All:
I have received permission from the owner (NASA National) of the dyno run results, to post them here.
Based on many, many dyno runs on many different cars, we are very close to establishing a basic curve and maximum numbers for dyno runs. Now that we have run several cars with built engines, and many with "junkyard" engines, we have a very good idea about where the cars should be, power-wise. We are still working out the details but we will have maximum hp and torque numbers at specific rpm points.
If a car is out of line (exceeds the official set numbers) on the dyno, regardless of the reason, that car will be disqualified from that race. Even if the engine is torn down and the inspectors don’t find a single illegal part, it won’t matter. Even if a car is technically legal, the numbers will be specific for a disqualification.
Each driver will decide how far he wants to push it but the Spec E30 engine rules still apply. It’s not "open season" at all. Spec E30 will still look for illegal parts. "But my car didn’t exceed the maximum dyno numbers" will not be an excuse for illegal or missing parts.
Remember, Spec E30 is very different from any other series, professional or amateur.
Some have speculated that an obscure part, from some out-of-the-way outsource factory, is what is producing strong numbers. Some of you may have heard of the "Spanish Cylinder Head" that is technically a BMW part. This is exactly what we do not want in Spec E30. We don’t want drivers/owners to be able to figure out some way to gain a significant advantage but still be technically legal, by finding some out-of-the-way part.
As we all know, some dynos read differently from others and we will take this into account when running cars and when determining if a car is eligible for points and a finishing position that weekend. If a dyno is reading a few hp high, we will know it and the drivers will know it. In that situation, the Spec E30 Regional director will have the right to adjust the numbers slightly. But we (Spec E30 Officials) will all know if someone is out of line.
And I want everyone to know that this will be a trial program for the 2008 season. If it works, we will continue with it. If it fails, we will abandon it. Regardless, we will review it at mid season. All Spec E30 cars in all NASA regions will race under this condition.
Also, cars will be dyno’d from the front, middle, and rear of the field. The mechanical protest rules still apply, per the CCR.
To our knowledge, no other amateur sports car racing series has done this (and in our opinion, they have suffered from not doing something like this) and we are implementing this for several reasons, all which will help with the health of Spec E30.
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This will help keep costs down because drivers will not spend more and more money to build the "ultimate motor after finding some obscure part."
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New drivers will know that their car has a "fighting chance."
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We look better/more fair to the racing world and will attract more drivers.
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More drivers will have more fun, racing. And that’s the bottom line.
We will announce the numbers in the next week or so. The inital numbers will be the starting point for this program. However, if the numbers are not working as we intend, we might make slight adjustments early in the season. But once we find a good set of numbers, we will stick with them…possibly throughout the life of Spec E30.
Carter Hunt
Spec E30 Series Administrator and Cofounder