Deny or Approve My Track Date

Are we sure he actually owns said van? 

Dang it.  Missed this one.

I really would encourage the OP to just go to a track day and lay it down.  Seems like the van should be barely legal anyway.  .2 wider than tall, correct?

wvumtnbkr said:

Dang it.  Missed this one.

I really would encourage the OP to just go to a track day and lay it down.  Seems like the van should be barely legal anyway.  .2 wider than tall, correct?

 

Height is a full 10" more than track width... I'm not sure what road course requirements are, but thats wayyyyy outside of any autox regs

In reply to TravisTheHuman :

I came up with it being pretty close to 1:1 as well, it may depend on if it's a high roof. But that was body width, not sidewall to sidewall.

Don't forget it's got different wheels and tires. I think he's mentioned elsewhere it sits taller because of that. It might have a slightly wider track width but undoubtedly not enough.

SCCA Track Night In America sticks to the same "wider than it is tall" rule as autox.

2nd gen are all the same roof height, 72"

I mentioned track width before which is 61.x"

Exterior width is 72" also which would be 1:1 as you mentioned 

His problem getting it on track has extremely little to do with the aspect ratio and far more with what he's actually trying to do. If you read his posts, he is simply asking for parade laps BUT with no one else present AND without renting the track. That's a huge ask and predictably what gets shot down. 

"spectators etc are allowed to drive their taller vans and trucks on the track. what's being lost through the translation is that I don't want to race the van, but drive it at semi normal speeds around the track"

In reply to TravisTheHuman :

The SCCA measurement is from sidewall to sidewall. I don't recall, is track width down the tire centerline or the outer edges?

I suspect his approach to the track (never event organizers, always straight to the manager or apparently the owning corporation) is also couched in slightly aggressive language. And if someone says "drive your tall van at whatever speed you want for free by yourself and you don't own a helmet? No!" that gets turned into "I was banned". 

Track width is centerline and is what is used for SCCA Autox, that's why I posted those numbers.  Outside to outside it would be approx another 7" with factory setup, but his should make that more like 8" I imagine, and lowering springs should bring down the height.  It would be close.

I agree with cyow5 that it's likely irrelevant, but it's fun to discuss anyway.

I've often wondered why he doesn't take it to an SCCA track night and do the free laps for spectators. Literally nobody would bat an eye, my parents drove their Durango around Charlotte that way. I suppose if he insists on absolute privacy he might be out of luck, but I doubt anyone would notice his van enough to take pics anyway, unless they were Transit fans lol.

Then again, I'm not sure he actually wants absolute privacy anyway, since last year when he was planning his track day he tried to invite GRM and several other media outlets to come to the track to watch him drive his van around.

(He would be wearing a mask so that nobody would see his face but obvs it didn't happen so we all missed out on the groundbreaking news.)

"Who is this man, who drives this revolutionary van?!!"

-everybody in the world

TravisTheHuman said:

Track width is centerline and is what is used for SCCA Autox, that's why I posted those numbers.  Outside to outside it would be approx another 7" with factory setup, but his should make that more like 8" I imagine, and lowering springs should bring down the height.  It would be close.

 

I agree with cyow5 that it's likely irrelevant, but it's fun to discuss anyway.

I had to check, because I'd been looking at this recently. SCCA track uses the sidewall measurement. Source

Potentially unstable vehicles with a high center of gravity–determined by whether they are wider than they are tall–are excluded from SCCA Track Days. Width is the distance between the outer edges of the tire sidewalls measured across the vehicle and height is measured from the ground to the highest point. Extra caution should be exercised with non-traditional vehicles (e.g., trucks using racing slicks or tires with less than 200 tread wear rating.)

I don't think the van in question has lowering springs, I think it's got higher rate (custom!) springs at stock height. The wheel/tire package is also taller than stock IIRC which does not help with the height.

I agree that just showing up for parade laps at any number of track events would give him his track time. But he does seem to like special treatment and he wants privacy. 

And here we are, still talking about him, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. But I don't like it any more than you men. 😏

Keith Tanner said:

I had to check, because I'd been looking at this recently. SCCA track uses the sidewall measurement. Source

Interesting that Solo and Track measure width differently

Sports Car Club of America

track The distance between the centerlines of the wheels as competed without driver, measured as follows: From centerline to centerline of wheels. Alternatively, it may be measured from the inside of one wheel at the hub centerline height to the outside of the other wheel, then conversely from the outside of the first wheel at hub centerline to the inside of the second wheel. The two dimensions obtained are to be added together and divided by two (2) to obtain the average. Measurements are to be taken at both front and rear of the wheels and averaged to compensate for toe in/out. Wheel rim width shall be measured at the base of the bead seat.

In reply to TravisTheHuman :

Maybe they figure the violent nature of autox makes it more likely to cause a roll? That is interesting.

Found this online. His van would be cool if he had built something like one of these.

The Ford Transit Connect has always shared a platform with the Focus hatchback, and as a result, I've always wondered if you could stick the guts from an ST or an RS in one. Some Ford employees with extra time on their hands must have wondered the same thing, too, and they actually went out and built two—an early Transit Connect with Mk1 Focus RS running gear, and a later version with the heart of the old ST.

For Carfection, Alex Goy got to drive both, and admittedly, we're pretty jealous. You are too, if you're a fan of seemingly ordinary vans that pack a surprising punch. And who isn't?

The white Transit Connect RS is powered by a 212-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that might seem quaint by today's standards, but is muscular enough to turn the van into a torque-steering goofball. Goy says it's real fast, too, especially with an almost completely empty cargo floor. And it looks so cool sitting low on those five-spoke wheels.

The newer Transit Connect ST isn't quite as silly as the old RS, but it's quicker and better made. It's subtle, too, with only the wheels from a Focus ST and two badges to distinguish it from any other Transit Connect.

I've always wondered if it'd be possible to build a Transit Connect with the drivetrain from the outgoing Focus RS. Some serious work would need to be done in order to accommodate its center differential, though the results would be well worth it. A 350-hp all-wheel drive mega-van? Sign us up.

Keith Tanner said:

In reply to TravisTheHuman :

Maybe they figure the violent nature of autox makes it more likely to cause a roll? That is interesting.

Oh I totally understand setting the acceptable limit (SSF or Dimensions) differently.  But how a track width is actually measured is a weird change to make.