Sorry to spring this on everyone so late, but...
I recently looked at updating our class lists (hasn't been done in 2 years) to add new models and change anything else that had been changed in the SCCA classes. It take me long to realize that they had made a LOT of changes to the Street Prepared classes that our Mod classes have been based on since around 2009. The changes were extensive enough, that I started considering whether we should mabye use the "Street Touring" classes instead of Street Prepared as a basis for FAST Modified.
When we set up our mod classes, SCCA's Street Touring category was still in its infancy, so even though Street Prepared allows (requires) race tires, it still seemed like the best basis for our Mod classes at that time. Today, Street Touring has fleshed out into a more legitimate and complete category with enough history and data behind it to make it a good basis for our classing. The fact that Street Touring requires actual street tires makes it a much better fit for FAST Mod classes. So, that's what we're doing.
The change in HOW we're classing (the SCCA classes that we're basing our classes upon) is huge, but the overall effect on our classes is minimal. We'll still have four Mod classes, and most cars will remain in the same class that they were in before. The biggest exceptions being "Muscle Cars" are mostly moving from M2 to M1, and most of the not-overly-powerful "Sports Cars" are moving from M1 to M2. Otherwise, a handful of cars are bumping up from M3 to M2, and maybe a few bumping down from M2 to M3. We'll have the complete class lists available within the next week, along with a few final details.
We've also classed some particularly fast cars specifically in M0. SCCA doesn't have a Street Touring class for these cars, but they have created a new Super Street Prepared class above the previously fastest ASP class (that was half o four M1 class). So, we placed those SSP cars into M0.
Preparation rules will remain the same as before. Pretty much anything you want to do as long as it doesn't involve cutting or welding, and the car retains a full body and interior. (see the rules for specifics) However, to keep in synch with SCCA's limitations for the lower Street Touring Classes (which we have combined into M3), our M3 class will have the added restrictions of no Limited Slip Differentials (other than factory VLSD) and no tires wider than 225mm.
Our more open prep rules could make those who are prepared strictly to SCCA Street Touring rules slightly less competitive, but we feel that anyone who has a fully prepared ST car is probably at least as well set up and prepared as most people would tend to be under the "unrestricted" FAST rules, anyway. We like the general "run what ya brung" nature of our rules, so we're going to stick with that except for M3 as noted above.
Mod Classes in a nutshell: (this info is in draft status as of right now)
Here is a draft of the class lists. It is 99% taken from the SCCA ST class lists with just a few things that we felt were oversights corrected. (things like turbo cars that were excluded from M2 not being specifically listed in M1). The class lists should be pretty solid, but NONE of this is official until you see it posted on the rules page of the FAST website.
Mod_2014_Draft.pdf- (92.96 KiB) Downloaded 321 times
M0 FAST MODIFIED OPEN
BASED ON: SCCA SUPER STREET PREPARED
Intent: Really Powerful or Lightweight Sports Cars
and highly modified production cars
Unclassified - Sports cars under 1800 lb (factory)
Unclassified - Sports cars over 400 hp (factory)
M1 FAST MODIFIED 1
BASED ON: SCCA STREET TOURING ULTRA (was ASP/BSP)
Intent: 4-seat Sporty Cars, FAST GT Cars, Muscle Cars
Unclassified - Sedans & Coupes NOC (nonsports-car-based; 4-seat minimum) 180-400 hp (factory spec)
Unclassified - Sports Cars NOC 180-400 hp (factory spec)
Exception - Cars that fall in this class, but have under 180hp (factory) may elect to run in an appropriate lower class.
M2 FAST MODIFIED 2
BASED ON: SCCA STREET TOURING ROADSTER & STREET TOURING EXTREME (was CSP/ESP)
Intent: Small & Nimble Sports Cars, Sport Sedans & Sport Coupes
Unclassified - Sports Cars NOC; 120-180 hp (factory spec)
Unclassified - Sedans & Coupes NOC; 120-180 hp (factory spec)
Unclassified - FWD NOC; over 180 hp
M3 FAST MODIFIED 3 (was DSP/FSP)
BASED ON: STREET TOURING SPORT/COMPACT/FWD
Intent: Low Power Sports Cars, Sport Compacts & Economy Cars
RESTRICTIONS: No LSD (VLSD is okay), Max Tire 225
Unclassified - All Other NOC; under 120hp
Unclassified - FWD NOC; under 180 hp
