is spartan allowing sticks next year or dohc engines in the pony stocks i have one car with a sohc with a stick and the other a dohc with an automatic n there both illegal

Likehurt, Spartan and Springport are allowing manual shift next year. I dont think the dohc is legal though. Im pretty sure. But the manuals are legal.

[quote name='gokeeracing32' date='Dec 30 2007, 06:59 AM' post='110917']
Likehurt, Spartan and Springport are allowing manual shift next year. I dont think the dohc is legal though. Im pretty sure. But the manuals are legal.
[/quote


Manual shift yes, DOHC no.

spartan did a really good thing with their rules by only allowing the Cheap and plentiful standard 132 HP Single OHC 2.0 Neon, and no other 16 valve cars are allowed,,,

on the other hand,,Auto city might have done a mistake that is being done all over the USA by other tracks,,,they allowed the rarer and more expensive HI-performance 150 HP DUAL OHC engines in Neons in 2007 and for 2008 ANY AMERICAN 2.0 liter DOHC 16 valve engine and car is allowed!!!

Now the More Expensive and rarer Ford Focus may dominate,,they come with very powerful 2.0 liter DOHC 4 cylinder engines. Ztec/SVT's =170 hp.

The 2.0 L Zetec shared its 84.8 mm (3.339 in) bore and 88 mm (3.465 in) stroke with its predecessor, the 2.0 L 2-valve CVH.

A high 10.2:1 compression ratio and larger valves contributed to the SVT version's much-higher output.

Applications:

1998-2003 Ford Escort ZX2, 130 hp (97 kW) and 127 ft.lbf (172 Nm)
1999-2000 Ford Escort ZX2 S/R, 143 hp (107 kW) and 146 ft.lbf (198 Nm)
2000 Ford Focus, 130 hp (97 kW) and 135 ft.lbf (183 Nm)
2002 SVT Focus, 170 hp (127 kW) and 145 ft.lbf (197 Nm)

Link for ford focus speedt secrets,,,

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/

AC's 2008 rules


A. Only American brand, 4 cylinder front wheel drive and rear wheel drive sedan
type bodies & pick up trucks.
B. No convertibles, two seat coupes or station wagons.
C. No turbo, multi-carburetor, rotary, mid or rear engine, Cosworth, Neon ACR,
Magnum, RT or engines with more than 8 valves. EXCEPTION: Double OHC,
2.0, 16-valve American Brands only!
D. Factory stock fuel injection allowed.
E. Max. engine size 2.5L
F. The use of O.E.M. or after market performance parts is not allowed.


Spartan's rules,,,

A. ELIGIBILITY:

a) 4 cylinder front wheel drive.
b) No convertibles, trucks or two seat coupes.

c) No turbo, multi-carburetor, rotary, mid or rear engine, Cosworth, Neon ACR, Magnum, RT or engines with more than 8 valves. Exception: Single OHC, 2.0, 16 valve Neon - 1995 to 1999. Neons 2000 and up are limited to the 132hp base engine. Neons with DOHC engines and 150hp SOHC Magnum engines are NOT ALLOWED.

d) Factory stock fuel injection allowed.

e) Maximum engine size 2.5 L

f) The use of O.E.M. or after market performance parts is not allowed.

More ford focus RACING and performance links,,

NASA Spec ford focus links,,road racing engine and suspension,,

http://specfocus.drivenasa.com/

http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/Spec-Focus.pdf

http://www.capaldiracing.com/isell3/result...%20Spec%20Focus

http://www.capaldiracing.com/isell3/result...us%20-%20Engine

NASA Spec Focus series has VERY extensive rules,,what short track could enforce these rules???

http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/Spec-Focus.pdf

Also ford and Dodge offer gleason positraction type diffs for stick shifts,,HOW ARE YOU( Spartan and AC) GOING TO TECH FOR THEM?

http://www.capaldiracing.com/isell3/product.php?id=222

Also I think Ford Focus can come with Tracktion control and antilock brakes,,another can of worms??

Arnold.

Arnold.. why do you think its a good idea that only a single car is allowed 16v when the rest of the cars have to be 8v ?

I wonder about this because I own a Prizm... The 1.6L 16v Toyota motor (Prizm/Corolla) is nothing special and less powerful than many of the larger 8v motors. So it kinda seems odd to just make them all illegal.

Mike

I am not hung up on 16v or 8 v,,, or Gm vs ford vs Dodge.

The big picture is What is the best bang for the BUCK....You have to SAVE racers from them selfs,,,If you do not write rules that force you to use the cheapest, well performing equipment,,,Some racers will always choose the most expensive way to go that will insure that they dominate a class,,,,IF street stocks allowed Corvettes,,,then the one or 2 guys that could afford Vetts would dominate over all the Monte Carlos,,,would this be good for the Street Stock class? IMHO NO!

Therefore,,the only fwd 4 cyl. cars that should be legal MUsT be,,

produced in very large numbers,
Cheap,
Locally Plentiful,
Late model ( No more than 10 years old) ,
Low mileage, ( ~70,0000 miles or LeSS)
Easy to build and set up for racing.
Not require a Hoist to remove the drive train.
Lots of LOW mileage, Cheap parts available at the Local Junk yard.


Spartan's FWD 4 cyl class has been around for many years, longer than most other tracks.

when the class started out many years ago, Low mileage 2. 5 liter 2 valve per cylinder fwd cars were common, plentiful and cheap, and so were their used low mileage parts.,,but NOT no MOre,,

The 2 valve per cylinder that used to meet all the above criteria was the Mid 1980's Dodge Shadow with the 2.5 Liter SOHC 2 valve per cylinder engine.

But because these cars are now HIGH mileage OLD cars, with NO low mileage parts available in the junk yards,,some thing HAD to replace these old cars.,,,or cost would escalate and the class would be hurt.

The next logical choice was the 4 door NEON with the 2.0 liter SOHC engine.,,Because IT best met all the above criteria...NO other car even comes close,,,For NOW the racing the NEon makes as much sense as racing the 350 Chevy V in a street stock.

IT is now cheaper to build and race a NEON than any 8v car,,,It cost more to build, race and fix a 8 valve car than a neon...right Pat?

EVERY track that has allowed any 16v engine has had big problems with RARE, Expensive cars dominating the class, and at many tracks it has KILLED the class.,,or turned the class into an expensive class.

Would you like to run against Mitsubishi Eclipse's and Honda Acuras? Who could afford to build a Honda Acura? and could you afford the parts to fix it?

By only allowing NEONS, the field of cars is much closer, therefore the SHOW is better, and teching is easier. Plus the cost of racing is cheaper.

I have worked for GM R&D for over 30 years, and have only raced GM engines,,,It was VERY HARD for me to admit that the neon was better suited for Cheap FWD racing than the GM FWD 4cyl cars. But the facts were just too overwhelming. I hate admitting it, but Today the GM Cobalt with the 2.2 DOHC 16v engine is too expensive for this class.

but IN a few years,,, legalizing the 4 door ford focus will may make sense when they come down in price and costs, then a few more years later the Cobalt may become cheap enough to be made legal.

arnold.

here in the midwest,,,building fast Hondas, and Toyotas costs more than a NEon, and they cost more to fix...also it complicates the teching process.

But in Cali and down south,,hondas are much cheaper to build than here.

In my humble opinion,,,Once the tech guys learn all about the NEon, after a few years, then make the ford focus legal,,,then later the chevy cobalt.

arnold.

Arnold,
You have stated some of the exact reasons that I have chosen Neons to race.
I can go to almost any parts yard and get inexpensive replacement parts.
These Neons can be purchased as complete running parts cars for just a few hundred dollars.
The information available for setting these up to match the driver is almost endless.
I too think that the SOHC motors are the modern day 4 cylinder version of the tried and true 350 GM V8. Everyone seems to make parts for them.
The Neons that I am building will cost me less than $1,000 to build with new tires and all the safety equipment.
I could not get into a V8 car and have as much fun for that low of a dollar amount.
I believe that the 4 cylinder cars are one of the key ways for short track racing to be able to attract and keep new racers.
The Neons are not always the best choice to be the fastest. This past season at Springport the Cavaliers were very hard to beat when they were running good.
T.J. Conroy was running away with the show untill his car broke and he quit for the season. There were a couple of other orange Cavaliers that always ran up front and were tough to beat.
All of these cars were set up very good for this track. The Cavaliers are like the Shadows in the respect that they are getting harder to find in the parts yards.
Keeping this class as inexpensive as possible is one of the best ways to keep it alive and growing.

My open question to everyone is,
Can we have any more fun for less money, than when we are racing the 4 cylinder cars?

Hope everyone has a great 2008

Yogi

Is the age limit for Spartan and Springport still 13?

Yea.. you could be racing 6 Cylinder FWD Pures..

Patrick,
I am not convinced that the V6 Pures would be any less money than the 4 cylinder cars.
I think the V6 uses more gas and would go through tires faster than the lighter lower HP 4 cylinder cars.
With a smaller car count in the V6 class I think it would be less fun simply because of fewer competers to race against and hopefully finish in front of.
I saw you having a blast last year, but for me the V6 class is not as appealing as the stiff competition of the 4 cylinders.
In 2009 maybe I will try it if things work out, who knows ??????
You going to the races this Saturday? Maybe we will see ya there.

Yogi

I was kind of just being sarcastic.. that's why I used the happy face. Where are their races this weekend ?

Well they're not racing this weekend, but should be in a couple of weeks.

http://www.michiganiceracingassociation.com/html/index.php

The fastest class they have (other than studded) is the FWD, and typical winners are the neon, though my teammate and I ran well with a metro before we sold it. You'll want Bridgestone Blizzak or Nokian Hakkapalitta tires.

I figured it out.. he is talking about Anderson.. they are running this weekend. I thought they got rescheduled to the 12th, but that's Plymouth.

Did Sandusky run on 1/1/08.. they promised they would.