Originally Posted by
reidhazelton
To what Peter said, I think 'tightening the rules' is needed. Not necessarily more rules, but more longevity to those rules, and rules that create stability.
This forum has a wealth of knowledge from some very experienced people. I think sometimes that knowledge can lead to a situation where we forget what it takes to do this for those of us who don't have that knowledge. Let's look at this through FB engine changes. It's generally accepted by the majority, that the Kawi makes more power and provides an advantage. So, if you want to complete, you could feel that you need to convert your Suzuki. To many on this forum that have experience in doing this, that might sound like a simple thing.
But, let's remember who the majority of club racers are, or at least used to be. These are people who work on the car themselves, an hour or two at night after work and after the kiddies are in bed. The car is tucked away in the corner of the garage where you have to work around the wife's car to get to it, and move the lawn mower out in the driveway to get the bodywork off.
For a garage-racer to change engines on most cars, it takes a lot of work. You need to hire an engineer to design the engine mounts, adapters, and maybe frame modifications. Then you need to find a CNC shop to make you some one-offs. By the time you get the parts made, and the car bolted together it likely took a year, or at least the off-season and some. Given that more guys don't have time or budgets to do test days, getting the car to run and behave could take a few weekends or more.
Now, looking at all that work, and expense, I'd bet that most have seen the situation and said "I paid $20k for the car, am I going to spend $10k+ and a year to get right back to where I was in terms of competitiveness?" I'd say this is a major reason FV still has the numbers it does - a rock steady rules set.
Look at the effort, cost, and time needed to change engines for the majority of club racers, and look at the same requirements to bolt on some flat plate restrictors. I'd say any club racer can bolt them on by themselves, in an evening.