Randy, you seem to be ignoring the word "horizontal". Why is that word in the rule if it is simply meant to say you can cover 65% of the TOTAL area. Nobody is hating, the fact that is your first post is a little telling in itself. There is no malice intended and people deserve clarification if something is against the rules by their understanding.
And, "Eddie", you are hung up on the same word, and if the "people" want clarification of a rule, let them ask the Rules Committee like we did, instead of airing out opinions on a public forum.
Here's a DIRECT QUOTE from Russ Eyres himself in response to our request for clarification, BEFORE the mods were made: "The simplest way to tell if your car is legal from the 65% rule is to imagine a 2 dimensional view of the entire body from the rear of the cockpit to the sides and aft edges of the car taken from directly above at significant distance – or in architectural terms a “plan view”.. Then take the same view of that area after you have built your add on structures for whatever legal purposes and see if there is still 35% original body in view from a vertical projection area perspective."
As an aside, the changes we made actually increased the Cd by .05, not decreased it. What it DID do was stabilize the car to make it SAFER at speed by removing dangerous lift and move the CP rearward of the CG, which, as we all know, is vital in a Bonneville car, ESPECIALLY a RMR, to prevent spins. We had to add horsepower to overcome the additional drag to achieve the same speed as last year, so I ask you, Eddie, how in the world can this change be considered advantageous and not in the best interests of safety, which we all want?
Also, to clarify: Randy is a Bonneville roadster builder and record holder in his own right, not some neophyte, and deserves credit for knowing what he's doing. He called Russ personally to get the clarification mentioned above, and all is fully documented. Finally, since we did not approve of the release of our wind tunnel photos (we were not asked), we will have no more to say on this matter in a public forum.
