Formula D Sonoma (FEEDBACK)

[AlexPfeiffer]

and this one more time thing needs to stop, if the judges where good, they could make a decision on the first go around. There are no second chances or replays in other sports.

[ACDSupra7]

Oh my god is that "one more time" b/s still going on?

[PhoPower]

yup the one more time thing is still going but they ingnored it sometimes cus the judges already had made a decision...

[pony]

Originally posted by AlexPfeiffer
Sonoma was pretty fun all together. It was good to see alot of my old friends up there.

The practice run deal. My take on it is that at every competition i've been in, the practice run still counts, why change that now. And why did they try to, that didnt make sence. I dont get the fact that you go from 40 something cars directly to top 16.

There should be another cut, maybe the day before. Then we can have a practice infront of the spectators. Let the gates open a bit earlier for the die hard fans.

My take on the viper, First off I was one of the guys who tested to be a driver and my first impression was that the car is fun but not fair. This is a sport that started on the streets and mountain roads. Cars that had plates and are road legal. Alot of you still think that its a stock viper, your wrong. I've drifted a stock viper and that thing is far from it. Its a "Competition" coupe and not a street baised car.

Yes its alot lighter, yes it has alot of the mods you would do if you started with a stock viper, but there are a few things overlooked. First is its not the original chassy, all the suspension arms are stock baised but are moved from thier original positions for better center of gravity and roll centers. (alot different then a stock viper). The car may beable to be bought by anyone with about $140k but it could never been driven on the street to start with. I dont care how many of them were made.

Dont get me wrong, Sam is a great driver and all the guys on the team are very cool cats. And It is the driver that wins, although he has been beat only once in the 4 comps he has entered the car. But that car is not in the true essence of the sport and it is an advantage. Sam wins threw concistancy, that and when it comes to tandom competition, he and the car are able to change up the lines for a good battle.

The car has a wide range of driftablitly, meaning it can start a drift from a dead stop and still reach drifting speeds of other cars were as most others have to gain momentum first. It has good corner speeds and traction, you dont see cars catching up to him mid drift and he is able to drive under others lines.

All in all what im guess im trying to say is that the car is an advatage mainly because he does not have to drive the wheels off of it to do good aginst the rest of us. We have to push ourselves and our cars to the limits to keep up, alot of times we push too hard and make mistakes, but even when we dont, we still fall behind that thing.

Bringing out that Viper was a cheep way of dodge to get in the game, rather than building a car like GM did. Do it the right way next year.

Alex, youre totally right. The competition coupe also takes a 100lb ballast in SCCA Speed World Challenge and is banned in Grand American and American Le Mans.

Another big advantage is that anywhere in the RPM range, that car will make 500 ft-lbs of torque with no effort.

[nissanguy_24]

Originally posted by pony
Alex, youre totally right. The competition coupe also takes a 100lb ballast in SCCA Speed World Challenge and is banned in Grand American and American Le Mans.

Another big advantage is that anywhere in the RPM range, that car will make 500 ft-lbs of torque with no effort.

And thats something that very few cars can do. Making the cost of producing a similar vehichle even greater. Its just another advantage.

And Alex P. I think alot of fans are getting suspicous of formula D. Not so much because the viper has swept the series. But because such a car was allowed in originally, then went on to sweep the series among controversy and of course Mopar is sponsoring the series And Tarzan (hes a judge right?) drives for mopar. There is deffenately room for shady business to happen. And even if everyone is clean and honest at the moment unless Formula D strarts making some rules to clean it up, and stick to them. Then i fear, and indeed many fear that it can easily be corrupted.

I mean considering this is only the first year! it looks really bad.

And about eleminations.. why not have a final 32.. you widdle down the new guys until you get 32, who start as the fans are comming into the stands or something.. because the real draw is always going to be the tandem runs.. And im sure they could fit it all in in a day.

[kouki-kun]

Guys, Samuel is using the comp. viper for its intended purpose. That is to crush anything it runs against. Yea its unfair, yea it makes power reguardless of where the rpm needle is, but thats why it is a 125K machine. Imagine what that amount of money can do to any other car.

I agree it is a bit unfair, and something should be done to tone it down (added weight, ect) but theres no reason to not allow it to compete. He has full Mopar backing, and incredible skill. That is a deadly combination no matter how you look at it.

Take Imamura's FD, Apexi probably spoon feeds him. But it takes someone to drive what they put into that car. HP isnt an issue either. Kouroi's onevia makes over 800 horses, how competitive is it against Kazama and Ueo??

My point is, the comp. viper is doing exactly what it is built to do, win. Neck snapping torque, very balanced for its size, and a gifted driver is where its at.

[nissanguy_24]

I think guys like me, and im sure alex feels this way. Dont want it to be nessisary to buy a 125 thousand dollar car to be competitive. It seems like its already going that way and its not even the end of the first season. Alex said it the best, its not in the spirit of the competition.


Whats the point of a drift leauge if its basicly impossible to enter and have a chance. Im looking at my 240 going "eh so im going to need 100k in corporate backing to be competitive." even if i had the skill i wouldnt have the chance. I've always liked the idea that with skill and alittle cash you could go out there and have a chance.

And yes the top D1 cars are expensive too. And i still think thats a problem.

[pony]

Originally posted by nissanguy_24
And thats something that very few cars can do. Making the cost of producing a similar vehichle even greater. Its just another advantage.

And Alex P. I think alot of fans are getting suspicous of formula D. Not so much because the viper has swept the series. But because such a car was allowed in originally, then went on to sweep the series among controversy and of course Mopar is sponsoring the series And Tarzan (hes a judge right?) drives for mopar. There is deffenately room for shady business to happen. And even if everyone is clean and honest at the moment unless Formula D strarts making some rules to clean it up, and stick to them. Then i fear, and indeed many fear that it can easily be corrupted.

I mean considering this is only the first year! it looks really bad.

And about eleminations.. why not have a final 32.. you widdle down the new guys until you get 32, who start as the fans are comming into the stands or something.. because the real draw is always going to be the tandem runs.. And im sure they could fit it all in in a day.

I can assure you as well as anyone else who has worked any Formula D show that there is nothing shady about Tarzan judging.

[DONKEY_WEAR]

HEY Alex Pfeiffer

wat did u think about the rotray power car??
do u think ross petty is a good driver?

[nissanguy_24]

Originally posted by pony
I can assure you as well as anyone else who has worked any Formula D show that there is nothing shady about Tarzan judging.

Unfortionatley i've learned to not trust people especialy when they tell me there honest. I mean no offence but its abit like leaving guns out in front of the bank and then claiming no robber will ever come by and take them.

[Al]

The Rotary RX7 is one of the best Driver in Hawaii. I think the car was having problems.

It wasn't so fun running againts 450HP cars.

I had a hard time on the first turn. The the last turn, I had to clutch atleast 4-5 times just to get the car sideways.

Oh well, Its was still fun.

-Al

[pony]

Originally posted by nissanguy_24
Unfortionatley i've learned to not trust people especialy when they tell me there honest. I mean no offence but its abit like leaving guns out in front of the bank and then claiming no robber will ever come by and take them.

thats a perfectly respectable opinion. however, keep this in mind:

Judges
Tarzan - Mopar
Koguchi - Falken
Yamamoto - Falken
Utumi - Cwest/DRFT Motorex

If Falken has two judges, and these guys are weighing officiating in the direction of their teams, why hasnt Falken been winning any events?

[ACDSupra7]

Well we'll just have to see how Samuel does in D1 -_^

[nissanguy_24]

Originally posted by pony
thats a perfectly respectable opinion. however, keep this in mind:

Judges
Tarzan - Mopar
Koguchi - Falken
Yamamoto - Falken
Utumi - Cwest/DRFT Motorex

If Falken has two judges, and these guys are weighing officiating in the direction of their teams, why hasnt Falken been winning any events?

I didnt say any one was being pushed i said Formula D has created a situation where it was possible. And if they dont do something about it the series will loose all credibility.

[AlexPfeiffer]

hey pony, your information is correct but the 2 falken judges dont judge at the same event. Only one of them will be a judge at a time.

The reason why i say I dont like tarzan as a judge is for 2 reasons, first he was never a drifter, he was allways a grip driver untill drifting gave him some publicity.
Second and most important, since he has so much more publicity then the other judges, there is kinda a sempi (sp) thing going on where his judgement means more than the other 2. Kinda like Keiichi is the main judge in D1 and his word is final. Tarzan isnt keiichi and is not a godfather or drift advisor to anyone. He is a funny guy everyone likes to watch and gets a kick out of his antics. It cool to have him there, just think judging is not for him. Leave it up to the actual D1 drivers who know there stuff.

Ross is a good drifter, he didnt show his best at his first formula d event but im sure with some practice in that car he will get better.

All the hawaii guys have a different style, they dont get to run on alot of different tracks. They all kinda drive similar since they practice together. Lots of tire smoke and angle, but they should work on getting more speed. Talked to a few of the hawaii guys about that.