HONDA ECU changes??

[Hasbeen]

Originally posted by BluFin
Getting back on thread,
It's sold to the masses as idential boats for all with the difference on driver & set up on the day. Changing of ECU's get away from that concept? to take it further if you cchange ECU's then why not open the class up and allow 2.5 merc's ???

I don't think you've quite got the hang of "one" design sponsored by Honda.

I think the most alarming thing irrespective of whether the girls had a bent motor, is that they beat all of the "MACHO" men.

Besides, bending the rules in Honda isn't exactly new, as in the kevlar 21 of Kev Cozzens, hardly fits into the category of "one" design.

[Matt]

I guess in the Honda series, it's up to Honda whether they want to police ecu reprogramming or not. IMVHO if Shelly has one, then you can bet a number of other teams do too, and she still beat em!

As far as UIM controlled classes go, I think it's quite a problem at the moment. There is, I believe, no tool that can reliably test an ECU.

I liked the approach taken by the Italian OOD (albeit a bit late) - you must not reset the ecu before post race scrutineering. Since it logs time spent at a given rpm, if it is logging lots of time beyond the rev limit, the ecu is bent.
That wouldn't stop a good programmer from hacking it, but until merc can produce a ecu test rig, I guess it's got to be a step in the right direction.

[BluFin]

At the end of the Day It's up to Honda I suppose, and as rightly stated it's up to them and the RYA.
I always thought the motors were maintained by dealers anyway and that was part of the package of buying a motor for the series.
So would this mean there are dealers installing different ECU'S or some other individual installing and invalidating any warranty?

[Matt]

Innocent until proven guilty.

[verytricky]

I nearly wet my pants reading the Sportsboat article. Although Sarah did not name Shelly she did say that the boat that had convincigly come first in the first race did not feature after the ECU's were swapped out.

Personally I would have preferred that she was then docked the points for the previous race she had won. It appears to be clear she was cheating, so she should not have been allowed to win the championship. It makes a mockery of the whole deal.

If it is not possible to compete unless you cheat like the other teams, then why bother?

The RYA should shake things up at the begining of this season: Really rip apart the boats at the first few meetings, and pull ECU's, fuel, weight etc etc etc. Then Those who have cheated will get NIL points for the first race or two, and those who dont cheat will have an advantage for a change!

If you did this in ernest in just one race a season, it would penalise those who cheat to such an extent that they could not win the series. So the risk of being caught would outweigh the benefit, and people would stop.

Just think - who would have won the Honda series if those with dodgy ECU's lost their points? And if they get the hump and leave the sport ( which was an argument put forward a while ago when discussing Ricky Hill's departure from Boat racing ) Then where exactly is the loss? Someone who cheats is not in the race with you is she? They are not playing by the same rules, so what is their point in the race event?

Manufacturers can help. I know in Sweden Volvo sent their factory guys down and checked the ECU's after the boats came out of the water, with the compeditors banned from opening thier engine hatches! And in Norway my ECU was swapped with a randomly selected boat - It was excellent.

[BluFin]

If the only way to win is to bend the rules whats the point of winning other than pose value.

It's this that defines the glory seeking "Pot Hunter" from the "True" Competitor.

[Burnett]

Not that I know much about it, but the obvious solution is for each competitor to pull a random ECU 'Out of a hat' with ALL the race ECUs issued and kept by the organizers. They could be returned to the manufacturers for calibration between rounds. People could use their own ECUs for setup and testing, but have to use the supplied one for the race.

Years ago I had some involvement with a mate who raced in the Yamaha RD350LC Pro-Am series (Motorcycles) and the riders drew the actual keys out of a helmet at the start of each race. There's no way you can cheat when you don't even know which machine you're going to get.

[Tony Davis]

Originally posted by Burnett
the riders drew the actual keys out of a helmet at the start of each race. There's no way you can cheat when you don't even know which machine you're going to get.

That's a great idea, but would only work if one person (or company) owned all the boats.

Send me £400k and I'll build you 20 boats for next season, and we can use your hat to put all the keys in!

PS. hmm, 20 boats, better make that 2009 season and I'll get me finger out!

[Diesel Dodger]

Getting back to the origonal post, with stability in mind would you want to go any faster in a honda 225. I know i wouldnt.

[infoasitappens]

Besides, bending the rules in Honda isn't exactly new, as in the kevlar 21 of Kev Cozzens, hardly fits into the category of "one" design. [/B][/QUOTE]

HASBEEN.

Presumably your baseing that on inside knowledge not on a performance basis

[Jon Fuller]

Originally posted by infoasitappens
Presumably your baseing that on inside knowledge and not on a performance basis

[Burnett]

Originally posted by Tony Davis
That's a great idea, but would only work if one person (or company) owned all the boats.

There's a race series run (for FF1600 single seater cars or similar) by the BRSCC (I think) where the competitors own the cars but the BRSCC (organising body) own the ECUs which are given out at random for the race and then sold to the racers for cost price at the end of the season so that the cars can be sold complete.

[Ben]

From my vantage point astride the fence, some of the comments made on this thread could easily be construed as libellous.

[Jon Fuller]

Originally posted by Ben
From my vantage point astride the fence, some of the comments made on this thread could easily be construed as libellous.

I only said she had a big bum! (sorry Shelly)

[Ben]

Originally posted by Jon Fuller
I only said she had a big bum! (sorry Shelly)

Libel is only proven if the statement is untrue.

[Jon Fuller]

You've got me feelin guilty now (very rare) sorry Shelly, ya bums not really big, it's just kinda ....padded.

[Ben]

Don't think you're the one that should worry.

[Tony Davis]

Originally posted by Diesel Dodger
Getting back to the origonal post, with stability in mind would you want to go any faster in a honda 225. I know i wouldnt.

Maybe with more power you could "drive through it", and they'd be really stable at 70!

[Cookee]

Originally posted by Ben
From my vantage point astride the fence, some of the comments made on this thread could easily be construed as libellous.

Yeah the publicity material says that the 225's race at speeds of over 70 mph

[Gavin Brown]

Number one:- It's spelt SHELLEY .

2:- cant speak for Honda but a V24 ECM is £1,100.00

Regards Gav