SCCA SOLO August Fastrack.

[Scooby South]

AUG FASTRACK

Pay attention to some of the wording in this. It could catch some of you with your builds.

Personally I am glad they took my recommendation to allow Different Steering wheels as long as it retains the stock airbag.

Bill

[Sccabrz192]

I wonder who wrote this letter:

#10353 New ST Class Proposal
The STAC does not believe the FRS/BRZ should have its own ST class.

[Scooby South]

Originally Posted by Sccabrz192

I wonder who wrote this letter:

#10353 New ST Class Proposal
The STAC does not believe the FRS/BRZ should have its own ST class.

yeah I wondered the same thing.. Probably another STX competitor that is getting his A** handed to him after he spent a bunch of money to get his car competitive. Seen it before...

Bill

[Sccabrz192]

Bill, maybe you could call our attention to the areas where you think extra attention is needed... that is a...uhh... busy fastrack to say the least.

[G_Ride]

It's good to see the twins are back in CS. It's interesting to see the proposal for moving the 240sx from DSP to FSP (I'm finishing my autox season in my very underprepared DSP impreza wagon).

[engee]

Yep. Definitely nice to see the twins back in CS. If it was in ES, it would've have been a PAX monster in my opinion.

[apexaddict]

Originally Posted by Scooby South

AUG FASTRACK

Pay attention to some of the wording in this. It could catch some of you with your builds.

Personally I am glad they took my recommendation to allow Different Steering wheels as long as it retains the stock airbag.

Bill

I'm not sure that you're interpreting that rule quite correctly.

What it says:

#11316 Steering Wheel Clarification
Per the STAC, change 14.2.D as follows:
“D. Alternate steering wheels are allowed except that steering wheels with an integral airbag may only be
substituted with OE airbag wheels from the same model.”
Reasoning: This will allow for option package conversions.

The important parts are bolded. What this says is that you can swap wheels OEM to OEM (for example, the factory wheels from a '96 328i and a '98 328i would be interchangeable), but it doesn't allow "different" airbag wheels that are not OEM or are from a different car altogether. The stock airbag isn't the only thing that matters here - in fact, it's secondary.

[Sam Strano]

Seems pretty clear to me too. It says *OE* Airbag wheels, not *any* airbag wheel. When it comes to rules, details matter. It might keep you from accusing someone, or being accused by someone, of cheating when that's really not the case. There is a lesson there.

[Scooby South]

thanks for the interpetation and for the Record.. Mine "IS" a OE wheel just recovered.

[Scooby South]

So I guess my letter was NOT Addressed then,

Letter #11375
Title: Steering Wheel Clarification
Request: I would like to clarify an existing rule in Street Touring. 14.2.D. Alternate steering wheels are allowed except that steering wheels with an integral airbag may not be changed. I would like to know if recovering a Stock Steering wheel is allowed. There are many aftermarket offering to recover the stock wheel in a variety of coverings. It is still the stock wheel and would retain the stock airbag. From my understanding, the original intent of the rule is to not allow a different wheel that would eliminate the Airbag. I don’t see any provision for Covers. You can get steering wheel covers at just about any auto-parts place. Most are DIY and require that you sew them on. The Rule allows cars with non airbags to change out the wheel to something a bit more sporty as per the Stock Rule: 13F. F. Alternate steering wheels are allowed, provided the outside diameter is not changed by more than one inch from the standard size. Steering wheels with an integral airbag may not be changed. I propose that this wording be extended to Airbag/Recovered Stock wheels as well. So you wouldn't be Changing the wheel per-say, You would just be adding a different type of material, going from Leather to Suede for instance. It still retains the stock Airbag and all connections associated.
Here are some Examples. http://www.rallysportdirect.com/Steering-Wheel
http://jpmcoachworks.com/blog/index....rz-scion-fr-s/
Thank you for your time and consideration.
William Cook
SCCA#325534

[Sccabrz192]

Bill,

I think the re-covering of a wheel would fall under 13.2A as comfort and convenience and would be legal, even per stock/"Street" regulation... same thing as recovering a stock seat as long as it is done in the same way as the OE (IE: can't recover with holes left open for belts to pass through)

13.2A
Accessories, gauges, indicators, lights and other appearance, comfort and convenience modifications which have no effect on performance and/or handling and do not materially reduce the weight of the car are permitted.

(BTW SAC should realize a lot of 13.2 rules have nothing to do with the 13.2 header of "Bodywork")

I think a lot of people are too quick to poo-poo silly mods as "illegal" without really thinking about if it falls under 13.2A.

With that said, some of the ones in your link are of a different shape or size than the OE wheel, and wouldn't fall under 13.2A and would be illegal per the current rules.

[mla163]

I believe their intent is:

Cars that came with an OEM airbag need to keep the OEM airbag (and wheel) because otherwise it would not be STreet legal. If you want to replace your OEM airbag and wheel with another one from the same model you can.

I don't think they will ever let us get rid of the stock airbag, therefore we're stuck with the stock wheel. I read a good letter from Danny Kao requesting that first gen airbags (94-98) should be allowed to be removed since they weren't really required in the first place. But that doesn't really apply to this forum.

[Sccabrz192]

If you check out Bill's link, you will see a different option, one which allows an aftermarket steering wheel of a slightly different diameter, or shape, which is designed to work with the OE airbag and steering wheel controls. Under the current ruleset these are illegal, but if the wording were changed to an airbag restriction instead of the wheel restriction, would be legal. As far as DOT legal... not sure how that works, but it has the OE airbag, which from a DOT standpoint is what you are not allowed to tamper with.