Technical Regulations for Rush Auto Works Race Series 2026-v1.5

[Sam Reed]

Sam Reed updated Technical Regulations for Rush Auto Works Race Series with a new update entry:

2026 Rush SR Race Series Technical Regulations

Technical Regulations for the 2026 Season.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Sam Reed]

Brake pads used to be open but 2026 regulations now require pads sold by RAW. This change is not included in the changes document. Is it an oversight in the changes document or mistake in the 2026 regulations?

Please see the new doc - thanks for pointing this out.

 

[Kw78]

Brake pads used to be open but 2026 regulations now require pads sold by RAW. This change is not included in the changes document. Is it an oversight in the changes document or mistake in the 2026 regulations?

I don't think this is good news. What is the point of this? If it is to get the proceeds from a consumable, then is RUSH going to offer quite the variety of pads that is out there?

If it is to force the brake feel to suit a certain style of braking, then this is bad news.

RUSH, part of the attraction of this car is it is tunable to the feel that the driver works with best. SPEC cars ultimate performance are dominated by the physics of the car. IE, HP to weight, ride height, dimensions, tires.

Driver performance is dominated by the feel of the car. Spec Miata made this mistake long ago and then recovered. They tried spec alignment, spec brake pads etc. All this does is narrow the field to one driving style. I have been part of this expirement before and all it does is reduce the field.

Years ago we took two championship drivers from the same class and had them test a spec car from their class with the other drivers setup. Each was respectively WAY off in lap time compared to driving their own setup, while producing nearly identical lap times in the same vehicle when allowed to drive their preferred setup. One driver was only adept at managing a pushy car, and the other liked a very pointy or loose car, but both drivers were national champions. I stress that no parts were changed on the car, just adjustments to sway bars, shocks, alignment etc.

The point of the exercise was to teach how the feel of the car working with the drivers brain is a more important requirement than the root ability of the car, to promote close racing.

The 2026 rules for RUSH appear to be going down that path of dictating driver style versus just keeping a collection of parts at the same performance potential. Physics of tire, ride height, hp to weight, and spec aero should be kept in spec, but not camber, rake, brake bite, and shock forces. Those are all driver feel. Those are all things that change track to track possibly, as well as in different conditions.

I hope RUSH will focus on the reliability of the car running a reasonable race distance (that's not 20 min btw) and letting the club racers develop and adjust the car to suit their style and feel.


My .02
Kyle

 

[Sam Reed]

I don't think this is good news. What is the point of this? If it is to get the proceeds from a consumable, then is RUSH going to offer quite the variety of pads that is out there?

We understand this. The reasoning is:

• The stock pads that were shipped from 2022-2025 were inadequate for the car. There was too much rear braking and not enough front. Practically, everyone needed to run brake bias as far front as the adjustment bar would go. This is not a great way for the car to ship.
• Unequal-sized master cylinders helps alleviate that problem, but it is best in combination with unequal pad compounds.
• Development of this solution took time and money. Additionally, a design review of the brake calipers showed that there was some small deviation from the intended shape and the d961 pads had some overhang. The new spec pads fix this problem and maximize available pad area, wear more evenly, and fit the actual driving profile of the car.
  • To be clear, the new spec pad is *not* the D961 shape - it is slightly different. There is no other way to get this corrected shape, meaning that any non-spec pad is going to be inferior in wear.
• So it became clear that an OEM change was necessary, and that a fair number of incidents we've seen in the car due to more amateur drivers locking up, could have been avoided by this solution. Compelling them to change was easiest done by mandating a spec pad, which also helped cover some of our sizable internal development costs.

Among drivers who have tried the new solution, even the among most elite in the series, the feedback has been very positive. I understand your resistance and it's legitimate. Every decision we make has trade-offs; we decided the trade-offs fell on the side of mandating the pads this year.

A strong motivation of mine for the 2026 series has been to reduce full-course yellows. This, and some other reliability changes we've made and are making, will go a long way toward that goal.