[torg38]

[John Conroy]

Didn't the 66 car run Spartan?

[lansingsportsrage.com]

[oldgold]

why no stick shifts in ponys? yet the guys are spending money changing tranny gears for track size ? 2nd gear at spartan 3rd gear at springport.you are limiting your car count as others would like to race from other tracks. the guys will lobby till the cows come home over a stupid tire yet not for a stick.

[Mopar93]

I can tell you what most of the arguments were against allowing manual transaxles in the Pony class.

First of all, you didn't hear a great deal of discussion about it here. That's most likely because the officials weren't looking into making it a rule. There was only talk about it. But, the officials DID hear from some of the regular teams and those teams were against it.

The reason they were against it is because no doubt if it were allowed, one of the top teams would install a manual transaxle and would improve his performance. Then the other top teams would have to do it also. This puts the lesser teams even further out of the ballpark. They would also have to invest the time and money to make the switch.

It's a rule change. It costs money.

Ok, now you would naturally say, "Well then, just add some weight if a manual transaxle is in use".

We considered that too. But we want to avoid adding weight to these cars. Extra weight just adds additional stress to the wheels and hubs. And even if we did allow manual transaxles with added weight, how much weight should that be? 50lbs? 100lbs? 50-100 lbs sounds reasonable right? Well, the top teams would jump at the chance to install a manual transaxle with a 100 pound sacrifice in additional weight. The car that won the most features at Spartan was already 250 lbs overweight. A manual transaxle would lighten up his car and he'd still be legal with the added weight penalty. He'd be even faster yet!

Why is his car so heavy? First of all, his car with a small driver is about 75 pounds heavy to begin with. But he weighs about 150-170 pounds more than a small driver. Fortunately, it's all left side weight and really helps in the corners, especially with the left front tire coming off the corner. That particular car also broke hubs and wheels on more than one occasion.

All the Neons would really benefit with a manual transaxle. But we already make them run 100 pounds heavy. We don't want to add more weight to them. But I know that if one Neon ran a stick, they would all have to switch to be competitive.

The next argument is "But this would allow cars to come from other tracks to race". True, but experience has shown that cars from other tracks DON'T come to race against the Spartan Ponies. The Spartan Pony Stocks are among the best FWD 4 cylinder cars around. It's hard for an outsider to come and compete against them. Even the RWD cars have difficulty racing on the track at Spartan with them when we have an Open Invitational event. This is a very good bunch of FWD teams.

The next argument is "But I'm not an outsider and I've got this car with a manual transaxle that I want to build and race at Spartan every Friday night". That's great that someone wants to build a car and race at Spartan, that's what we want. However, the rules state "automatics only". So, don't even consider a manual transaxle car when you are looking for something to build. Look for one with an automatic.

-Maurice

[tricknology]

OK,,,what about 2008 rules changes?

Your opinions please!

[torg38]

OMG!!!!! Can we please wait till the dust settles on the 07 season???? Or at least lets start a new thread. Mg
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