With Pilote's daily driver being a Honda Civic Si, regular blog readers could see this (last) Road America post coming too. I enjoy watching Street Tuner. Its power-to-grip ratio is more balanced than the GS class, in which the power and mass of the cars overmatches the tires and brakes. But drivers in ST must still manage tires and brake fade. And ST is pretty much "run whatcha brung" if it's a small-bore car. The variety is fun: BMW's, Kia's, Mazda 3's, New Minis, V.W. Golf GTI's... A few years ago, a supercharged Chevy Cobalt had some success. Last year, Multimatic ran a Ford Focus ST without much success.
And they're not
that much slower than the GS cars: 2:33's at Road America vs. 2:25's. Having slammed Grand Am's approach to sports car racing, I must admit that they've got ST about right. Now, if they'd just do something about all those full-course yellows, re-setting the field under same, and green/white checkers. Let 'em race. But with an "avoidable contact" rule.
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This car came second in the Street Tuner class in the Continental Tire race, which combines GS and ST. Not bad in a
51-car field (no body damage!). |
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| There was a time when Compass 360 Racing ruled the roost in ST. No longer. |
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| iVTEC power: as Killboy would say, "BWWAAAAH!" |
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Rear suspension of an ST Civic Si:close to stock, but that's a trick aluminum upper link. Why do the grooves on the
brake disc slant the "wrong" way? |
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| Cockpit, Compass 360 Racing Civic Si. |
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| V.W. Golf GTI Street Tuner car. This team has won some races in the past few years. |
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