Not proposing the following; just trying to understand the pro/con views of rev limiters. So... why not rev limits instead of restrictors?
Why not look at available torque and hp curves for all relevant engines and pick an RPM limit for each make/gen engine and leave it up to competitors to configure/flash the ECU limit? Or pick one RPM limit as a compromise if that can work? In this scenario podium finishers would have to supply rev info from car data acquisition system to check rev limit compliance after a race.
Pros:
- Cheap and easy for competitors; just flash your ECU.
- Competitors won't have to come up with the kind of engine program/testing needed for restrictors.
- Longer engine life, thus less expensive racing
- Less blown engines, thus less expensive racing
- Less blown engines = less oil on the track = improved perception of class = more participation in F1000
- With time... maybe a hardwired rev limiter could be utilized that is easy to police.
- Easy and cheap to change if we don't like it on the first go.
- Rev limits really limits revs as opposed to restrictors which give you a reason not to overrev but you still can do it.
Cons:
- For SCCA... more time consuming to police after a race when compared to measuring restrictors.
- ???
There. I said it
Mike