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NickD
NickD MegaDork
10/14/22 11:07 a.m.
Peabody said:

 Sure, but the car pictured is a Cruze RS which is turbocharged and not eligible

Man, I can't remember the last time I saw a 1.8L Cruze, let alone a manual transmission 1.8L Cruze. Seemed like, at least at my work, the take rate for 1.4T Cruzes was way higher.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
10/14/22 11:12 a.m.

Why is the 1.4T not eligible?  Its roughly the same power level, and not really any quicker than a lot of the other cars listed - seems like it would be a good fit.  Or is it something specific with the RS package like a torsen?

NickD
NickD MegaDork
10/14/22 12:08 p.m.

In reply to ProDarwin :

I believe, and Peabody will likely correct me, it was mostly just an appearance package with different ground effects and fog lights, plus different alloy wheels and rear disc brakes. But the 1.4T could be had in basically any Cruze trim, and is much more common, in my experience, with a manual transmission 

Peabody
Peabody MegaDork
10/14/22 12:16 p.m.

You're right, unlike the Sonic, the RS Pkg was only an appearance Pkg. But it was only available on the LT and LTZ trims, which were 1.4T.  Also, unlike the Sonic, the 1.8 Cruze manual was 6spd, and if I recall had some favourable ratios. 
I just thought it was funny. The only car pictured wasn't actually eligible for the class the article was about

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) MegaDork
10/14/22 6:30 p.m.

I saw a 1.8 Cruze last month and I joked that hey, we found the one they sold!

 

Thr neat thing about the 1.4t is that apparently you can crank them up to near 200hp with just a tune, like a Fiesta ST lite.  And by just a tune, I mean changing the torque mapping in the engine computer and raising some boost and MAF limits.  From what I'd read, all of the actual mapping out of the fuel and spark tables is there, and the mechanical hardware supports it, but Chevy limited the engine to blah in the tune.

 

Given that they had to recall them all for axles breaking, I can sort of get that smiley

NoBrakesRacing
NoBrakesRacing Reader
10/14/22 6:41 p.m.

In reply to bobzilla :

I agree with that.

Once I get more experience my Forte sx would fit right in.

NickD
NickD MegaDork
10/14/22 8:45 p.m.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Thr neat thing about the 1.4t is that apparently you can crank them up to near 200hp with just a tune, like a Fiesta ST lite.  And by just a tune, I mean changing the torque mapping in the engine computer and raising some boost and MAF limits.  From what I'd read, all of the actual mapping out of the fuel and spark tables is there, and the mechanical hardware supports it, but Chevy limited the engine to blah in the tune.

Del Long has cranked the 1.4T up to 300+hp with stock guts in some of his E/Mod beasties. A local guy bought one of the carbon-kevlar Jeep CJ-5s and they had the hood off at one event and I went "Hey, is that..."

Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter)
Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) UltimaDork
10/15/22 3:26 p.m.

I like it idea of a lower buy in of common 10-15 year old cars. B-spec when it came out seemed to require buying a new or very close to it car and then getting a kit. Just too much money. I'd like to see c-spec as a super cheap class, no mods beyond optional factory parts, safety and durability. 

Peabody
Peabody MegaDork
10/17/22 5:44 p.m.
NickD said:
Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Thr neat thing about the 1.4t is that apparently you can crank them up to near 200hp with just a tune, like a Fiesta ST lite.  And by just a tune, I mean changing the torque mapping in the engine computer and raising some boost and MAF limits.  From what I'd read, all of the actual mapping out of the fuel and spark tables is there, and the mechanical hardware supports it, but Chevy limited the engine to blah in the tune.

Del Long has cranked the 1.4T up to 300+hp with stock guts in some of his E/Mod beasties. A local guy bought one of the carbon-kevlar Jeep CJ-5s and they had the hood off at one event and I went "Hey, is that..."

The ZZP guys have one  that makes  over 400 and does the quarter in 11.5 in a Sonic.

It's a stout motor

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter)
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) UberDork
10/17/22 9:55 p.m.

If that gen Jetta qualifies what about the second gen New Beetle?

Iusedtobefast
Iusedtobefast Reader
10/17/22 10:51 p.m.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

My 2015 Cruze has a 1.8. Must be an outlier. It's an auto tho, so I guess race car duty would be out of the question

bobzilla
bobzilla MegaDork
10/18/22 9:37 a.m.

In reply to NoBrakesRacing :

SX will not be eligible. Only the 2.0L cars. No big blocks lol.

red_stapler
red_stapler SuperDork
10/18/22 10:22 a.m.
ProDarwin said:

Why is the 1.4T not eligible?  Its roughly the same power level, and not really any quicker than a lot of the other cars listed - seems like it would be a good fit.  Or is it something specific with the RS package like a torsen?

I would imagine they don't want to deal with policing turbocharged engines.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
10/18/22 10:25 a.m.
red_stapler said:
ProDarwin said:

Why is the 1.4T not eligible?  Its roughly the same power level, and not really any quicker than a lot of the other cars listed - seems like it would be a good fit.  Or is it something specific with the RS package like a torsen?

I would imagine they don't want to deal with policing turbocharged engines.

Fair.  That does seem like a good reason. 

stroker
stroker PowerDork
10/18/22 11:46 a.m.

This sounds an awful lot like the series Bad Obsession Motorsports was involved with...?  Or is that me?

Rons
Rons HalfDork
10/18/22 12:10 p.m.
stroker said:

This sounds an awful lot like the series Bad Obsession Motorsports was involved with...?  Or is that me?

The concept seems similar to the endurance series therealpinto participates in.

MaxC
MaxC Reader
10/18/22 2:29 p.m.
Rons said:
stroker said:

This sounds an awful lot like the series Bad Obsession Motorsports was involved with...?  Or is that me?

The concept seems similar to the endurance series therealpinto participates in.

Bad obsession participated in the citicar cup (if I'm not mistaken), made up of small 60 hp hatchbacks that were all nearly identical.  C Spec looks like it will be made up of many different makes and models and they'll try to balance performance with balast, restrictors, or both. 

Therealpinto participates in a low-budget enduro league, similar to 24 Hours of Lemons, Champcar, or Lucky Dog Racing League here in the states. I believe they race 4 hour enduros. 

If I'm not mistaken C Spec is just going to be an SCCA class like B Spec, Spec Miata, etc.  It'll be mostly sprint races, 20 or 30 minutes. 

I really like the idea. Don't get me wrong! But when I go to our local SCCA races (Portland) I see SM and SRF with their own run groups (and car counts), maybe all the formula cars in one run group, and then a run group with T1, T2, BS, EP, FP, HP, GTL, STL, STU, T3, T4, ITA, B, C, S, R, etc.etc.etc. and there's only 10-15 cars. To me that's just depressing. I want some variety (like B or C spec) and would like to build and race a car that I like, instead of picking a car with the most numbers (miata, SRF). But who wants to spend $15k to build a car they like, so they can be lumped into a run group like I described above, and not be actually racing anybody but yourself? This logic led me to race with the budget leagues like LDRL (or CC if they're in your region)... run the car you like, and there's plenty of people to race. I would be delighted to be wrong! Certainly wish C spec the best of luck, and I hope it takes off!

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
10/19/22 4:01 p.m.

In reply to MaxC :

Yeah, there does seem to be some variety here.

If they build it, will people come?

fiestafrank
fiestafrank New Reader
12/23/22 7:37 p.m.

We are building it - watch this space

GTwannaB
GTwannaB Dork
12/23/22 9:15 p.m.

Are they limiting years or displacement?  Mazda 2.5 and 2.3l 3s would have advantages. MK1 Focus with 2.3 is rare but a good package. 2008-2010 Focus coupes are really light. 

78CobraII
78CobraII Reader
3/5/23 1:00 a.m.

The 2006-2011 Civic 1.8 5MT was not available with a Limited Slip diff, and I haven't been able to find anything aftermarket. While the car accelerates decently in a straight line, it does the one wheel peel coming out of every turn. Maybe that's just an Autox thing?

What is the likelihood that the Civic Si sedan would be allowed in?

What would be the situation on larger brakes in C Spec? Most econo boxes have small brakes not likely to survive 20 laps at speed on a larger track. Even the Civic Si has only slightly larger front brakes than a Dx.

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