Hi Andy, You pose a really good question and I'm sorry I didn't proactively address it since it is so fundamental to the way the program operates. A lot of research was put into setting up the new format and the points threaholds, including review of all the historical scores to see how the new format would have played out if it had been applied to previous competitions. As you would expect, in some cases no cars would have qualified for the new "stainless" level while in other cases more than one car would have qualified. After careful scrutiny of all the historical scores, I'm convinced that the new thresholds for the three levels corresponds to a reasonable arrangement that results in cars at the various levels being recognized. I do not expect the top cars being any less "top" (the bar might actually be a hair higher based on review of the historical scores). The thresholds were not selected without research into the historical numbers and establishing confidence that they correspond to the levels they reflect. Knut --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Soma576@... wrote: <snip> > Based on past competitions, would the top car that has > won in years past likely make it into the Stainless tier? What I > am wondering is will there be more 'top cars' or less 'top cars' > under the new format? To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/