Wow ! We sure have lots of discussion on classes,rules, tires, increasing participation, etc !

First, and before I go any further, let me say that I don't disparage in any way those of us who take the sport of slaloming seriously. More power to you and I admire your spirit and abilities. However.....

As a laid-back novice reading a few weeks worth of forum postings, it sure seems like things are getting awfully complicated, almost oppressively so. For those who are serious about this aspect of JCNA it is easy to see where some changes are called for. For me (and, somehow, I doubt that I'm entirely alone here), it's a bit overwhelming and actually makes the sport seem less attractive, IMHO. Jeez....I have no idea what class I'd be in. "Street prepared", I think. But I have 6.5" XJS rims on my XJ6 and am not sure of my treadwear rating, stock shocks but poly rack bushings, but what if I used my XJ6 rims with 220 treadlife tires.... and......and......and......?

I can't help but wonder what would happen if (and I almost hate to mention this what with so many other proposals flying around) yet another class was created: no points, no competition, no regional or national standings, no worrying about what class you're in or what your competetion is, just bring your car (any Jag, any configuration) and enjoy making a few runs, have some fun, and try to better your times.

Back in my old days of hotrodding, we used to call it "run whatcha brug night" at the local dragstrip.

I'll tell you one thing, it's a fair bet that participation would increase and a fair percentage of people would become hooked and move up to the appropriate competitive classes.

Well, anyhow, that's my little tidbit and 2-cent schpiel :-)

Cheers
Doug Dwyer

Submitted by NE52-32043 on Fri, 04/11/2003 - 13:51

Bob, Lisa and anyone else out there reading these posts --

There is absolutely NO REASON NOT TO DO A SLALOM!! As Pascal said, JUST DO IT! That's what it is there for -- fun. Unfortunately, over the past several years, the rules have been tinkered with to (presumably) allow folks who wanted to use special tires or rims, to get a leg up on others. This is really an issue of national standings and national championships. It has nothing to do with people at the local level coming out and seeing what their car will do around the cones. I fully agree with Pascal, simple is the way to go with the rules, and hopefully, we will get back to that.

But, the bottom line is that at the local level, EVERYONE who wants to take their car out, run it around the cones and see what it will do is MORE THAN WELCOME. Please don't avoid the fun and the challenge just because a few of us are bickering over minutia. It is a great sport. Great fun. You should not miss out on it. JUST COME OUT AND DO IT!!!!

And, as Pascal points out, most cars still belong in stock class. Don't worry about "street prepared" or "modified" class. Come out, register, learn about our civilized form of racing, and have fun. If you have questions about how your car should be catagorized, speak to your local Slalom Chair or steward and they will help you. But come out. Don't stay away for all the wrong reasons.

Steve Weinstein, JTC-NJ
JCNA Slalom Committee Chairman
JTC Slalom Chair
'72 E-type 2+2
'89 XJS Coupe

Submitted by pascal@jcna.com on Thu, 04/10/2003 - 11:30

bob is right... just go for it.

the point is to have fun but at the same time there has to be some rules so that when you enter you don't end up beeing discourged if someone else is faster jsut because their car is modified.

We need to keep it simple. the tread wear issue is a mistake if it gets people confused. Bottom line, if you have street tires, you're fine! only a handful of highperformance tires got kicked out this year so don't worry. the point of what modifications a car has is just to keep it fair, but again, few caars have been modified so it's not an issue. Just enter in stock class and if during tech they realize you do have mods, they'll change it.

i'm still stuck in Modified this year because of a technical mistake in the new rule, that's fine... it will be fun anyway...

If you want to push your car... go for track events!!! that's even better... no rules... no competition... just DRIVE! See the HPDE section above...

Pascal Gademer
72 E-type 2+2
00 XKRCoupe
99 XJR

Submitted by pascal@jcna.com on Fri, 04/04/2003 - 10:43

it's really up to the participant to decide how seriously they want to take it, just like Concours and Rally.

The registration and club attitude is what will make it fun or less fun, we need to keep it simple for those who just want to show up and drive. maybe the determination of modifications should be done part of tech inspection... tech inspector has the ccar open anyway and can quickly spot adjustable shocks, ingtion, intake and exhaust. This way it doesn't appear complicated to the casual entrant.

but for those who want to take it seriously we need to give clubs the toosl and guidelines to be fair and these dohave to make sense.

the needs of both groups can be addressed with little effort i think.

Although I'm making a stink about being thrown to the wolves in Modified becasue of a tire rating error by the Committee... frankly I don't care were I run! I just want to have fun!

Pascal Gademer

Submitted by NE52-32043 on Fri, 04/04/2003 - 10:25

Doug,

We already have that. At any slalom, you can "run whatcha brung" if you want to. We've had people driving Corvette Z06's, BMW M3's, Mustangs, Hondas, you name it. Steve Ferring even ran his 1948 Chysler through the course once. A local cop that showed up because he heard screeching tires was invited to run his patrol car, but he declined (not allowed to have fun while on duty, he claimed). The same is true for any Jaguar you bring. You can run it for fun, if you want. In fact, the only reason I keep doing this is for fun, whether I win a local or national trophy or not.

However, because we do sponsor a national competition and give out awards, rules need to be established to keep things fair. I'm a big believer in keeping things simple. Hopefully, in reviewing where we are at and what we really need to do, we can figure out a way to get back to keeping it simple. It's better that way for everyone, and keeps the fun in it. The problem, as I see it, comes when people try to tailor the rules to give themselves an advantage over others. Simple, straightforward rules foster fair and open competition.

That said, I do hope that anyone who wants to have some fun driving their car, no matter what it is, whether its been modified or not, will come out an try the slalom. It is FUN! And no matter what, we will do everything we can to keep it that way. So bring whatcha got and run it!!

Steve Weinstein, JTC-NJ
JCNA Slalom Committee Chairman
JTC Slalom Chair
'72 E-type 2+2
'89 XJS C

Submitted by dthompson@gbc.ca on Fri, 04/04/2003 - 09:36

Doug,

Amen to that!!

Some people were left scratching their heads at my "Taking the fun out" post, but you have just reinforced the point.

Whether or not I show up driving a completely stock XJ6 or a Lotus Super 7 with F1 slicks, I should be able to just have a go for fun. I don't care about trophies. Most important is that I show up at all!

Daniel