TeamRX8:another data point, I remember people saying the same thing about the C5 Z06 in Super Stock, then we had 50+ SS grids at Nationals the next several years
This is true, but GM made 40,000 C5 Z06s that don't break when you hit a cone. Lotus makes less than 200 Elise SC's and Exige S's and they can cost up to $7000 to replace the clam after introducing it to a cone. Take a look at the front of the top Elise at last year's Nationals! Tape is a structural element to these cars. To make a car like that the "car to have" in the class would be a shame, IMHO.
Yes Peter, I drool. But once again how many are made for the US? And at $120k and $5000 for every repair it's prohibitive. Just about every GT3 that I've seen autox nationally has needed some sort of repair exceeding 5K. My tires bother me at $1300/set...add in 5k everytime something breaks and I now realize why we don't see more of them. And except for a few top Elises we're not seeing an increase in them either.
Look at Nationals pre registration. 16 C5 Z06s, 7 Elises and no GT3s yet. (I know it's still early)...despite the fact that the GT3 and Elise seem to be the cars to have on HPT's surface. The owners of the C5 Z06s want to play and attendence would only increase if the class were stable and the price of these cars continue downward. They can be found now for $22k. But throwing supercharged, low-volume, Loti and $$$ Porsches into the mix is not promoting increased participation. IMHO. Move Nationals to concrete and SS would probably be flooded with more C5 Zs and C6s because they're not only fairly inexpensive to run but fun too.
Ted
2004 Z16/Z06 SS