With the search for a front engined rear wheel drive saloon becoming increasingly difficult, the reintroduction of a split class would open the flood gates to a host of vehicles that at present are considered uncompetetive against the normal all singing all dancing mk1 or mk2 escort, purely because of their engine size.
Those of you old enough to remember when this class was split, allowed a chance for the smaller engined saloons to compete.
This could introduce the use of a Lada and many other Japanise cars, as the search for a reasonable escort becomes more impossible.
Your Comments?
Can we move supercharged BMW's to Class 7
ReplyDeleteI presume that when Phillip refers to the old Class3 split, he was refering to an experiment in which the class was split, like classes 4&6 at 1300cc's. This was done to encourage the use of 1300cc cars, which at the time were an acceptable insurance risk for those under 25. The experiment was not continued, primarily because at the time, there were a couple of seriously hot 1300's which were running rings around their larger engined brethren. I don't see how reintroducing the split would help anyone. For example, the cited Lada is 1600 and therefore would run with the 1600 Escorts. Any class which is designed to "allow a chance for the smaller engined saloons to compete" will almost certainly become quickly dominated by smaller engined Escorts. The problem is one of knowledge and parts availability. Knowing how to make an Escort work is "in the public domain". They come with a vide variety of gearbox and axle ratios to allow the mix and match engine size to drivetrain. Tuning parts for the engines and suspension exist as an entire industry. The BMW boys have take a new (to trials) car, worked out how to make it work and are reaping the benefits of their research. More power to their elbows I say. The problem with these small Japanese saloons is the apparent availability of bits, but that is not to say that with some dedicated research, the answers could not be found. Here's a thought for a separate debate, in answer to the idea of making a Lada competitive. As the Lada is basically a Fiat 124 built under licence, would it be legal to start with a Lada shell, fit one of the very popular and powerful Fiat Twin Cams, enter it as a Fiat 124? Strength plus power, two of the primary trials requirements. Hmmmmmmmmmm......
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