goforwand

"Spoilers and cosmetic trim pieces are permitted. Side skirts may not be used. Spoilers must comply with the following subsections. The intent of this allowance is to accommodate commonly available appearance kits, and replicas thereof, which have no significant aerodynamic function at Solo II speeds."

Would sideskirts really have a "significant aerodynamic function" at the Solo II level?

Seems the "intent" of allowing cosmetic body kits (spoilers, wings, etc.) should include side skirts.... but I guess not.

titaniumgrey

I thought body kits are a disadvantage ...... because it makes your car bigger and wider so it can hit more cones 8)

philodox

I have no clue. I compete in BSP at my local club with my RX-8. I just sent an email to our rules guru to see if he could clarify for us. Should have an answer soon.

goforwand

Thank you!

philodox

Okay, I just got a responce from my club. Here is a direct quote from the email I got from her:

Hi Jon:

Here is the full text of that section (15.2) from the 2004 Solo II rule book
(section 15 is the Street Prepared class rules):

G. Spoilers and cosmetic trim pieces are permitted. Side skirts may
not be used. Spoilers must comply with the following subsections.
The intent of this allowance is to accommodate commonly available
appearance kits, and replicas thereof, which have no significant
aerodynamic function at Solo II speeds.

1. A spoiler may be added to the front of the car below the
bumper. It may not extend rearward beyond the front most part
of the front wheel well openings, and may not block normal
grille or other openings, or obstruct lights. Openings may not
be used for the purpose of ducting air to the radiator or oil
cooler, but they may allow air to flow through a permitted oil
cooler provided no ducting is used. The spoiler may not function
as a wing.

2. A spoiler may be added to the rear of the car provided it complies
with either of the following:
a) It is a production rear spoiler which is standard or optional
equipment of a U.S. model of the vehicle, or an exact replica
in an alternate material.
b) It is a non-production rear spoiler which is mounted to the
rearmost portion of the rear hatch, deck, or trunk lid. The
spoiler may extend no more than 10 inches from the original
bodywork in any direction. Alternatively, in a hatchback,
the spoiler may be mounted to the rear hatch lid at or near
the top of the hatch; in such a configuration the spoiler may
extend no more than 4 inches from the original bodywork in
any direction. The spoiler may be no wider than the bodywork,
and it shall not protrude beyond the overall perimeter
of the bodywork as viewed from above. The use of
endplates is prohibited. Angle of attack is free. The spoiler
may not function as a wing.

Whether or not it affects you depends on what you've done But yes, it is an
accurate quote for the SP class.

Grace



So there you have it, in street prepared sideskirts definately aren't permitted. Kind of sucks really since you don't really go over 50MPH in soloII, unless the course designer puts some long straights before a killer hairpin turn.

goforwand

^^^

Thanks for the info....

Oh well, so my MS "wing" and my MS "skirts" put me in SM.

hmmm.....I'll be taking my "golf" attitude to the events.

(Play the course, not your opponent )

Dark8

Why not STU? Or are you set on R tires?

goforwand

I'm a totally ignorant noob regarding "classes" as next year will be my first auto-x year.

I've been studying a link that was posted/or I found/ to figure out exactly where my car will fit as it is at this moment. http://moutons.org/sccasolo/

I'm sure that once I get to my first event, someone will tell me "where my car fits", but I figured that because there's so much experience on this board re: Solo II, that I would try to get some clarification on some of the stuff I've been studying.

It's all good...I'm just very excitied to start auto-x regardless of class :D

goforwand

ah,ha!

http://www.scca.com/News/News.asp?Id...2760&Id=180&~=

Dark8

STU is a new class that won't have national status (read: no jacket at nationals) until 2007. It builds on the STS and STX rules and allows body kits, intakes, exhausts, wider tires and more. The only draw back is that it requires tires with a 140 rating which excludes R compound tires.

philodox

But if you have a lightweight flywheel you cannot participate in STU! I asked the local SCCA solo II chair about it and he said no.

philodox

Oh yeah, forgot to add to my other post.. if you have sideskirts, you're automatically tossed into SM class. 16.1.I allows sideskirts in Street Modified.

However, the MS wing does meet the requirements for SP. So you shouldn't run into any problems if you just have the wing.

Dark8

You are right about the flywheel, but I didn't see it in goforwards list of mods.

Shocka

getting the MS Spoiler would not take me outta BS will it?

philodox

That I do not know. I would ask your Solo II club chairperson or rules guru. I normally only compete in BSP.... though i'm going to get bumped up to SM once I get those sideskirts

Dark8

My take on the way the Stock Class rules read: If it by itself were a factory option then yes. But if it is part of an option package available from the factory, then the whole option package must be installed to make it legal.

So the question becomes: Is the MS spoiler by itself available as a factory (not dealer) installed option?

philodox

Not a clue.. I participate in Solo II/Autocross with the South Jersey Chapter of SCCA. I've never run into problems with my Mazdaspeed Wing while running in BSP. Now the stock classes are a different story. I can't speculate on that since I'm not really familiar with the stock car class qualifications.

ronbauer

The reason that sideskirts aren't legal is that they can be used as a way of making incredible aerodynamic advances. Unfortunately, you can't allow some without the others.

As for the "stock" rear spoiler, as long as it is a factory option for a US model car, it is legal.

Ron

AlexCisneros

The MS wing is not an option. It would need to arrive at the port with it or be installed at the port.

With that said, you'd have to really have an obnoxious person in B-Stock, BSP, or STU to not allow those things. It could be argued at the regional level that those are cosmetic items that have NO affect on aerodynamics at solo2 speeds.

Every region is different. I had one competitor ask me if it would be ok to run his car with R compounds in STU since he hadn't realized that he needed that 140+ treadwear, I didn't care... (though I did razz him :D )

At nationals, you will have an obnoxious person protesting.

If you are just starting out, go and have fun. If you become very competitive in the class then move up to the next class without further mods.

¢2

bureau13

I would have thought the MS stuff would have been exempt from all these prohibitions because you can buy a car off the dealer lot that way. I almost did, but I couldn't justify the extra 10 grand they wanted for a $3500 body kit :D Generally speaking, I didn't think the stock classes made you rip off stuff that came on the car from the dealer.

jds

AlexCisneros

"Dealer installed" is not the same as "factory installed".

There is no MS 8 in the United States (for US Market, someone may have imported :o ). When it does come out, there will probably be a place for it somewhere.