Spent a few hours at a local track test & tune yesterday...

A bunch of SCCA Spec Miata guys where there. I talked to them quite a bit, mostly to one guy who ended up the regional champ in class, a 18 year (not 18 year old..) racing veteran from many different car classes.

I drove his class winning car on the track for a few hot laps. Very fun. Certainly can not power down the straights like the S2000, but oh man does it stick in the corners. And at about $10K or less for a complete, race ready race car, very cheap racing. Oh, and you won't cry after you swap some paint with your fellow racers. These guys can get an entire season on one or two sets of spec toyo rubber and a few sets of off-the-shelf metal-master brake pads. Unless you crash, you only really need to add gas and an occasional quart of oil. Or be really nice and change the oil once in a while...

Very neutral handling, much like the S2000. And with a ready-to-race weight of about 2,200 pounds with the driver, that underpowered engine isn't quite as anemic as you might think...

Of course when an expert driver took a few hot laps in the S2000, the extra power was pretty sweet. Man he drove that car well. I thought I was doing a pretty good job hustling it around the track, but I learned quite a bit just riding shotgun with him.

Bottom line is the S2000 is great for limited-passing open-track days. Add some race tires, Panthers, and swap for some real brake fluid and you will smile all day long. But for real racing, I would not want to tear up the S2000, put in a cage, gut the interior, and then race in an uncompetitive (SCCA T2) class. I'm not ready for a $40K dedicated race car. The Spec Miata sounds like a fine way to go for wheel-to-wheel competition!

 

There are a ton of those guys in Phoenix running in NASA. I always dismissed them as uncompetitive because I could lap them in a 20 minute session. However, at the last event, I checked the lap times and saw that the best lap for a SPEC RX7 was 1:11, while I was only running 1:15's. Pretty embarassing, considering I have an extra 100hp at the wheels.

I have seen full SPEC kits (the car, extra parts, trailer, extra race tires) go for $4-5k. Considering the fact that they generally have 15 or 20 cars out there for races, that sounds like a major bargain for anyone who wants to race competively.

I've always wondered if there are any decent turbo or SC kits for Gen I RX7's...I have always loved 'em, and it would be a blast to run lots of hp in that lightweight car.

Tanq

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tanqueray
[B]There are a ton of those guys in Phoenix running in NASA.

 

Oops, sorry, misread your post.
T.

 

I have driven a couple of spec RX7's and while they are a bargin and fun I really didn't like them. I haven't had a shot at a Spec Miata yet but I've driven enough Miata's to know I'll love them.

Cheap, fun, and great handling. Sounds good to me.

 

I helped a good friend put a Spec Miata together last winter and he let me race it a couple of times this summer. It is the best "bang for the buck" in racing right now! The car is cheap to run and lots of fun to drive. The car is currently being raced with the original 90,000 mile engine; it has 3 poles and has won 4 out of 8 races! (credit the owner's abilities). Its handling reminds me a lot of the S2000 and you don't really notice that you're going 20 mph slower down the straights in the Miata.

The class is really catching on, there are 24 Spec Miatas pre registered at the ARRC at Road Atlanta Nov 9 - 11. The owner, Scott Fredricksen, will run Saturday's sprint race, and we'll share the 2 hr enduro on Sunday. It should be a great weekend of racing. This event draws IT and SS cars from all over the country. Any of you Georgia S2ks ought to come see us!