Topic: 2011 Rules and Fieros
Alright, before just about every one of you start hollering at me for racing a Fiero, I've already heard it all. And for everyone's information, We raced at MAM, and the car was awesome. The ONLY problems we had were self induced (we had a major hand in breaking a brand new rear wheel bearing and we ran out of gas with two minutes left in the race. Thats right, for those of you that saw us get towed off, we did not break. Added fuel and she fired right up). That weekend was the most fun I had in years!
However, I just read the new 2011 rules and our choice in cars just got screwed for no good reason. For those who don't know, the Fiero has the fuel tank running down the center of the car, right under the console. The new rule stated that a gas tank has to be completely in front of, or completely behind the driver. The location of the tank is pretty much the safest OE location there is. If we had a crash that compromised that tank, I may not be alive to worry about leaking gas or fire. You would pretty much have to crush half the car from any direction to get to the fuel tank. And that is a very serious crash.
Also, there is not a giant amount of room for a fuel cell to be mounted, further causing me a problem. And I am not building another car. We have spent way too much time and money getting this car safe.
So I guess my question is, do I have to dip yet again into the budget for something that magically is no longer safe on January 1, 2011? Or am I irritated for no reason?