2007 Rule Book Draft

[HerbD]

Greetings all,

In the "Better Late Than Never" category we have the 2007 COM
Rule Book, version 2007-01.

This is a draft that is currently under review, but looks like it is
about ready for prime time, and in the interest of time, I'm posting
it here so that folks can review what's changed for 2007.

Of note: M95/SA95 helmets are out. You need Snell 2000 or 2005
this year. This affects everyone.

Once the rulebook has final approval I'll post it on the club's web site.

Final disclaimer - while I think this version is 99% complete, please
be sure to double-check the final version when it is posted on the
web site. If there are any further changes, I will enumerate them.

EDIT - March 12 - The rule book is out, at version 2007-03:
http://www.dasilvas.net/com/rules2007-03.pdf

[BrakeL8r]

Nice job Herb! Thanks for all the work that went into this.

--Michael
ST4 Miata #176

[mossaidis]

Thanks everyone. I can't speak for any other ST class, but for ST3, there's probably no sense reporting "Neon ACR" below:

STREET TOURING 3 (ST3)
All SSB cars modified to Street Touring rules
Neon ACR

Since Neon aCR is already in SSB, it should probably read:

STREET TOURING 3 (ST3)
All SSB cars modified to Street Touring rules

[enjoythemusic]

Herb (or Bruce),

Excellent job Herb!!! Question as am entering an open wheel Van Diemen 99/00 (Formula Continental... or FC).

Rule: All open cars must have and use arm restraints....

Q: does this apply to FC?

Looks like the FC, being a NA 4 cyl 'Pinto' carbed engine is PREPARED C (P/C)??? The car meets SCCA/Pro rules so i assume (uh oh) it is ok for COMSCC. Of course Bruce Allan or whomever can do tech inspection on her as always glad to hear any and all input (car is prepped by USA importer GTP to pro specs).

Any special COMSCC rules in addition to SCCA (seen not but felt i'd ask) so i can prep the car accordingly. Many thanks.

[HerbD]

Herb (or Bruce),

Excellent job Herb!!! Question as am entering an open wheel Van Diemen 99/00 (Formula Continental... or FC).

Rule: All open cars must have and use arm restraints....

Q: does this apply to FC?

Looks like the FC, being a NA 4 cyl 'Pinto' carbed engine is PREPARED C (P/C)??? The car meets SCCA/Pro rules so i assume (uh oh) it is ok for COMSCC. Of course Bruce Allan or whomever can do tech inspection on her as always glad to hear any and all input (car is prepped by USA importer GTP to pro specs).

Any special COMSCC rules in addition to SCCA (seen not but felt i'd ask) so i can prep the car accordingly. Many thanks.

I would expect that the FC would fall into the "black hole" of
Formula Prepared, where COM hides all those scary open wheel cars.

And yes, arm restraints are required. We'd like you to leave the
track with as many appendages as you arrived with!

Prepared is a wide-open class as far as the car is concerned,
just make sure you meet the safety requirements for the car
and driver to pass tech.

[enjoythemusic]

And yes, arm restraints are required. We'd like you to leave the track with as many appendages as you arrived with!

Ok, thanks. Will e-mail Bruce and see how he hooks those up in his car.

[deimos]

Ok, thanks. Will e-mail Bruce and see how he hooks those up in his car.

Generally, they hook into your lap belts or shoulder harnesses. And the correct way to wear them is over your forearms, not your bicep/triceps.

[chaos4NH]

I was rather dissappointed that the removal of the rear seat cushion for SS cars using harnesses was not included. An easy way to mount harnesses is to use mounting points normally covered by the seat cushion.
Any reason why that recommendation did not make the cut?

[enjoythemusic]

Generally, they hook into your lap belts or shoulder harnesses. And the correct way to wear them is over your forearms, not your bicep/triceps.

Got it, thanks Now i have to buy some...

[HerbD]

I was rather dissappointed that the removal of the rear seat cushion for SS cars using harnesses was not included. An easy way to mount harnesses is to use mounting points normally covered by the seat cushion.
Any reason why that recommendation did not make the cut?

This comes up almost every year, and it simply isn't in the spirit
of a Showroom Stock car to remove large hunks of the interior.

There is hardware available to attach belts to. In particular, there
are bolts that replace the stock seatbelt bolts that include large
eyehooks. You then thread a latch on the end of your harness belts
and you can easily attach and remove the shoulder harnesses without
any significant effort.

To wit:

http://www.racerwholesale.com/product_i ... cts_id=184

and

http://www.racerwholesale.com/product_i ... cts_id=183

[rajito]

Herb,

I doubt there's a way to securely mount one of those things over the cushions. Same thing with rollbars, at least for the Subarus, without twisting/ripping the cushion.

The seat cushions do not weigh much at all. Even I can carry both my rear seat cushions one in each hand.

Raj

[boltonite]

I had (have) this setup on my 95M3, simply replaced the rear passenger seatbelt bolts w/ eye bolts (if you secure the rear belts under the eye bolts you can unhook the harnesses and reinstall the cushion and its totally stock). I think HMS sells harness belts that clip into the female rear belts. Lap & submarine belts were a pain to install but I kludged attachments to the seat bracket/floor mounts.

IMO installing a harness bar is less secure and more dangerous than attaching to the rear seat belts. Some will argue that either setup in more dangerous w/o a roll bar, but not having one's arse firmly planted is also distracting and dangerous.

FF

[HerbD]

Herb,

I doubt there's a way to securely mount one of those things over the cushions. Same thing with rollbars, at least for the Subarus, without twisting/ripping the cushion.

The seat cushions do not weigh much at all. Even I can carry both my rear seat cushions one in each hand.

Raj

As with all things, I guess it depends on the car.
I have used them, and seen others who have used them to
good effect. The car's hardpoints are where the factory attaches
belts, so you know they're going to be solid

.

[chaos4NH]

The rear bottom seat cushion in my Mazdaspeed 3 weighs 6 pounds. The bottom seat cushion is not a large chunk of the interior. I have careful examined the rear seat belt mounting points (same applied to my 2002 Sentra) and there is NO STRAIGHT shot from mounting point to the back of the front seat where the belts would pass over, i.e. you can't get there without going under, over or through the bottom cushion. Short of hacking holes in the 6 lb seat cushion, where is COM's stand on safety of the driver?
The spirit of SS should be overridden by any safety factors when it produces no performance gains that would put this outside the spirit of the class. Wouldn't a roll bar or roll cage also be outside the spirit of the class? Bars and cages are allowed, no, encouraged in the rulles.

The fact that this comes up "every year" may be an indication that it needs fixing.

[HerbD]

The rear bottom seat cushion in my Mazdaspeed 3 weighs 6 pounds. The bottom seat cushion is not a large chunk of the interior. I have careful examined the rear seat belt mounting points (same applied to my 2002 Sentra) and there is NO STRAIGHT shot from mounting point to the back of the front seat where the belts would pass over, i.e. you can't get there without going under, over or through the bottom cushion. Short of hacking holes in the 6 lb seat cushion, where is COM's stand on safety of the driver?
The spirit of SS should be overridden by any safety factors when it produces no performance gains that would put this outside the spirit of the class. Wouldn't a roll bar or roll cage also be outside the spirit of the class? Bars and cages are allowed, no, encouraged in the rulles.

The fact that this comes up "every year" may be an indication that it needs fixing.

The tone of your post doesn't help you here.

I tried to answer your question in good faith and suggest possible
alternatives.

To suggest that the club doesn't take driver safety seriously
because it didn't approve your rules change is specious,
particularly when the stock 3-point belts are allowed.

Every year, the Board is presented with rules changes that are
presented as safety-minded, when for some cars, there is a clear
and substantial performance enhancement. Rear seat removal
is the classic case. Just because yours isn't doesn't mean that
all showroom stock cars are the same as yours.

If you really want to debate this, come to a Board meeting and
present it.