[F500] Letters

[Charles]

If the time to write is now, I need a little help.  I did not
participate in the showing of hands at the Runoffs for two reasons 1) I
had to rebuild my car to qualify and 2) I did not know enough to commit.
I did write SCCA supporting the 494 Rave but was silent re the 493 Rave.
Now, of course the fact that the 494 Rave comes in different variants is
subsequently known, allowing the construction of a killer motor, I may
write again something different.

One thing that bothers me is that some years back, I was informed by a
few authoritative sources that there were 494 non-Rave cheater engines
being raced.  If this is the case, I'm not certain if the cheaters
benefit more with the Rave or the non-Rave.  I'd bet that they would
cheat regardless.  Can the 493 could be built in a killer configuration,
or would the cheaters have to do something else (machining, whatever)?
I think, short of a teardown, the cheating will continue undetected.

This being the case, before writing SCCA again, I'd like to get my head
straight.  Is there a 494 Rave variant(s) that is comparable to the 494
performance-wise? Can we specify said 494 Rave variant(s) that could be
externally verified?  

I would be willing to support the 493 at this time with a significant
(30#?) weight advantage given to the 494. I would continue support for
the 494 Rave if the above was possible.  I prefer this little extra bit
of info before writing SCCA again.  Thanks, Charlie Schlismann