[bruecksteve]

I couldn't help but laugh when I read this... I hate it for the owners but I'm sure they can beat it...

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.ph...25&page=1&pp=15

[00 Trans Ram]

I saw this a few days ago, and thought it was just WRONG then too!  I mean, anyone who has ever driven a typical Solo 2 course knows that the stresses endured there are no more than on the common street, when driven hard. 

I used to think that until I watched a BMW snap a front spindle "right off the car" in the middle of a corner at an autocross. Then there was the Mustang with a rod hanging out of the block. I personally broke a trans mount in my 2000 GTI VR6 which caused the dealer to rebuild the trans (they didn't figure out it was a mount) over 3 weeks time. Then, the gearbox wasn't right when it came back and I waited until the mass air meter died (2k out of warranty) to take it back. They took 2 more weeks to fix 5th gear and simply reset my check engine light. They finally fixed the gearbox (that was never broken) and another dealer fixed the mass air meter (and that car was gone soon after). Also, I have seen cornering loads while autocrossing that allowed the flex in my rims to allow them to contact the front brake calipers in my F-body. I'd love to say that autocross is like a daily commute, but so far, that has not been my experience. I don't think 1G+ on race compound tires is exactly "driving to work".

I think the fact that they are searching for results online is a little "slimy", but if it looks like abuse and they call it abuse, bring your visa card. I'm not saying I completely agree with their tactics, but I think calling autocross and "hard street driving" the same thing is incorrect, based on my personal experience.

Consider if I broke a driveline part from "brake hop" at an autocross. I've never seen brake hop on street tires, it seems to be a race tire only problem (for me anyway). If brake hop snapped a clutch (or other driveline part), I'd think that is not GM's problem.

I'm not really trying to take the side of Corporate America here, but there is a reason we call autocross racing (though some don't think it is "real racing", it seems that it truly is racing). If I hit the strip, dump the clutch at 6 grand and break an axle, was I racing? If I had the stock tires on it, I may feel better about saying "that's the same as street use", but is it? Drag strip use is racing/abuse. That is why forums are full of "I just broke 3rd gear again" posts. If you drive it like you are trying to break it, don't be suprised when you do.

If someone really wants to believe that all the stuff we do to increase grip above factory levels and the resulting use of that extra grip is "just like driving a stock car on the street", you are even less of a realist than I am.

Just my thoughts.

[/end rant]

I see that I should have qualified what I said a bit more. Yes, since I've got race rubber and suspension work, I would not expect a dealer to cover a broken control arm or rear-end. Those kind of things can be shown, in a logical progression of mechanical stress, to be under greater loads than what one would normally find on the street. However, if I lost reverse or 4th gear in my tranny, I'd be a bit upset if the dealer refused to cover it because my "increased traction caused more wear on the parts". I don't often lauch in these gears. But, if I lose first, even while driving home from the track on street tires, I'm going to assume that 99% of the wear was done on the track.

But, there are many things that I've done with a car on the "street" that are much harder on pieces-parts than anything I encounter on the course. Consider these examples, before I ever raced, from when I had my 95 3.4L Camaro with an auto:
1) 30mph J-turns
2) slamming from N to D at 5500RPM
3) yanking e-brake at 80mph and sending the car into a slide
4) driving across cow fields and 15-foot high levees at about 60mph
5) getting the car up to 50mph, then cutting across muddy, rutted field when the road to my house was flooded out
6) selling the car w 117,000 miles; changed oil at 3000 and 10,000 miles - yup, only twice
7) leaving t-tops off during a hurricane (had 5 inches of water in floor)

All of the various mechanical and electrical work I had done under warranty were because of these "street" related problems.

Basically, I think that you and I are making the same point (as I agree with what you said!), but from different directions.