One spot where we may differ. Being a resident of southeastern wisconsin i am currently tripping on two snowmobile engines at my warehouse I don't even own. They grow like wildflowers. arctice cat and bombardier are both in the local landscape. (so is harley... how about that!)
On 3/14/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I agree with you 100%. One of the biggest problems I find with the class > is parts. Being in the south a bike engine would make more since. They are > everywhere and are not limited by location. They could be retrofitted to > the cars fairly easily and after market parts are abundant. Just my 2 cents > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: [email protected] > Sent: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 4:02 PM > Subject: Re: [F500] Class survival. - losing vs. gaining - an outsider's > viewpoint. > > > Hey, maybe a couple of cents from me on your class. > > f500 is a quirky little car that I was enamored with for enough time to > follow this mailing list and do an awful lot of research. There were only > a > few things that turned me off, but it very well may be my next step if > spec > miata ever loses its charm to me. > > your right, the sound is terrible, theyre really unpleasant to > watch. They > are the worst hangover medication in the history of racing and I don't > drink. I dont think that people are staying away from the class because > of > that. > > With "no suspension and no transmission" the cars should cost > substantially > less to purchase and maintain than they do. From out here it looks like > there is a lot of money being spent on the next best thing...the montra of > a > spec class is much more attractive (though as an insider I know that is > flat > out bullshit). > > Your class members have been some of the warmest, least mysterious folks, > you are all very helpful to one another, and the level of unbalanced > individuals seems to be the lowest of the classes I've followed. > > I think in a lot of ways FF, and FVee are competing against you, diluting > the class. As an insider I know there are stark differences between the > classes. I can't afford FF and I don't want to deal with the > personalities. FVee to me is a bunch of old hippies and the cars are past > their prime. I think f500 is cool looking cars, with an interesting newer > tech. As an outsider all of this is just "small open wheel" > > Take a look at your community for a moment. As a spec miata driver we > have > the obvious specmiata.com to support that angle, and we have miata.net. > Both have extensive memberships, huge aftermarket and manufacturer > support, > and they easily advertise themselves. Where is f500's simple, generic > resource on getting in and getting the wheels spinning. (think about > other > specific examples, i.e. vw vortex for some of the production classes, > bimmerworld for those guys, etc, etc). Also, where is SCCA magazine and > GRM > magazine support? I don't think I've ever seen an interesting write up on > what an f500 is or what the class is about. > > While I know none of you want 80 cars in a field, I think you could easily > double your class if you wanted to by consolidating effort into some basic > marketing. But do you want to? To me, f500 is the most obvious open > wheel > class to get into, with cost of ownership and maintenance comparable to > several other classes. Unfortunately, at first blush, the class does not > differentiate itself well from your compatriot classes. > > And I may be way off base, but just try to take this from the eyes of a > "noob" -- it is my gut reaction to the cars. I find it funny that at > races > when I inquire about an f500 the guys kinda wince like im about to take a > shot at the car, when I am just curious and ignorant. People joke about > funny looking/sounding/smelling things. Again, though, when people find > out > I am genuinely interested they have taken great amounts of time and pain > to > explain all the ins and outs of the cars and the class and the culture. > > ...and im only at sfi3.2 today so take it easy with the responses. > -- > http://beatracing.com > 97 STS2 CRX & 97 SpecMiata > -- http://beatracing.com 97 STS2 CRX & 97 SpecMiata ________________________________ FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500 The Official Publication of Junior Formula Car Racing Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003 _________________________________ _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! ***
