March 2024 Fastrack Discussion

Here's an interesting discussion point...

There's no GCR reg I'm aware of that disallows additional lighting. In fact, it's common in some arenas to add identifying lights for teams to ID you in enduros, for example.

As such...if you already have functioning "original equipment red taillights" that meet the minimum requirements of the rain light reg, and those are turned on by direction from the Chief Steward, can anyone think of any other reg that would disallow someone from ALSO use a tye-wrapped bicycle LED, if they so choose?

Discuss.
 
Matt Blehm said:
What about your classic IIDSYCYC?
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I thought about that. But I suggest lighting is covered by the main GCR...and as noted we do allow alternate lighting for other purposes (dash, external ID, enduro lights at night, etc). Maybe those are all covered by supps?

I was just thinking of it as a way for those that prefer a brither rain light but don't want to spend the coin on an FIA one.

I think if you have lights that comply with the first section, no one will give you grief for adding another one (as long as it doesn't strobe).
 
I agree with you on the overall sentiment. it's just a matter of doing it within the confines of the entire GCR and all of its wonderful wording.

ex. my RX7 factory tail lights suuuuck. the original Caterham lights on the 7s are awful. those old low-wattage incandescent bulbs are barely visible and I've nearly taken a few cars out because I didn't see their brake lights coming on 100ft earlier than I expected for a particular corner. but if the OEM lights meet the requirement, then OK. but if I add lights onto that because I know my tail lights suck, then where's the line on compliance.
As I'm selling the car whenever I can get around to listing it (again), I'm not real worried about it. my current STU car has nice shiny bright OEM tail lights.
 
Well first, you should replace the incendescents with LED bulbs.

Then you can add an FIA rain light if that's not good enough.

I get it, you may actually get grief from an exhuberent tech inspector if you have functional taillights and a non-FIa rain light. There's always going to be "those guys" out there (why I signed up to be a scrutineer...and a steward...)
 
First I sell the car. the new owner gets to worry about it. last time it was on track was 2020 or 2021, so the whole rain lights thing wasn't a requirement. maaan that makes me mad saying that. car sitting in garage for 4 years and I have like 8 sets of tires for it just rotting away.
 
Matt Blehm said:
First I sell the car. the new owner gets to worry about it. last time it was on track was 2020 or 2021, so the whole rain lights thing wasn't a requirement. maaan that makes me mad saying that. car sitting in garage for 4 years and I have like 8 sets of tires for it just rotting away.
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Past tense Matt, they have already rotted away :) I have a similar issue. I hope the Caterham in question was not me.
 
You are correct on the rotted away part. I need to just strip the wheels and dump the tires and get the room back in the shop.
And no, the Caterham driving problem wasn't you. there was a red one and a blue one that had a tendency to be "intentionally unpredictable" when there was someone behind them. the lights on those cars in general are poorly lit. some brighter bulbs would be great, but that also goes along with some drivers' above philosophy of not giving the guy behind you any hint of what you plan to do next.... ;)
 
On our Sprites the stock brake lights have both bulb filiments going which gives a bright light. Probably going to put some LED lights on when I get a chance. Rain light is a Formula legal light fastened to the driver's seat headrest. Doesn't strobe but you're not going to miss it in rain. Tech folks were happy with it from the start.
 
Curmudgeonly warning re LEDs - there are LED bulbs out there that are quite bright viewed directly but that (presumably due to the spectrum emitted) are much dimmer when viewed through a red plastic lens.

When we bought a used Focus SVT street car, I noticed that the tail lights (forget whether brake or running) were pretty dim. Took apart and found LEDs - which were bright white viewed directly. Bought some OEM spec incandescent bulbs and the were MUCH brighter when viewed through lens.
 
Al Seim said:
Curmudgeonly warning re LEDs - there are LED bulbs out there that are quite bright viewed directly but that (presumably due to the spectrum emitted) are much dimmer when viewed through a red plastic lens.
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Al, buy red-colored LEDs. Same goes for amber if you have amber turn signals, and white for reverse lights.

Reason is kinda simple: colored lenses filter out all light colors except the intended one. If the vast majority of the color of the LED is not red, then most of its brightness gets filtered out by the lenses. I just had to replace some red 1156-compatibles on my street 968 with lower-output ones because they were too bright, looked like brake lights...

superbrightleds.com sells different colors.
 
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