Originally Posted by
djmachinist
Brian,
You make some good points, however I am well aware of the local turnouts and SWS turnouts we are getting. You made my point for me. "The 1/8 engine cost" is killing the 1/8 Class along with the high maintenace and the complicated set ups required for eighth. The 2WD rules (if you bothered to read them) Mission Statement says: "To create and promote a simple economical class of racing with emphasis on Driver ability and Stable rules". In other words, The rules will not change from the Misson Statement.1/8 4WD is totaly out of control. This class will have Kit cost about $100.00 cheaper than the present 4WD cars.The engines by rule are limited to:
.21 CI
maximum of 7 ports
Flat top engines (no dished Pistons)
No slug weighted cranks
Steel ball bearings only(no ceramic bearings)
This will outlaw any of the the high end engines.
I do not want 1/8th to go away, I see this as a start of a more economical form of 1/8th. You may not buy into this but others may. All we can do is give it a try and see where the chips fall.
And Brian, save the "Dude" reference for the younger set.
Dale
Dale,
You kind of missed Brian's main point. It is hard to start a new class when you don't have enough racing the current classes. I have been keeping up with the thread that you mentioned and I know where you are coming from with having a entry-level, spec class. However, when you number of racers barely support the classes that you currently offer, how can you expect this new class to pick up and take off?
Like someone mentioned, the SWCS tried the "spec" 4wd 1/8th scale class once before but it went by the wayside for a lot of reasons. We were trying to get a spec class going with the Inferno GT-styled cars in the SWCS but interest in that died off as quickly as it started (and there was an open class for the ones that wanted to spend to there hearts content).
I don't know what the answer is and don't have an answer as far as participation is concerned. However, getting more participants to run in the classes that the SWCS offers needs to improve before trying to intro any more classes. Don't get me wrong, it is a good concept but we can barely get 30 racers out at any one time to run the two main classes that the SWCS currently runs (1/8th scale and 200mm touring), with a few racers actually running both classes.