Re: The Official Non Sequitur Thread, "And now for something COMPLETELY different..."

[timneyb]

Unfortunately, less than three has got pretty crappy odds.

[HWKII]

I have seen these photos a few times, and every time I think (but have not posted): Swerv got a job at Mercedes?

[SWERV_GRIFFIN]

That the 'Lectric Benz, as I'm sure all of us know. Been haning out at GT Planet a lot lately trading, and was gifted this Replica (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

[SpecMiata-JSW]

I do love the look of chrome cars...especially race cars. This car looked ridiculous in person.

[SpecMiata-JSW]

Another one of my favorites. This is the car Sean Johnston (GT Academy pal) drove at Petit. Lucky son-of-b!tch.

[group44]

Umph, I ain't built for that anymore

[HWKII]

Make the awful sound stop!

[clacksman]

Umph, I ain't built for that anymore

heh, I never was so I leave it to the experts. Saw a few faces appearing worse for wear on the 2nd.

[Forgetful]

http://jalopnik.com/5973168/alms-and-grand-am-announce-plans-to-become-most-confusing-thing-in-the-world

Multi-class sports car racing is already incredibly confusing. Many of the cars look the same and are only differentiated by varying tire compounds and engine specs.

It's doubly confusing in America because we have two competing sports car endurance series in the ALMS and Grand Am and they both have different class names. I'm willing to bet that a casual viewer has a brain aneurysm when trying to discern between all the classes. I mean look at all of these: P1, P2, LMPC, DP, GT, GTC, GX.

It's a mind fuck.

They are merging into one series for 2014 which you think would alleviate the confusion. It's only going to make it worse. Here's how they're doing it:

DP and P2 will be combined into one performance equalized class, possibly called DP2 or P2D or Racing Car Zone 1. It will also include the Nissan Deltawing which doesn't really fit into either of those original classes.
LMPC will be it's own class still. Remember that these cars look the same as P2 cars which look nothing like DP cars yet aren't as fast as either.


The ALMS GT class will continue as its own class but the ALMS GTC class will combine with the Grand Am GT class even though all three classes of cars look exactly the same and have the same types of cars in them.
The Grand Am GX class will debut at Daytona this year and will then resurface sometime in 2014 or 2015 as it's own class or as part of one of the GT classes with cars that look exactly the same as those in GTC and GT.
Got it? No? Neither do I. But it still isn't as bad as how Volkswagen names cars in China.

Oi

[HWKII]

So I am not the only one out there who thinks that Mutliclass racing is getting out of control? I guess the reason is so that they can attract large fields. I suspect that even at Le Mans, a lot of the LMP2 class would pull out if they had to compete against Audi or Toyota (*cough* I'm looking at your Pyoojote).

I'm down for some Multiclass racing if the two cars are dramatically different. Am I the only one who'd love to see an Indy or Daytona 500 with Indy and NASCAR on the same track at the same time?

[timneyb]

And with so many classes everybody can be a *winner*, just like elementary school, so fewer teams get sulky because they aren't winning and leave.

[HWKII]

And with so many classes everybody can be a *winner*, just like elementary school, so fewer teams get sulky because they aren't winning and leave.

Yes, this is what I am thinking. This is also what I want to shout at the TV every time Ferrari complains about spending in F1.

[Forgetful]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1999-Reynard-Simulator-Indy-Car-Racing-Game-and-Entertainment-Center-/251208497061?pt=Race_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_&hash=item3a7d3177a5#ht_500wt_1182

Sweet

[clacksman]

So I am not the only one out there who thinks that Mutliclass racing is getting out of control? I guess the reason is so that they can attract large fields. I suspect that even at Le Mans, a lot of the LMP2 class would pull out if they had to compete against Audi or Toyota (*cough* I'm looking at your Pyoojote).

I'm down for some Multiclass racing if the two cars are dramatically different. Am I the only one who'd love to see an Indy or Daytona 500 with Indy and NASCAR on the same track at the same time?

Multiclass racing is what you get when someone wants a minimum car count but can't get it to happen with their dream rules so they add the next class to increase the number of show-ups ... repeat until "full field" is reached.

Dramatically different class speeds is what causes crashes like we've seen at Le Mans the last couple years - a slow car from a slow class trips up a fast car in the top class.

And with so many classes everybody can be a *winner*, just like elementary school, so fewer teams get sulky because they aren't winning and leave.

This. Even motorbike racing is like this in the AMA - there's enough 'national' classes that any manufacturer enters whatever one and races against 95% private teams, leading to everybody being happy because they can all run 'win' ads on most Mondays.

edit:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/grand-am-2014-class-structure-announced/

the '14 ALMSGA won't be running P1-level cars at all. That's a good move. Also the Mazda coming into GX looks sweet (go to mazdaspeeds facebook page) for a diesel FWD.

[SpecMiata-JSW]

Loving the look of that Mazda, but I'm really going to miss the sweet sound of the Wankel. I'm mad it's gone.

[RackAttack]

Loving the look of that Mazda, but I'm really going to miss the sweet sound of the Wankel. I'm mad it's gone.

You and me both! Hopefully Mazda decides to do something with their next gen Rotary: http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/rotary/16x/

[clacksman]

Figure out how to make one of those wobbling triangle engines get better than 20mpg in a 3000lb car for them and it'll be much more likely to happen.

[RackAttack]

Figure out how to make one of those wobbling triangle engines get better than 20mpg in a 3000lb car for them and it'll be much more likely to happen.

Yeah, that's was one of their two main design goals when designing the 16x. I found an article quoting Mazda's powerplant development head saying that the 16x is 30% more fuel efficient. That would mean ~27 mpg on the highway rather than ~21, which I think would be marketable.

[timneyb]

Figure out how to make one of those wobbling triangle engines get better than 20mpg in a 3000lb car for them and it'll be much more likely to happen.

Yeah, that's was one of their two main design goals when designing the 16x. I found an article quoting Mazda's powerplant development head saying that the 16x is 30% more fuel efficient. That would mean ~27 mpg on the highway rather than ~21, which I think would be marketable.

As a potential buyer, yes it would That would put in the ballpark of WRX/Evo/FR-S competitors.

[HWKII]

On the topic of Mazdas, though not AFAIK rotary engines, I was a little disappointed when I saw the MPG on the sticker of an MX-5... Still want. Still cannot get over fear of ridicule of owning one.

[SpecMiata-JSW]

On the topic of Mazdas, though not AFAIK rotary engines, I was a little disappointed when I saw the MPG on the sticker of an MX-5... Still want. Still cannot get over fear of ridicule of owning one.

If anyone gives you hell about owning one, just show them any in car footage of an MX-5 Cup or Spec Miata race. That usually does the trick.

[Forgetful]

John, you'd better hide ya kid, hide ya wife, hide ya RACECARS!

http://jalopnik.com/5974086/strippers-stolen-supra-found-stripped?post=55934571

I saw the pictures and could not believe my eyes, not because the extent of the chop but the fact that that car is sitting in the exact same lot that my built turbo s2k was a month ago chopped in half. The people that took my car either cut a key or put it on a trailer and had it totally stripped in under a day. It got taken from my apartment building in Winter Park and i'm not really sure if its that close but I recognized the lot immediately in the picture. If you live in central Florida and have a highly modified car you had better put it in a locked garage because this kind of stuff has been happening there with increasing frequency and it seems that these thieves are pretty professional.

[HWKII]

On the topic of Mazdas, though not AFAIK rotary engines, I was a little disappointed when I saw the MPG on the sticker of an MX-5... Still want. Still cannot get over fear of ridicule of owning one.

If anyone gives you hell about owning one, just show them any in car footage of an MX-5 Cup or Spec Miata race. That usually does the trick.

This feels like one of those 'What I think I'm doing, what my friend's think I'm doing, what I'm actually doing' pictures would be appropriate. In this order, John in his Spec Miata race, Barbie Corvette, Sitting in traffic. We're going to all have to use our imagination here...

[clacksman]

On the topic of Mazdas, though not AFAIK rotary engines, I was a little disappointed when I saw the MPG on the sticker of an MX-5... Still want. Still cannot get over fear of ridicule of owning one.

If anyone gives you hell about owning one, just show them any in car footage of an MX-5 Cup or Spec Miata race. That usually does the trick.

This feels like one of those 'What I think I'm doing, what my friend's think I'm doing, what I'm actually doing' pictures would be appropriate. In this order, John in his Spec Miata race, Barbie Corvette, Sitting in traffic. We're going to all have to use our imagination here...

lol'd

[Forgetful]

I chuckle'd

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