Ben Sale's white 1990 NA6

[daffyflyer]

All in all it looks like things have been conducted in a fashion that really isn't what you want in club level motorsport, having to deal with this kind of stuff certainly doesn't make club level Motorsport so attractive, particularly to those just in it for fun.


I can't see any of the mods described really honestly making any meaningful performance difference.... you'd probably get more extra power by just servicing the thing than the airbox holes for example, and did you not say the lip was factory?

[bensale]

Andrew, the lip is an oem factory option... Although it was never actually offered in Australia... Interestingly NB's actually have a similar little lip under the bumper standard from the factory. And I really doubt the holes make much of a difference either, gaffer tape will do the trick =)

[fattima]

Yes, when I filled out the entrants statement in July 2010 the car to my knowledge had two modifications, the springs and shocks... Although at that time it also had the air filter mod, the front lip so actually 4... Subsequently i have played with adding a few mods including, the sway bars and exhaust, the diff which failed and I removed the soft top when it tore... As the protests highlighted, I have exceeded my modification allowance due to the 3 additions resulting in minimal or no performance advantage.

Ben IMHO there is no point is saying the additional mods had minimal or no performance advantage. The fact is they existed and were not on your entrant statement from what I understand by reading this thread. While I can really see that you are upset about this I think you need to take a step back and look at the how the class would function if people can start claiming their extra mods have no performance advantage. In any class of motorsport knowing the rules and how to work within them is a very important part of the game.

As to how the protests were lodged, well we all do things differently. It could be argued that if you alert someone to an illegal mod they could remove it before the inspection (not that I think you would do something like that). To be honest it is not the way I would handle it I would have approached you as I know you are not the type to bullsh!t anyone.

As I said to you in a PM come play in modified and show an old fat bastard how to do it
Look forward to seeing you soon and as always my garage is open if you need to use it to rectify anything on your car.

Bruce

[bensale]

I agree that there is a need to enforce the modifications limit in the class... I have never hidden what I have done to the car. As you've shown in PM if you look through my thread it's all here, it's not like I've been secretly modifying the car as was alleged. I did not fill out a new declaration after July despite adding the additional modifications to bring me up to the class limit (or not as it transpires) as I felt it was still within the class rules.

I have no problem having now been made aware of the illegal additional mods to the car being re classed to modified until they are removed. I just feel that perhaps due to the questionable performance benefits of the modifications and if a dyno test showed the car to have no exceptional power increase over a standard na6 my results should have been allowed to stand from the last 3 events. I sent an email to Rob raising that as a possible action for next time something like this occurs.

I was in fact aware there was the possibility of a protest the night prior to it being lodged. I didn't think it would actually happen and regardless I didn't touch the car and actually pointed out 2 of the modifications I was disqualified for to Rob which i doubt he would have found otherwise.

I would love to come and play in modified. For the time being my income level means that clubman is a good class for me. When I can afford to make a few additions to the car to bring it up to a spec which would allow me to chase the front runner in modified then maybe I'll give it a go. I believe with the right tyres I could give 2nd place a good run at all the events in modified, but not catch Russell... So i'll probably wait a year or so, I would want to add extractors, high flow cat, an ecu, intake and improve the suspension set up as well as a set of semi slicks.

Thanks for the offer, I should be okay but if I decided that I don't want to to the diff on my own I will give you a yell =) It would be good to catch up.

[HIC-45S]

Has been an interesting read to say the least

1- Non standard airbox- a couple of 1" holes in the bottom of the OEM unit.
2- My oem front lip spoiler
3- Non functioning viscous differential (as mentioned above I broke the unit, it leaks oil and open wheels as badly as an open diff. My tyre wear and temperatures and the end of a session prove this. I didn't change it back out as it is a 4hr job.
4- Soft top not fitted to the vehicle (although i have an exemption for this until the end of this week meaning this did not count in my disqualification)

1- While I agree that this is rather petty, if the holes do not provide any substancial increase in performance, why have them at all? Besides, as far as I can remember the MX-5's airbox is located right next to the exhaust shield, perhaps performance gains can be had from plugging them up?
2- That's just strange... is that to say a factory standard JDM MX-5 with a limited compliance plated would be also placed in the modified catagory?
3- I didn't realise that an open diff gave an increase in performance! There goes my idea of getting my OS Giken diff

[bensale]

Glad you've enjoyed it..!

I put the holes in when the car still had a standard exhaust... It was my ghetto spec CAI which gave me a little induction noise... The holes were/are on the cold side of the airbox so at least it wasn't sucking in air right off the exhaust. It perhaps made a small benefit, but I doubt very much that it was even a perceptible one.

Going by the ruling I recieved an otherwise standard JDM or USDM na6/na8 with an oem front lip would have to be put in to the clubman class (4 mods) as it would count as one modification over standard...

Well I'll be taking the diff out of the car in a couple of weeks... You can have it if you'd like, I'm sure it would work well in your Riceline..!

[HIC-45S]

I'm sure it will bolt straight up!

And handle around 160-180 rwkW

[bensale]

Absolutely! Seeing that it handled my 70rwkw (or what ever it ends up being) so well that it failed and started leaking oil I'm sure your 180rwkw will be no problem for it!

[Guran]

Hang on a minute. Does this mean a JDM import NA6 with a viscous LSD is ineligible for Standard NA class?

[bensale]

That would have to be a yes there...

[PaulF]

Oh boy, what a mess. Oh well. Just keep going out there and enjoying yourself mate.

[CheyneX5]

People making dud usernames to hide behind? Forums hit a new low in my opinion...

[bensale]

LMAO..!

This is getting epic..!

Read this thread on the AROCA website... lol

[bensale]

Oh snap..!

It seems that the thread I linked has been moderated... 6 posts deleted... Half of the tread... Should have screen shot it... *sigh =(

Props to the Alfa forum for being so quick..!

[91 Malibu]

unfuggenbelievable why don't they just make you remove the extra mods, then if your lap times increase dramtically then apply the penalties.Sounds like there are more cars in that class with more beneficial mods than you that should been picked up before yours.