2021 SCCA thread...

[dalz]

I've always wondered if the guys dominating the runoffs and the guys running in the back of big series (Dale Coyne, Rick Ware, Carl Long, LMP3 teams in IMSA) have relatively similar expenditures when the sponsorship opportunities afforded by a televised series are factored in.

Maybe they were close in some bygone era, but certainly not now. The big difference would be equipment. There are Runoffs contending GT1s and FAs that are 12+ years old. Sure, some will spare no expense but they're not hiring a dozen crew, maintaining a factory-sized building. It took a driver $100k for a cut-rate LMP3 seat for the Rolex. $400k for USF2000. That will buy you all the racing you could do in the SCCA.

[apollo8fan]

Is that more or less than American Racers?

I really don't know. We're new to this.

[dalz]

Is that more or less than American Racers?

The ARs were comparable in price to the others. Figure a grand.

[FormulaFox]

Looking at the Buttonwillow Super Tour, it looks like the PFM surge in FA might be here to stay - I wonder if any of them have plans to make the changes to fit wider tires.

(there are only three FA entries at this race, but they're all PFMs)

[dalz]

The PFMs are wonderful cars, great price for performance. But sadly they will never be competitive with a well-driven Swift .014/.016. They are out powered (the Renesis rotary is pretty much maxed out) and out-gripped (just a small diffuser vs. full tunnels). I've asked those in the know about the full size FA tires and it might help on tighter tracks, but hurt at fast tracks. When asked about the standard Coooper pro tires, an engineer told me, "Well, the old pro Goodyears were bigger, and the car was faster..." Still it would never close the gap.

[FormulaFox]

The PFMs are wonderful cars, great price for performance. But sadly they will never be competitive with a well-driven Swift .014/.016. They are out powered (the Renesis rotary is pretty much maxed out) and out-gripped (just a small diffuser vs. full tunnels). I've asked those in the know about the full size FA tires and it might help on tighter tracks, but hurt at fast tracks. When asked about the standard Coooper pro tires, an engineer told me, "Well, the old pro Goodyears were bigger, and the car was faster..." Still it would never close the gap.

I'm aware of this. You'd need F1-width tires(which as we know would be very not legal) to produce enough enough mechanical grip reliably generate enough overall cornering force to match the Swifts at any track, and the 15-20 HP you MIGHT be able to squeeze out of the engines before they start grenading isn't going to give it enough of a straightline edge to overcome that.

But for some reason, it seems a lot of people are entering PFMs in FA despite this shortcoming.