Originally Posted by 6130 (Post 565816)

What advantage would a car like that have over a regular production car prepped to Stocker rules?

Originally Posted by GUMP (Post 565830)

Zero. If you follow the current rules and take advantage of the aftermarket replacement parts that are allowed you will end up with the same car.

Originally Posted by 6130 (Post 565832)

Okay, so if I'm understanding correctly, the real risk to me isn't the CJ platform itself, per se- the real risk to me would be that someone with much deeper pockets than me would develop this particular engine to the point that they cause the horsepower to be factored to the moon, making it much more difficult for me to even run under index.

Do I have that right?

Originally Posted by GUMP (Post 565833)

Not necessarily. But, it is a risk that we all take. As long as they don't run 1.2 under, you can protect your combination by lowering the average. I doubt that you will see many of these for a while.

Originally Posted by 6130 (Post 565845)

I'm not a class racer- is 1.2 the threshold for AHFS?

I just don't want to spend $20K or so on a retirement hobby, just to get torpedoed by something that I never saw coming.

Again, I have no interest in setting a record or racing at Indy- I just would like to be able to comfortably run under index.

Originally Posted by 6130 (Post 565845)

I'm not a class racer- is 1.2 the threshold for AHFS?

I just don't want to spend $20K or so on a retirement hobby, just to get torpedoed by something that I never saw coming.

Again, I have no interest in setting a record or racing at Indy- I just would like to be able to comfortably run under index.

Originally Posted by ALMACK (Post 565863)

The best way someone can get into class racing is to buy a lower class turn key vehicle that is a proven combo. Say like P/SA or slower. That's how I bought my first NHRA Stocker.
I ran 1.4x under on my first pass in NHRA Stock with the car in my avatar and set the Q/SA record the same day.. There was no way I could have gotten a legal Stocker to run that far under index if I had built it myself for that amount of money.

If you want to go bracket racing with a class car, then the Stock Eliminator field is less populated in the (lower letter) classes so the odds of a heads up pairing ( with another vehicle the same class as yours) during eliminations is greatly reduced.


For $ 20K you could probably buy a turn key car, open trailer and a decent pickup tow rig

Originally Posted by 6130 (Post 565739)

I don't want to clutter the front page by starting another thread, but now that I understand the challenges of the 2015 Ecoboost Mustang Stocker, I would like to ask about another late-model Mustang combo- The 3.7 V-6 / 6R60 automatic SN197 2011-2014 Mustang.

Ford rates that engine at 305 horsepower, and NHRA has it factored at only 260 horsepower. It probably doesn't have the same potential to run under index as easily as the 2015 Ecoboost S550 Mustang, but being factored 45 horsepower below the OEM horsepower rating is certainly worth something in and of itself.

The classification guide lists it as a 13.08 pound (J/K/L) car with a fixed roof, and a 13.77 pound (K/L/M) car as a convertible. It would still need a roll bar in either configuration, and would absolutely need more work to run under, to include a ring & pinion, a converter, and long-tube headers. This car would also be more likely to require smaller/lighter drag-type brakes and 15" wheels. But these cars can be found for even less than a used 2015 Ecoboost. I would need a jack for this one, because I'd need to have some kind of removeable mufflers- a 6,500 rpm V-6 with a loose converter, deep gears, and open long-tube headers would not work for public roads between my house and the strip.

I'm asking about this combo, because it appears to have been in the books for a while, but if anyone were exploiting it, the horsepower factor would have been whacked already, so I'm hoping that it would run under with a stock engine, and I'm also hoping that chances of a 3.7 SN197 Cobra Jet are pretty slim.

What say ye?

Originally Posted by ALMACK (Post 565863)

The best way someone can get into class racing is to buy a lower class turn key vehicle that is a proven combo. Say like P/SA or slower. That's how I bought my first NHRA Stocker.
I ran 1.4x under on my first pass in NHRA Stock with the car in my avatar and set the Q/SA record the same day.. There was no way I could have gotten a legal Stocker to run that far under index if I had built it myself for that amount of money.

For $ 20K you could probably buy a turn key car, open trailer and a decent pickup tow rig