Originally Posted by Gene Franckowiak:
Time will tell.......many guys won't like racing a 360 against a 410. Putting restrictors in a 410 will have some short term results until the motor builders figure out new cam profiles and rocker ratios to increase power.....cha ching cha ching. If it works out it'll be great if not, another affordable series bites the dust. I hope it works out.
Over the years, the question of parity has bedeviled many series and forms of racing. In auto racing it has brought about spec engine approaches, and complete spec car approaches. These efforts have generally been good for driver development, and if well populated and fast enough, can be quite good as a "show". Think NASCAR and IndyCar.
As noted above, inlet restriction is a possible approach to equalizing
engine performance. It tends to be both difficult to apply and of short duration.
In almost all forms of auto racing that do not use spec cars or engines, another variable is used to adjust performance - weight. Yet when this approach is brought up in meetings among competitors and sanctioning bodies in open wheel oval racing, anyone who would be a champion of weight adjustment may very well fear for their safety. The suggestion will cause the proliferation of pitchforks and torches!
Changing engine configurations is measured in thousands of dollars, and involves weeks or months to achieve.
Changing weight is measured in low hundreds (at the most) of dollars, and is accomplished in an hour (at the most) with ballast. And yet it is stridently opposed. Go figure.
