Jetsbaby........Very cool that you're interested in building a Coupe for competition.....There's a group of us out here already doing it......
A quote from post #24 in the thread in Discussion (would post link, but this very friendly website doesn't allow it)
"The notion of adding the Coupes to the exisiting Challenge Series has been discussed at length within the online forums, as well as within the community of Challenge Series racers. It's become evident to me that the debate over the potential aero advantage and the endless discussions as to how to create parity would never be fully resolved. The resistance to adding the Coupes to the Series had became a roadblock to development of the cars. We're moving on, and simply developing a series of Coupes, all built to a "spec," and then gathering data regarding performance......Hence, the Spec Coupes."
There are a number of reasons that we are not building to the Challenge Series spec, with the primary reason being the use of the A9L computer in the spec, and the reality that, unless you race with that core group of east coast spec series guys, most people in the other 2/3rd's of the country end up in a region with just a handful (or even 1-2) of cars. The most likely thing that will happen at that point is that they will be lumped into a "big bore" group, and well, let the HP wars begin.....
Those of us that have competed in the NASA ST-2 spec for a while (which is where the Coupes are placed as their base class), or in SCCA Super Production, know that building a Coupe to the Challenge Series spec would be a woefully inadequate choice...Just on a rational level, who would really go to all the trouble of building a Coupe for the track (understanding that the frame is not CCR compliant, there's no cage spec, and unlike the Challenge cars, this is not an erector set), and then after doing all of the build work, outfit it with a stock 302 block as the base for the motor? I think we should remember that the "new" Challenge Series spec was chosen with the idea of fixing the performance issues of the existing cars while keeping the cost low, as much or more than the notion of attracting new folks to the series.
As the Challenge group was discussing the upgrades for 2012, the idea of adding the Coupe to the series was again suggested by a number of folks as a way to build the Challenge Series.....From Jim's post (#37):
"The Coupe being in the series contradicts this philosophy to an extent and possibly to the point where it isn't feasible. The best way I see it being able to fit in is at a weight where it is just slightly off the pace of the challenge car at most tracks and just getting even at the longer ones. The question is will anyone still want to run the car if that is how it has been classified?"
2012 The Car
IMHO....The Challenge Series guys will not be welcoming Coupes anytime soon, and if they do, it will only be with some unrealistic weight disadvantage due to the urban legend of some inherent aero.....There's a group of us building Coupe Challenge cars, we'll be out there in the ST-2 class, which at most events, means we'll be in the same run group as our Challenge Series friends....We'll be sure to wave as we go by.
Coupe Differences
Karen
Linear Mode
