Spec Miata Racing

Don't forget about drafting, it plays a big part in SM.

I am sure they told you already, but if you are 240lbs you should probably go with the 1.8L. I think the general rule is under 200lbs go with the 1.6L.

Have fun, being on the track with 50 Sm's must be a blast!

 

That is the best post I've seen on this board. The key to becoming a good driver is to learn 2 things, carry speed dont try and make it up in the straits and trust your car but dont rely on it.

Miata's are great cars to learn on and even be competative with. I would get on an autocross course before I hit the track though. Autocross teaches you haw far to push the car in a safe and controlled environment.

When you autocross you have no time to set up for the turns so when you get on the track it seams like an eternity before you get into the corners.

I'll open a can of worms with some people by saying this but......

Autocrossers make good road racers. Road racers do not always make good autocrossers.

You need to learn the fundamentals before you add high speeds to the mix.

I have a sleeper miata. Its boosted with lots of goodies on stock internals and it upsets a lot of people when they rev on me.

My point is I hated those cars until I got past the stigma. they are cheap, easy to work on and they handle like mad.

There are a ton of aftermarket parts for them and a lot of other miata people to learn from.

Mine is the gayest looking car I could drive (its canary yellow) which makes it an even better sleeper.

Have fun with the spec miatas I know you will.

 

Dr Tax,

Nothing will teach you about driving fast (save Karts maybe) then getting into an underpowered momentum race car.

I have noted this many times here, but in my first season of racing Spec Racer Fords, I cut nearly 4 seconds off my lap time in my 355 Challenge. The reason was simple. I was way overbraking in the 355 and getting on the throttle too late. I also didn't have the confidence to get the car bent out of shape at the apex and have to make corrections.

The SRF taught me all this in just 7 or 8 race weekends. It also taught me that light weight and good driving skill can beat many overpowered race cars.

You will quickly learn in the Miata that even the smallest mistake will blow your entire lap time. The most important thing to remember in a momentum car is that you foot is either on the throttle or the brake at all times. You would be amazed, looking at telemetry from a data logger, how many people, including seasoned racers, lift off one pedal and don't immediately hit the other pedal.

Lastly, you may not be going as fast in the Miata down the straights as in your 550 but you will be going faster through the turns and you will replace the missed feeling of hitting 170 mph with the feeling of going flatout (no pun inteded) through corners with another car glued to your bumper and one in front of you (even one beside you possibly).

And as you have found out from a cost basis you can't beat a Miata or similar car.

In additon you are in a spec class so you will know right where you stand in terms of progress.

The car below was purchased with an entire season's worth of spares for 10K (cost them 25K + to build) and if I put it in a wall the wife won't make me sleep in the trailer. And at most FCA events I can drive that tin can as fast as many non-racers in 355's and 360's. Nothin feels better than my "ricer" getting a point by from a 355 or similar car.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod (who has replaced a few Ferrari bumpers in his time, and they aint' cheap)
www.flatoutracing.net
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I'm glad this post was started. I have been wondering about Spec Miatas for a while (costs, maintenance, engine and specs, how easy to DIY, performance, are they still streetable etc.) I've even thought about getting rid of the NSX to get into something like this. What's a good venue for testing one of these things on the track?

 

Talk about competitive. There are some damn good drivers in this series and the cars put up some impressive times.

The plan is to get out the learning curve and pent-up aggression with the cheapo car before I buy something nice to vintage race. I was good enough to be an Audi Club instructor but racing slow cars with very high cornering limits has really improved my skills, both driving and bodywork!

 

Jon, I was familiar with the Teg, but didn't realize you picked it up so cheap! Damn, that just rocks!

 

Also... lots of great info here: www.specmiata.com

 

If you are good with a wrench, Spec Miata costs are very reasonable to be competitive. I know a very good driver who got a 125k mi street car, stripped it, put in professional cage and safety equipment, LSD, suspension bushings, shocks, swaybars, exhaust, and spent a day at the dyno - no engine tweaks. Total investment 12K and he runs at the front.

You can run all season on 2 sets of Toyos and the cars are bulletproof. I just did a 2 race weekend. I only touched the car for gas, oil, windshield cleaning, and tire pressures.

If you want to buy a seat in a Spec Miata, pick a natural road course you always wanted to drive (Sebring, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Road America, Mid Ohio, Road Atlanta, etc.). If you have an SCCA or NASA license (or equivalent), you can fly in and drive. Going rental rate is $1000 - $1250 per race.

 

Kevin,

I know some folks here in the DC area that would likely rent you a SM car for a track day. You could rent it for one of the FOW events.

Email me if interested I can put you in touch with someone.

Regards,

Jon

 

hi:

Neat integra!

Just curious, for someone like me, with zero track experince, would getting something like a FWD track toy (like the Integra/Mini Cooper) be less educational than getting a RWD track toy (like a miata/first gen RX-7)?

(I really like the idea of tracking fast "rally inspired" cars like the Evo and the Sti, but I am guessing that these 4WD cars are whole different ball of wax, with more things to break..)

I guess the old sterotype is that FWD cars can be made to be much more forgiving with the natural understeer, but is there such a thing as "FWD specific" track driving skills, which won't readily translate into driving cars with other configurations? (after I win the lottery and get a "proper" mid/rear engine sportscar?)

-Art

 

Art,

Much of the basics you will learn (proper line, treshold braking, heel n' toe, car control etc..) can be taught/learned in any car, whether it be fwd, rwd, or awd.

My advice to you would be to find a car you like, within your budget, and attend some track days.

As far as the different drive configurations, I switched from years of rwd cars to fwd this past race season with little difficulty. Some things are little different but I have no problem switching from one to the other.

From a setup standpoint fwd is quite different in that you set the car up incredibly loose at the rear and unlike in a rwd car, if you get the tail loose in a fwd car you have to keep your foot flat on the floor and try to steer out of it.

You would of course leave the fwd car with some understeer dialed as a saftey factor but fwd race cars are made very loose at the rear to get them to rotate.

Another thing to remember is that with a fwd car, the front tire are doing three things at once (braking, accelerating, and steering). In a rwd car the front wheels aren't put to task as much.

I still like rwd cars the best because I grew up on them and have learned to throttle steer with great ease.

The only thing I would steer clear of as a beginner car is one that would require extensive setup (like a formula car) or have gobs of hp (like a ZO6, 360 or a 996 TT).

Low powered cars teach you smoothness and precision driving.

 

I agree with flatoutracing. The only differance is that I would try a local autocross first. This will teach you the basics and help you know how much to ask of your car.

The people at these things are always very nice and willing to help you out. Its a very grassroots level where people go to have fun and play with cars. When I started I had several people come up to me and tell me about things like tire pressure and how to handle the car. I didnt know any of this stuff and I didnt even know to ask.

the next step would be a driving school, I would do autocross schools like evolution, once you have a good handle on the autocross course then I would move into the track school and finaly into competative track events.

Several people buy fast cars and make the mistake of thinking they are great drivers. They hit the track then hit the wall and go home with a busted up 355. www.wreckedexotics.com has a buch of em. I'm always amused by these.

Like everyone else says and you already know. Buy a cheap car to start out with. I prefer the miata but we all have our weapon of choice.

 

Good thread Dr.Tax, I concure with everyone's opinion/experiences.

Jon, looks like you're running with a good group.


Best regards,

Rob Schermerhorn

 

Dale,

That's how I got into racing. I did DE's and Track days for 5+ years in various cars (BMW's, Porsche's, and Ferraris) and it was a lot of fun as well as a great learning experience. However, once I drove a real race car (Formula Dodge and a Formula Mazda) I was blown away at the performance and the no compromise nature of a real race car.

I did DE's until I reached the point where I was significantly faster than everyone else, and not just because I was in a Ferrari, but also in lower tech machinery as well.

People always ask me what's it like to blow by people on the straights and the answer is quite boring. I am sure you have found the same in your 550. Namely that spending an entire session chasing down another car that is just as fast or faster is a huge thrill. Lapping everyone isn't all that exciting once you've done it a zillion times.

After a while this thrill of chasing other cars was gone and there was no one to play with. I actually enjoyed taking my race prepped BMW more than the Challenge car because I wanted to chase/play with other cars.

In the past few years I tened to gravitate towards DE's that were populated by mostly racers in fast race cars and in particular groups that allowed passing in corners or outbraking maneuvers. I came to the realization that pssing someone on the straight doesn't really match the thrill of outbraking someone at the end of the straight and pulling off a text book race maneuver.

The last session I ever drove in the 355 C last year was the type of session I wanted every track session. Ferrarichatter WCH and I ran nose to tail (he was in his new 360 C) for the entire session. We were never seperated more than 3 to 4 car lengths and I matched my best lap time trying to run him down. It was an adrenaline rush that went largely missing in the past few years of DE's and that is where racing fits in.

Nothing beats wheel to wheel action for 45 minutes straight. I feel more drained after a race than I do after two days of a track event.

And like you, my wallet couldn't afford the risks of running a Challenge car into a wall. Finding it harder to find other cars to run with I started focusing on lap times and this meant getting closer to the edge. My number once reason for selling the car was that I was running it at 10/10's at DE's and sooner or later I was going to make a costly mistake.

Try autocross and DE's and then take a racing school and do a few races.

The other benefit of racing, especially in a spec class, is that you will be forced to try new things in order to catch the fast guys. At DE's you sometimes reach a point where you are fast and don't feel the need to improve (at least I did).

My first race season I was usually qualifying in the middle of the grid and I had to come out of my comfort box and start working on left foot braking, better car control, more drifting etc.

That first season taught me more than my previous 5 years doing DE's.

Good Luck !

Regards,

Jon

 

This is what cemented my love of track driving. I got into a 3 way dual just over a year ago; myself in my F355, another identicle F355 and a 550. We were all middlings in driving capabilities. The faster guys in our session vanished into the distance, the slower guys droped back. And----then---there we were all alone, with only ourselves to play with. Nose to tail, trading spaces as leading driver errors permitted the 2nd and 3rd place cars to take the turn from the leader. We went back and forth for 20 minutes like this--with several near accidents and some clever saves. At the end of the session, all three of us crawled out of our cars, giggling our arses off. It was truely stimulating.

 

I race SM in SCCA and NASA in Texas and it may be the best racing out there. I also race FM, but I am not as quick in the FM, partly because I am just a bit more intimidated by it and worried about damage from even an off. Probably also partly because I don't practice enough and I may lack that extra something to drive a car that does everythign just that much faster and quicker.

Part of going fast is the willingness to write the car off all the time. I'm not talking being reckless, but rather putting any concerns about damage completely out of your mind, so you can focus on being fast and experimenting with different lines and overtaking manouvers.

I actually hate Miatas in a perverse way and really can drive the car like I hate it. In addition, the SM fields are large, modifications to the car few, and the racing is close. Since you rarely carry more than 115 mph, the risk of injury is lower than in a big power car. Many skillful drivers have gravitated to this class and I can assure you that you won't lack for someone to race with from novice to expert level.

If you really love the idea of RACING instead of the CAR, try SM, as the racing is great. If you have your heart set on racing a particular car, you may find that the racing is not so great. IMO unless you have a field of at least 10 cars within a second or so, you won't be doing much racing after about 3-4 laps. SM fields often have 20 cars separated by 2 total seconds and finishing margins after 20 laps of less than 1 sec.

 

Dale, have you tried any autocrosses yet?

Also, even indoor karting has serious skill building in there too. It provides a low cost, extremely low horsepower competitive edge which you don't see until you get into spec series cars.