defro13

its a good thing that people are showing intrest in usac and competing in gereral, we will have 6 cars including the neon going to kansas this novemeber, dukk and everyone else for that matter, if you win regionals in august, would you go to kansas?

Dereck Waller

Just to set the record straight I was just sayiong what other might have done. Not what I would do, as upgraded alternators aren't expensive for my car.

defro13

if judges arent made aware(your responsibility to make them aware), then you wont get points for it, in advanced they are looking for people to push the envelope and be concious of even the most minute of details, no matter how silly they may seem. they are "supposed" to be the "best" cars and should be installed and judged accordingly. if you install your system by the word of the rulebook, most of which is stuff that should be done regardless, and you do design and install your sq system well, you will be very competitive, the advanced class isnt for everyone, its a very tough class, i might even say its harder than expert. the install will take far more time(read:$$$) to be competitive, and that makes it not for everyone, that is why there is the street(basic) class for people, where install isnt judged as hard. all organizations have their flaws, iasca, meca, db drag, people always have and always will have concerns about the rules. like i said before build it to not lose points and not to gain them.

Paul Niwranski

^ Well, my attempt here is to maximize points. The complaints I have revolve around areas where you miss ppints by not doing something unneeded.

Examples:

1) The alternator upgrade thing. My alternator may be perfectly capable of handling my system draw. In fact whether it is or not is not even the issue - if it's stock you get 0 of 3.

2) Upgraded Battery. Similar to above, the issue is not even whether the factory battery is capable - if you run your stock battery you get 0 of 3.

I harp about these two because for many vehicles you can get a factory heavy duty charging system option. I wonder how they split that hair - technically it us an upgrade over the base stock system but it is still factory.
Furthermore, some cars have capable factory alternators while others do not. I had a Z28 and SUX2BU had a Mustang GT. Both V8, full load cars. The Z had a 110amp alternator, the GT a 60amp. Put 500watts in the Z and you need a 160amp alt (50 amp upgrade) by the rules and in the GT a 110 amp alt - the SAME size as the FACTORY one on the Z. That rule is plain bizarre.

3) Amp cooling. lol, this one made me scratch my head too. 10 points on the line here, a fair bit IMO. My amp rack is exposed and the amps will have excellent ambient cooling. By the letter of the rules though I may get max 5 out of 10 possible points just because I do not have any fans that I don't need. I think I have an additional cooling scheme worked out though - it just bugs me that I am forced to do it.

Incidentally, Manic - by the current rules your friend should have received the full 5 points for Effectiveness (providing he showed it moved "adequate" air - I bet only a handful of us here could 'prove' that if we had to) but may have received 0-5 for creativeness depending on the judge, the class, and his presentation.

I'm a relatively serious competitor - I don't get bent if I lose at a show but I do not like to roll in knowing I am losing points already. Just grinds at the spine, ya know?

As for Kansas - probably not. I have a 'spare' week of holidays I could take but I could not justify the expense. [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img] It would be interesting to have a caravan of Neons/SXs from Canada though [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]