Some of you might not realize that I serve on the Improved Touring Advisory Committee. This is the group that proposes rule changes and classifications for the set of 5 IT classes in SCCA club racing.
One of the first issues we discussed when I joined the ITAC was changing the ECU rule from “anything that fits in the stock box, no wiring changes.” The intent of this allowance was presumably to allow commonly available off-the-shelf “chips” to be replaced. More modern systems allow for “reflashing” the memory in the computer, which can update the software. But there’s a problem with the rule’s wording. It allows more than just chips and reflashes; it actually allows the entire computer to be replaced with an aftermarket system. However, it can be very expensive to stuff an aftermarket ECU into the stock housing, and make it work with the stock wiring connectors and stock sensors. It was never the intent of the group that proposed the rules that people would do this, but their wording allowed it, and so, of course, people did it.
Our choices were to try to go back to that committee’s intent, or, to open it up further, allowing anyone to do (for a lot less money) what the select few were doing now. In recent years, aftermarket systems have become much less expensive, and the open-source “MegaSquirt” product exemplifies that.
After months of discussion, and then more months collecting member input, we chose the latter option. We made the proposal and sent it up the chain (where two other groups have to approve it — the Club Racing Board and the SCCA Board of Directors), and now, finally, it’s been approved!
This is probably the most significant change that has happened in the IT ruleset in a few years. Lots of members think it’s a bad idea (but apparently a minority). We’ll have to see how it goes.
I’m not entirely sure that I myself will take advantage of this, at least not right away. My car, being one of the newest ones competing, has so much stuff driven by the stock ECU that it’s not that easy to make an aftermarket one work, at least not within the bounds of the rules. It has a fairly modern processor, and it’s possible to reflash it. In fact, when Edge Motorworks installed the new headers and exhaust sytem, they did some software tuning on their dyno. It would cost quite a bit of money in both product and tuning, and I’m not convinced there’s a huge gain for my car. So, for now, it’ll wait.
If anyone out there thinks that there are huge gains to be had by switching to an Electromotive or Motec system from the stock system, I’d be happy to listen. For you BMW-heads, my stock system is MS42, the same as in the E46 323/328.
Entries (RSS)