Quote:
Originally Posted by camcojb
Mark Stielow sent me his thoughts in an email this morning:
Pre-1980
Only 4 seaters
American Made
50% stock floor pans
Any 200 tread wear tires
Maybe 2 classes
Stock Chassis / Frame and no bigger that 275 tires
Modified chassis and mini tubbed any size tire
The easy way to go is work with the SCCA and make the CAM class the same as the Pro-Touring classes.
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This is, not surprisingly, very sensible. I like the idea that you can have a class that doesn't require Stielow/Hobaugh levels of time/money investment to be competitive. And I also like that there is a class to push the limits on the traditional Pro-Touring definition. And the idea of SCCA/USCA crossover.
I still wonder about some kind of real streetability criteria in the final judging. Of course, it will be inevitably subjective, but so is the design section today. The enjoyment of driving a car regularly on the street encompasses a lot of factors - basic legal compliance, seat comfort, NHV, climate control, audio system, interior aesthetics, general responsiveness and predicability in control inputs, to name some of the most obvious. And there is also the subjective Cool Factor - does the car engage the car guys and the general public? What I see is that these criteria are currently of quite limited importance relative to track performance in the USCA world - despite the fact that "Street Car" is the middle name of the association.
Not at all to be negative of Optima and USCA - just the passion on this thread alone proves how important and energizing you folks are! Please keep doing this, and take all this input from us with the appropriate underlying tone of appreciation, and the appropriate grain of salt
