I finally decided to take the time during my lunch break and ask "the community" about a certain rule that has always kind of interested me. I only have an '09 rule book available here at work so I'll refer to it... the "rule" in question is in Section 1 under Technical Inspection and it reads "All vehicle technical inspection will be based on existing class record or the next higher class where a record exists".
Now, I've been on a number of different automotive enthusiats web forums and I like to take a peek and see what search hits I get for "SCTA" or "Bonneville" or "land speed racing" and surprisingly enough I usually find something regardless of the genre of vehicle. Namely, I like looking at people's builds or I try to answer questions when I can or just get a feel for what the outside world thinks of our little association.
One thing that ALWAYS comes up in nearly every instance is this comment: "Now remember, the SCTA requires that you build your car to meet the safety requirements based on the class record..." and someone usually posts up the class speed (which is obviously high if it's a record) and the original thread creator usually responds with "Aw geez, I need two parachutes, lexan windows, 20 lbs of fire extinguishing agent, 5 lugs, 1" lug nuts, a jungle gym of a roll cage, and a -20 fire suit... I can't afford all that so never mind."
What many people don't know is that we (tech inspectors) will usually limit a car to whatever speed they safely tech to. For example, a cute T roadster with a track nose came through new car inspection this year as a B/FMR. It has a 401 Buick in it and it ran on methanol. The car maybe had a 105" wheelbase, a nicely built cage, and eveything else it needed to pass tech. At the beginning of the inspection I asked the car owner what his class record was and he says "265 mph" and then I ask how fast he's expecting to go and he says "I'll be happy if I go half that fast." We wrapped up the inspection and I issued him a Speed Limit of 175 mph because that's what the car safely tech'd to and AFAIK, that's the tech staff SOP.
My thinking is, why make it a rule that you have to build to the highest level if we don't enforce it? We have a lot of competitors who run for the fun of it and will never get even close to breaking a record but by the rules we require that they build their cars like they're able to go 250+ mph or whatever it may be. I understand the idea that a certain car with a certain sized engine running on a certain type of fuel will potentially have the ability to possibly go as fast or faster than the existing class record but 9 times out of 10 they won't. I guess it's always best to play it safe and be conservative and basically demand that people make their cars as safe as possible but I think a lot of people get discouraged when they see or hear that.
I think people legitimately know how fast they're really probably going to go before they get into this and build a car and show up to tech. A lot of times you can look at a car and easily say within 10-25 mph how fast it'll actually go. This isn't rocket surgery and we've all been doing this long enough that we have a pretty good idea what certain combination can and can't do.
Sorry for the ramble but just thought I throw this out there and see what you guys think.
Thanks!