding.

Hi Guys, I've been following this post with interest & can see where race-rodz is coming from, unfortunately I think he's tried to impress his opinions on you a little too much.I'm gonna be building my car to compete in circuit racing, so for me the performance of my car outweighs EVERYTHING else! period!!!!!!!!! The class I'm running in is strict & won't allow some of the PT changes that you guys make, but it'd still compete with the best of them. On a previous posting regarding how much hp a car runs (posted by Prodigy customs, hi Frank) everyone was banging on about how the car should be 'charged/turboed/twin turboed or on sniff & how great it was to have mega hp cars, but as I said on there, after a while these cars become tiresome & hard work to drive.I also posted the question on this forum of how the big dia brakes compared with the smaller originals & if anyone had bothered to measure stopping distance, stopping time etc, There wasn't one reply. So.... it seems no-one has ever bothered checking these things, as a racer it's the first thing to do !! I see the front spring rates on a lot of pt cars runs out around 600-650 lbs. Thats no where near what's required for a race developed suspension. On a 1st gen it NEEDS around 1500-1800lbs per side, then you'll have a car that goes 'round corners as if it's on rails & before anyone says about ride quality, it's comparable to a Subaru Impreza or an Evo7. Ok, so my car isn't nescessarily a true pro touring car, but it'll be able to outrun most on a circuit even with much lower hp & with some bigger dia wheels it'll look like a full on PT car, but with full race engine, suspension & brakes.For driveability & raceability I guessmy li'l 'ole 450hp race car would waste an awful lot of high hp, pt cars. BUT & here's the big but!!...........

The point is I'm building this FOR ME !! it's what I want & it'll fulfill all of my needs. That's what it's all about guys, build it for you !! whether you're unsure of whether to 'charge your car or what colour to paint it, at the end of the day it's YOU who have to live with it & drive it.

Sure it'd be nice to see some PT cars out there doing what they were supposedly built for, but at the end of the day if you don' want to then you don't do it. I just pray that the PT movement doesn't just turn into a showqueen movement with people trying to outdo each other in the looks & horsepower stakes just for the sake of it, thtas what happened to Pro street & we don't want to go there do we??? :thumbsup:

I wasnt trying to stir up a debate on how people spent their money or how they use there cars. I was just wanting some guys to think about maybe next year doing some events that they might not have considered. I think PT cars could show the drag only guys a thing or two about what a "performance" car could be. That it can be fast, streetable and do MORE than one thing good. I guess Car Craft Real Street Eliminator might be a better fit for PT cars to compete in. I think it would be cool for a car like the Mule to do drag week and blow Freiburger and others away. That is just my .02 I am in the process (slowly) building a car to do drag week and others events like it next year. I also would like to do some road racing too. :thumbsup:

I didn't take Frieburger's statement as a calling out, but more of a friendly encouragement to get our cars in the spotlight.

And as for the rest of the debate we have going here - I've always wanted to do my own thing and try new ideas. There's no mold we have to fit, it's all about doing what we love and being supported by a community that can empathize with the challenges.

I think Steve summed it up pretty well with his "bike week" description. Having an event called "Drag Week" sure doesn't sound too appealing to a pro-touring car. When I hear that description, I'm thinking big block nitrous cars, backhalved, getting 5 mpg, running 8s or quicker.

I haven't seen any pro-touring cars fit that description, or run 8s.

I'm primarily a drag racer, and I raced the hell out of my previous '69 pro-touring car (10.7 ET), but even I wouldn't have any interest running at an event called "Drag Week" in it. So, I don't think Freiburger's comments hold any value in regards to pro-touring cars participating in Drag Week.

I can completely understand why someone would be reluctant to put their car on the track. Whether it be a new Vette, Viper, Ferrari, PT car, or other. Some of these cars are pretty expensive. Most PT cars have a lot of money and TIME invested in them. One mistake or mechanical failure on the track can result in serious damage to your vehicle. It happened to the Ford GT40 Wednesday. When I arrived at the track I saw the GT sitting there and my first thought was, some rich guy is showing off his brand new toy. It never entered my mind that it would actually be driven and I'm a little ashamed I thought that way. But he took the risk and drove it. And he drove it HARD! And he made a mistake and it resulted in some pretty serious damage to a brand new $150,000+ car. Some people are just not willing to take that risk and I can completely understand. It was my first time on a road course with the El Camino and now I have to either repair or replace my windshield. Not an expensive repair thankfully, but that's the kind of thing that can happen.

I would encourage everyone to get their car on the track simply for the driving experience and because it's fun. Not because you need to prove that your car is worthy and not a "Poser".

I'm regretting not doing Drag Week now after hearing Freiburger's comments. I didn't hear about Drag Week until after I got home from the Power Tour/Chevellabration. If I had, I would have done Drag Week instead of the PT. Doing both would have been a stretch. I had already taken too much time off from work and family activities. Even so, I seriously thought about it. I live in the Minneapolis, MN area so it was perfect geographically. I don't know how they finally broke out the classes but last I heard they were going to have a 12.0 class. I told myself if I can run consistent 12.0's and be competitive, I'll do it. As it turns out, 12.48 is the best I've been able to muster so far. I'm going drag racing Saturday so we'll see if I can improve on that. I'm not doing the Power Tour next year so I'll be looking for something else, preferrably some type of racing event like Drag Week, RSE, or road racing.

Put your marketing hat on and spend some time over at the Hot Rod.com forum, or hotrodders.com. You can also scan the readers letters and tech letters published in Hot Rod every month.

Do this often enough and you will see that the traditional "old school" street/strip enthusiast--Keystone Classics and all--still reigns supreme. Pro-Touring is but a hair on the zit on the ass of hot rodding in general. It is a tiny, tiny segment of the total enthusiast population.

As an editor seeking to bolster circulation, criticizing Pro-Touring could be a good thing. So you put together a limited scope event called Drag Week and then go: "HA! I KNEW IT! NOT ONE PRO-TOURING CAR SHOWED UP! HA! I WAS RIGHT!..." Wow, way to prove a hypothesis, Sherlock.

If we wish to nurture the ideal of multi-purpose hot rods, our first goal should be to stick together.

Brothers and Sisters.....can I get an AMEN??!!!!!!

Hey, I've had my gripes with Mr. Frieburger in the past but since then I've toned them down some. I think he's a pretty good guy that doesn't mean to piss anyone off with his criticisms (although he does). I agree with Scott, I believe he's just trying to encourage us to get our cars out there and stretch their legs to prove their capability. However....he's picked the wrong event to do that at. I could see if it were an event at Road Atlanta or something and not one Pro-Touring car showed up, THEN he would have something to bitch about. But a drag racing event? Dave....c'mon, for the love of God already. I certainly hope that if there ever is indeed a 'G-Machine' week at Road Atlanta or some other venue and no Pro-Street or Drag Cars show up that he'll call them out too.

Build your car for what you want and do with it what you want to do with it with....your car.....err, something like that. :_paranoid

Keystone Classics... lol...

Steve, you're probably right about the size of the protouring community, but I also think we're the fastest growing segment, too.