There have been threads on a bunch of different forums about people wanting the S2000 to move out of B Stock (same class as 350Z) and into AS, to "give everyone else a chance." Just curious what people on here thought, since there's a large amount of autocrossers present.

 

yes, the S2000 is really impossible for a stock Z to even get close to


we have mad understeer(correctable)

they have nice balance fading into oversteer>>>>the Z

 

I'd vote for it. In our region, there is a guy with a S2K that is regularly 5+ seconds faster than the rest of the BS entries. In addition to being an experienced driver, his car is setup especially for AutoX, it's not a daily driver like the rest of us.

 

You can't use that as an excuse, what happens when a Z shows up at Nationals that isn't a daily driver and smokes all the daily driven Zs?

I personally think the S2000 should be left in BS, for many reasons:

1. Can you really say the Z can't compete just because it didn't win Nationals? The field was 90% S2000s, and the top Z was running used tires. It's obvious no one is seriously trying to campaign a Z like the S2000 guys are doing.

2. The Z is still a new car, compared to the S2K at least. When you have 40+ Nationals prepped cars competing, you have a TON of resources.

3. The S2000 that finished 3rd in AS (at Nats) runs my region. There are events when he's way faster, then there are events when I scratch my head and say "Damn, I could do that if I was as serious as he is." He's a VERY good driver, much better than me. I have yet to run against him in Hoosiers, but I will soon enough and that's when it will put into perspective how far off the Z is.

The guy's dad finished 12th at Nationals and there have been days I was 1.5-1.7 seconds off him on Azenis, him running Hoosiers.

4. Moving a "much faster" (subjective so far) car out of BS would make us lose even more motivation to develop the Z as a fast autocross car.

5. You'd really feel accomplished knowing you can win BS only because the correct car for the class, was moved out?

6. Carter Thompson finished 6th in his Z in the very first year. Considering BS is nearly the biggest and most competitive stock class at Nationals, that's pretty damn good.

I simply don't see how people can rule out the Z (or the RX8 for that matter) as a competitive car vs. the S2000 when hardly anyone has taken the initiative to build it as well as the S2000s are. 3-4 entries at Nationals in a class of 40+ is convincing enough for people that the Z can't compete? Boo!

 

The s2k has two many alignment options from the factory. Allowing the car to out handle the Z or for that fact everything in the bs class. If you notice the s2k is bump to asp when it is street pepard. Where the Z goes on to bsp. I like the s2k, but like my Z more. And it's the SCCA job to make sure that there is good competition and a single car does not dominate a class.
There is not good competition at this point and there is good competition between the Z and the rest of the field. Off my box now.

 

I see your point, but the way I see it is does anyone really know for a fact that the Z can't be competitive? Do you honestly feel that the best effort possible has been put forth in making the Z competitive? The way Jim Thompson made it sound was that they were just breaking the surface on the car that finished 6th. And this year wasn't exactly a good showing for Z's either (quantitiy wise).

There are people that run the car in B Stock with success sometimes, no success other times. I'm faster than the other BS S2000s in my region, yet slower than the AS S2000s. When the determining factor (nationals) as to whether the Z really can compete comes up, there hasn't been a strong enough showing IMO to prove it can/can not compete.

What if the S2000 moves up, then there is a very small class of BS cars next year? I believe some people aren't campanging the Z heavily because they feel it can't be competitive. Let's say the S2K goes into AS next year, do you think there will be a large showing of other BS cars (RX8, Z, 968 etc) or a smaller class?

 

Yes I believe the feild will explode with competition and the flavor of the cars will be greater as well.
The quantity of the s2k at the nationals reflects what car is winning and if you want to win you must have the best car for the class. If you research the s2k has had it more than far share of bs stock wins and (IMHO)not because no one tried to prepare any other car. The car was built to autocross.
The Z was built to be a track car.
For shats and giggles, A quick stat: the top three s2k in BS beat the number one AS stock car this year at the nationals.
It is what it is.