John, you bring up some good points. If you have a new motor, it is advisable to take it to the dyno once to at least dial in the A/F ratios so you don't melt it down accidentally. We often find problems on the dyno, that otherwise cost a racer a weekend later on. It's cheap insurance. If it helps, none of the 15+ locally built motors we've had in the Midwest have fallen out on the dyno tests we do every year, until we got serious about tuning them this year. We set the cap at a level where people won't get caught out by accident. There a was debate about setting the hard (DQ) cap at 135, so everyone could get close, but that was decided against because of concern over catching the average guy out. Again, most of the dyno variation that we see is cars not reaching their potential because of cold temps, some mechanical issue, etc. We've never had a car that always dynos around 135, suddenly show up with a 140+ number, in the years we've done dyno testing in the Midwest (which is the same dyno used at Nationals). This represents quite a few cars, over the last 6 years. Other classes that have dyno limits (e.g. CMC) don't tend to see guys going to the dyno before each event, and I don't think we'll see that either.

I understand the motivation for a less serious penalty. Let's explore the weight option as a penalty. In order to make cheating not worth it, it needs to be tough enough that people won't want to risk it, otherwise it makes sense to take your chances, as it doesn't hurt much to get caught out. To get a car to an equal power to weight ratio from 144 HP to 138HP, takes about 120 lbs. For enforcement purposes, this weight would need to be significantly more than that - maybe double that? For the rest of the season? For the next 6 races?

The other question is what do we do with that car at Nationals? Do we allow him to comply with the HP cap & remove the weight, or does he have to try and compete with all that weight. What if a car falls out in the National Championship race? How do we deal with that situation?

One other thing - if it's worth tuning your motor to push this cap to the last couple of HP to compete under the cap, than it's worth building the mega motor, and tuning it often for those last few HP under the current rules. If not, give yourself a little headroom to the cap, and you won't have to worry, or dyno more than once a year.

IMO the weight penalty is a GREAT suggestion if a dyno cap is going in. This would avoid DQ as a result of accidentally tripping the limit and doesn't completely ruin your event. It would suck to run the weight but such is life.

I DO NOT want to become 944 Cup with various weights, dyno limits, reward weight, etc but I don't think a penalty is a bad idea. The only question is how to put 250 LBs (or whatever huge number) safely into a car.

We could appoint an official 944 Spec fat guy to ride with violators (nothing personal, I'm 250ish myself )

How about instead of a ridiculous amount of weight, the violator has to bring their car under the spec HP limit AND run reward weight. OR the violator has to bring the car 10HP UNDER the cap for the remainder of the event.

I am also one of those budget racers, and have been watching the "need to have engine" hp/set-up increase significantly over the years. Yes, if I really wanted to compete at the best of my ability I should be spending time and money in the seat, traqmate, pro shops on set-ups and corner weights. That is what all of the guys up front are doing. And yes, I think all of those guys are running pro or at least professionally built engines. I have been running an engine I rebuilt myself for 5 years that is in need of a freshening. If there is a resonable hp/tq cap in place, I have a target and can decide where and how I want to proceed. A hp/tq cap will not take money out of the equation but it will limit what I should need to spend on the engine component.
I do not live to race so I look at the what I get out of racing for the time and money put into it. I do not have to have podium finishes but I do want to be able to compete with those at my skill level. That is why in our region we worked to have that close racing through semi equal cars, driver development and sharing of knowledge/experience. That is why I joined 944 Spec in the first place.
With a hp/tq cap in place, I will still be out spent and probably out driven, but I think there will be closer lap times throughout the field for much better racing. Ask yourself, how much fun is it running laps by yourself, front, middle or back? Is there a chance you could run with the fast guys if you put it all together? And, if you were someone looking to move up to wheel to wheel racing from time trials, what class would you want to join?
Lee

944Racer72 wrote:


Steve, what is your schedule like for next season?

I like the brainstorming. Practically speaking, any penalty limited to that weekend (short of a DQ) probably would not be enough deterrent. Some of those options would be hard to implement between races, and then we have the issue of the last race of the weekend, and Nationals. Thoughts?

If Steve is going to be the ballast I'll support the concept. If he is riding as ballast he's not driving in front of me !

I have been racing 944 Spec for the past 4 years in AZ and I have seen this issue become the most divisive and troubling challenge to our class by far. I am greatly encouraged by the reasoned and productive discussion I have been seeing and I think we are evolving the most sensible solution to the concerns about "cheater" and "pro built" motors and the disparity of engine performance in general . A number of drivers in our region have expressed their frustration with the perceived inequality in the escalating performance of a small number of cars/drivers that seem to be dominating at the national level. Many of them have talked about not participating in the National Championships for that reason. I think the key element that has made the difference in this discussion is the reasonable hp/tq limit specified, together with the information about how most of us can get at or near that level of performance without either spending ourselves out of racing or accepting the fact of never being competitive at the highest level. I am all for this new rule and I applaud everyone for their willingness to confront what I believe is a very necessary change that ensures that driving performance, not motor building, remains the emphasis of our class.