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3.3.E.3 in whole (relevant parts bolded):
3. All non‐essential components may be removed, replaced or relocated for
the purpose of weight reduction or with the following requirements:
a. The shape of the body must remain recognizable as that of the
manufacturer’s make and model.
b. The body must be made of a fire resistant material.
c. Structural strength of the vehicle may not be reduced or compromised.
d. Doors, hoods, trunk lids, sunroofs, hatchbacks, etc., need not function as
originally designed; however, the driver door and passenger doors (if a
passenger seat is present) must maintain sufficient functionality to allow
safe ingress/egress. Grilles and trim pieces may be modified, removed,
or replaced with replicas of alternate material. Bumpers not integral to
the bodywork, and their associated mounting hardware, may be
modified or removed. Bumpers integral to the bodywork may be
modified or replaced with replicas of alternate material. Modified or
replica bumpers must be of similar shape as standard components, and
not confuse the identity of the vehicle.
With that out of the way, and bearing in mind that with earlier, similar wording I posted a picture of a Group S RX-7 (a factory produced model) and was told that "that looks too much like a RS200" (does that mean we can ban late model WRXs because they look like Evos?
) I present to the world the quandary. In 2013-2014ish, I lost part of my rear bumper cover. To make things symmetrical and more neat looking, I sliced both ends of the bumper off, like so:
(my tablet takes the BEST photos)
This is no small reason why the car has not been to any National level events since then: I'm not sure it would pass a protest of either of these two rules.
The interesting thing is that the bumper is considered to be not an integral part of the bodywork, so it may be "modified or removed" but at the same time, it no longer is technically of a "similar shape". On the one hand, it isn't a tube frame or hunk of 2x4 or some other monstrosity that the rule was intended to prevent from happening, but on the other hand, it's also a third missing.
This issue comes to a head because I'm going to compete with this car again at the Ohio event in June, mechanical gods permitting.
I COULD just remove the whole thing, as the rules allow, but then I'd lose the trailer hitch, which I rather need, and removing the hitch itself is difficult enough thanks to a bracket that snakes under the fuel tank that on-site R&R would not be feasible.
I COULD pull the bumper from my '81 (the ex-Wright car), but I have deeply personal reasons why I don't want to raid parts from it, even for just a weekend. Termporary solutions have a tendency to become permanent.
So, what say the rest of the rallycross world? Locally, nobody minds it.
3. All non‐essential components may be removed, replaced or relocated for
the purpose of weight reduction or with the following requirements:
a. The shape of the body must remain recognizable as that of the
manufacturer’s make and model.
b. The body must be made of a fire resistant material.
c. Structural strength of the vehicle may not be reduced or compromised.
d. Doors, hoods, trunk lids, sunroofs, hatchbacks, etc., need not function as
originally designed; however, the driver door and passenger doors (if a
passenger seat is present) must maintain sufficient functionality to allow
safe ingress/egress. Grilles and trim pieces may be modified, removed,
or replaced with replicas of alternate material. Bumpers not integral to
the bodywork, and their associated mounting hardware, may be
modified or removed. Bumpers integral to the bodywork may be
modified or replaced with replicas of alternate material. Modified or
replica bumpers must be of similar shape as standard components, and
not confuse the identity of the vehicle.
With that out of the way, and bearing in mind that with earlier, similar wording I posted a picture of a Group S RX-7 (a factory produced model) and was told that "that looks too much like a RS200" (does that mean we can ban late model WRXs because they look like Evos?
) I present to the world the quandary. In 2013-2014ish, I lost part of my rear bumper cover. To make things symmetrical and more neat looking, I sliced both ends of the bumper off, like so:(my tablet takes the BEST photos)
This is no small reason why the car has not been to any National level events since then: I'm not sure it would pass a protest of either of these two rules.
The interesting thing is that the bumper is considered to be not an integral part of the bodywork, so it may be "modified or removed" but at the same time, it no longer is technically of a "similar shape". On the one hand, it isn't a tube frame or hunk of 2x4 or some other monstrosity that the rule was intended to prevent from happening, but on the other hand, it's also a third missing.
This issue comes to a head because I'm going to compete with this car again at the Ohio event in June, mechanical gods permitting.
I COULD just remove the whole thing, as the rules allow, but then I'd lose the trailer hitch, which I rather need, and removing the hitch itself is difficult enough thanks to a bracket that snakes under the fuel tank that on-site R&R would not be feasible.
I COULD pull the bumper from my '81 (the ex-Wright car), but I have deeply personal reasons why I don't want to raid parts from it, even for just a weekend. Termporary solutions have a tendency to become permanent.
So, what say the rest of the rallycross world? Locally, nobody minds it.
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