Bobzilla wrote:
Joshua wrote:
In all honesty I normally jump at the idea of any cheap racing series but Spec Rio is just laughable.
I'm curious as to what makes a 2500lb, 140hp factory backed race car "laughable"? Let me guess, you'd be on board if it was Spec Civic?
No not really, I dislike Honda's as much as the next guy with any self respect. (Same with Kia's)
I would be on board with Spec Mini's, Spec Abarth, Spec e36 M3, heck even Spec Fit sounds more fun than a Rio. I'm not saying I wouldn't race it if the costs were low enough, I'm just saying it would be a last resort.
My problem with Spec racing and Showroom Stock is that people try to cheat within the rules. They blueprint motors, dyno shocks, test all sorts of "stock" springs, all to gain an edge on competitors instead of just working on improving their driving. All of these things are legal but none were intended when the rules were written.
For Showroom Stock, I don't understand why the rules don't say: your horsepower rating must be within 4% (or some fair number that accounts for the variables of factory hp output) of the manufacturer horsepower rating. This would keep people from buying 4 different motors that should only make 190hp, taking all of the best pistons, hottest cams, best flowing heads etc. and putting together 1 engine that makes 250hp; thereby running up the costs of "entry level racing."
It seems simple. What am I missing?
Gotta pay to play, $2k to get to your first event (via chumpcar, and around $1k per event after that if you have a team) is so ridiculously cheap for the kind of racing you get it isn't even funny. I'm planning on doing one more race this year down in the states and I'm pretty poor! 
