Thought I'd do a little analysis of the STS class results from the 2004 Nationals.

• 45 Drivers Total, 12 Trophies - nice turn out for the class.
• 29 Individual Cars - that means 16 dual driver cars.
• 19 Honda Civics - one was a 93 and the rest were 89-91 models!
• 1 Subaru Impreza - finished 39th. This was THE car in 2001. Where are they now?!?
• 2 Celica - current generation GT-Ss. Highest ranking non-Civic at 6th.
• 2 SE-R - when the class was formed, this looked to be the hot ticket...on paper. Oh well.
• 2 VWs - one Jetta, one GTI, both A4 bodies. 44th and 45th implies limited potential.
• 1 BMW 328 - Thought to have great potential but has yet to be proven in STS.
• 1 Neon ACR - Doesn't seem to respond well to allowable mods.
• 1 Subaru XT-6 - Smoke'm if ya got'em.

For those worried about the MC being an ubberdog in HS, point your fingers this way. There was only one non-Civic in the trophies (Celica in 6th.) There were 18 Civic drivers in the top 20! The other was an SE-R in 20th.

The times in the trophies for STS were 102.383 to 104.041. The winning HS Mini was 104.948. That would have been good for 22nd in STS. Ouch! (I'm assuming the conditions were the same for both classes since they ran on the same days.) Although discouraging, it's not the end of the world. It's amazing how a car with humble beginnings over 15 years ago is so competitive.

It was a 2 horse race when it came to tires. 11 wore Kumhos and 17 wore Falkens. [The XT-6 ran with Yokohamas. Y-B-Nermol] Kumho won the battle with the top spot but Falken won the war with 7 of 12 trophies. It would appear that these tires are equally matched. It's my understanding that the top teams use shaved tires to reduce the tread squirm.

It's going to be difficult to break-up this juggernaught but I'm still going to try in 2005. I've always liked being the underdog.

 

I don't really think the 3-Series has much potential in STS. I think it has too much torque and not enough weight over the drive wheels. However, throw a quaife in there, and, IMO, you'd have a sweet STX car.

Neons have done relatively well in STS in the past, I don't know why more didn't show up. I think people with the 2.5RS have probably given up on STS since the SEB seems bent on moving that car to STX. Not sure. But I've seen Billy Brooks drive his, and that car can still compete in STS. In fact, I think one trophied last year ?

Anyhow, good luck! A lot of people seem to think the Mini is a bad choice for STS, but I think it has some potential. Not that I know squat I don't know that it can ever run with the super-civic, but I think it can do better than anyone gives it credit for. The compact size, good brakes, and decent power delivery are nice things that should translate well into an STS car. At any rate, it should be fun

 

I think the Celica is a real player in STS, it just needs more time to develope. The formula for the Civic is out there from everyone to copy, I did it in STS last year and finished in the trophies against some stiff competition.

It makes it much easier and it saves you even more money when you have the national champ tell you wall of his setup inside and out. It is already one of the cheapest car to build, but then you don't need to test it either. This is why the car is filled with a bunch of Civics, as soon as someone builds a car that bets the Civic everyone will jump ship and head to that car...

 

You could be right. With the LSD MCS in GS, a number of open-diff Celicas could be looking for a new home. But the Celica is discontinued after 2005 which could mean that it just won't be developed. Although, the EF Civic HB was 8 years out of production when STS was initiated. Hard to say but it's gonna be a great place to start.

Yeah. I agree that it is easy to copy, especially after the 2003 Natl Champ was profiled in Grassroots Motorsports. It's a great little car (had a '90 Si that I bought new and kept for 4 years.) I hope someone can make a car to compete against it. The pre-02 Subaru 2.5RS has potential on slick and/or wet courses but not on the concrete of Topeka. I have high hopes for the 140+ horse '06 MC. Properly spec'd (no sunroof, etc.) it should have to elements of a very competitive regional car.

 

Don't count the Impreza's out of this class just yet. Two of the better 2.5RS drivers did not compete in STS at Nationals but finished 2-3 in STS at the Pro-Solo Finale.

 

That should tell you how competitive they felt they were on a nationals course.

 

I know one of them had a schedule conflict with running Thurs-Fri, else he'd have run STS.

I'm not saying an RS can win STS on a nationals course; simply suggesting that people don't look at one Impreza in 39th place at the '04 Nationals and think thats all the better it can do. In the right hands, with the right preparation, its still a trophy contender IMHO.

 

As far as I know, all AWD vechicles were moved in STX per the October 2004 Fastrack.

 

That was a mistake. From pg F-263 of the November Fastrack

"The following item was incorrectly noted as being reecommended to the BOD at this time; it is still being considered:
Item 8 from the SEB Minutes in the July Fastrack: Move all AWD vehicles to STX. "

http://http://scca.org/_Filelibrary/...1-fastrack.pdf