Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB

I've been comparing Spec86 to SCCA Touring 4 and Touring 3 lately.

I've been toying with converting my FRS street car into a T4 or T3 race car because I've been racing the CRX in ITA for more than decade and doing something different in the coming years is a probability. Also, NASA is not in the PacNW (they tried but couldn't make it work).

The 86 can fit in SCCA T4/T3 as well as PTD/Spec86 to some degree. A FRS also finsihed 1-2 in T4 at the SCCA runoffs last year in a 40 car field which is very cool.

When it comes to allowing certain parts - pay attention to the money vs. the fun. In my opinion - if you allow a modification it's important to ask A) how much does it increase build and operational costs (barrier to entry) and B) how much does it increase the fun of the racing. If the answer to (B) isn't significant or if (A) does not reduce operational costs then it most likely shouldn't be allowed in a class that is budget-sensitive and wants broad or rapid adoption.

I could convert my FRS to a T4 car (race ready) with ~$10-15k depending on my standards. That's a pretty attractive value proposition, especially if there's a competitive class to run and a opportunity to race in national event. By comparison It would cost me that much or more to build my current ITA CRX from scratch and that's because the Improved Touring ruleset is a lot more open than Touring-4.

It is really appealing to me to have a relatively fast class like T4 that does not require me to mess with:

Splitters/wings/aero
Final Drives, gear ratios, differentials
Big brake kits
Spherical bearings or bushings
Elaborate engine builds (porting/polishing/matching etc)
Headers
Adj Shocks/coil-overs.

The cost savings from eliminating that list is MASSIVE.

The things I like about Spec86 is the canned-tune which is a good equalizer, oil/brake cooling and durable tires like the RC-1.

The things I don't like about Spec86 are the lightweight pulleys, big brake kit, 9" wide wheels, Final drive and differential. Since it's a spec class - I don't follow the logic to allow FD/Differential changes because it does nothing but drive up costs and someone with a SCCA T4/T3 86 would be at a clear disadvantage in a straight line. The 9" wide wheels and 255 tire aren't necessarily bad but if they were in sync with Touring 3 (8" with 245max) they may see better cross pollination.

The Spec86 website may need to be updated as it currently says T4 could drop in with a just a tire change but in reality a T4 86 would be way off pace. I think a T3 86 spec would more closely align with Spec86.

If had to choose between Spec86 and Touring, I would say Touring has the better value proposition and lower barrier to entry.