Spec miata
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3,055
Likes: 3
From: Westchester/Fairfield County
Spec miata
So Ive been looking more and more at moving to w2w along with TT. In going down the route I've been watching a ton of miata race videos and honestly can't imagine why anyone would want to race anything else.
So far the reasons I've heard are:
Crappy cars lots of failures
Too much money on body parts
Too dangerous
Too expensive, $50k+ to be competitive
Too much about racecraft and not about driving/cars
Wanted to get everyone else's thoughts here. If you're here chances are you choose not to run Miatas just want to get the logic behind it, again looking at SCCA run off and other videos, I don't think ive ever seen something as exciting!
So far the reasons I've heard are:
Crappy cars lots of failures
Too much money on body parts
Too dangerous
Too expensive, $50k+ to be competitive
Too much about racecraft and not about driving/cars
Wanted to get everyone else's thoughts here. If you're here chances are you choose not to run Miatas just want to get the logic behind it, again looking at SCCA run off and other videos, I don't think ive ever seen something as exciting!
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,342
Likes: 0
I'm doing 4 local races with SCCA next year in Spec Miata.
I've been around it locally for a little while, have watched the full race videos at SCCA Runoffs, and talked with a good friend who has ran one locally for years.
My thoughts:
Crappy cars lots of failures
- Naw. A basic build is quite reliable. But maybe not so for building a ridiculous motor that has a chance of podiuming at the runoffs.
Too much money on body parts
- I think a mid pack guy banging doors everywhere would have that problem. Probably region dependent. Folks race very clean and respectful in New England. I have heard the opposite in other parts of the country.
Too dangerous
- LOL. No more dangerous than any other form of racing. The speeds in spec miata are quite slow to be honest. The only danger would be due to aggressive douches making bad judgement calls and running out of talent. That happens everywhere though.
Too expensive, $50k+ to be competitive
- It's cheap to run a car regionally and have fun. It's not cheap to build a car with a top motor trying to win the runoffs.
Too much about racecraft and not about driving/cars
- Having driven SM's on track and in autocross and watching the runoffs videos, there is some truth to this, yes definitely. The cars are very light, on sticky tires, with very little power, making the throttle not a complete on/off switch, but not far from it. From this perspective they are very easy to drive. That said, they are like go karts, in that a minor mistake in the corner can cost a LOT of time on the straight since you aren't really accelerating that well.
But the problem with this is that the draft on higher speed tracks/tracks with long straights becomes a big deal. So it's very hard to outdrive someone and build a gap if they can hang on to the slipstream.
It has its Pro's and Con's. My main reason for doing it is that I want to get my competition license, and that it is a relatively low cost way to get out there and be moderately competitive regionally (co-driving with a friend).
As it stands, I have to say, Lemons or ChumpCar is an absolute blast. If you haven't considered that yet, I would recommend it. It's a great way to hone race craft skills, and the lower grip street tires put some good onus on the driver.
I've been around it locally for a little while, have watched the full race videos at SCCA Runoffs, and talked with a good friend who has ran one locally for years.
My thoughts:
Crappy cars lots of failures
- Naw. A basic build is quite reliable. But maybe not so for building a ridiculous motor that has a chance of podiuming at the runoffs.
Too much money on body parts
- I think a mid pack guy banging doors everywhere would have that problem. Probably region dependent. Folks race very clean and respectful in New England. I have heard the opposite in other parts of the country.
Too dangerous
- LOL. No more dangerous than any other form of racing. The speeds in spec miata are quite slow to be honest. The only danger would be due to aggressive douches making bad judgement calls and running out of talent. That happens everywhere though.
Too expensive, $50k+ to be competitive
- It's cheap to run a car regionally and have fun. It's not cheap to build a car with a top motor trying to win the runoffs.
Too much about racecraft and not about driving/cars
- Having driven SM's on track and in autocross and watching the runoffs videos, there is some truth to this, yes definitely. The cars are very light, on sticky tires, with very little power, making the throttle not a complete on/off switch, but not far from it. From this perspective they are very easy to drive. That said, they are like go karts, in that a minor mistake in the corner can cost a LOT of time on the straight since you aren't really accelerating that well.
But the problem with this is that the draft on higher speed tracks/tracks with long straights becomes a big deal. So it's very hard to outdrive someone and build a gap if they can hang on to the slipstream. It has its Pro's and Con's. My main reason for doing it is that I want to get my competition license, and that it is a relatively low cost way to get out there and be moderately competitive regionally (co-driving with a friend).
As it stands, I have to say, Lemons or ChumpCar is an absolute blast. If you haven't considered that yet, I would recommend it. It's a great way to hone race craft skills, and the lower grip street tires put some good onus on the driver.
Former Moderator
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,729
Likes: 8
#1 Don't want to own or maintain a Miata.
#2 At the top level it IS about the car and not as much about the driver. See the fiasco that wound up having a whole bunch of the top 10 drivers at the runoffs DQ'd for cheating.
#3 Regionally, T3 runs in the same group as Spec Miata. All the drama without any of the mess.
For me, Spec Miata isn't really Spec (again, see cheating incident).
I would run SRF (Spec Racer Ford) for a truly spec class if I wasn't averse to being crushed in a tin can.
The class that appeals most to me philosophically is something really Spec.
Like MX-5 cup.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/11/05/2...-cup-official/
Everything sealed from the factory.
But for me, the closest thing to it was SSB (showroom stock) previously and T3 (touring 3) currently
#2 At the top level it IS about the car and not as much about the driver. See the fiasco that wound up having a whole bunch of the top 10 drivers at the runoffs DQ'd for cheating.
#3 Regionally, T3 runs in the same group as Spec Miata. All the drama without any of the mess.
For me, Spec Miata isn't really Spec (again, see cheating incident).
I would run SRF (Spec Racer Ford) for a truly spec class if I wasn't averse to being crushed in a tin can.
The class that appeals most to me philosophically is something really Spec.
Like MX-5 cup.
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/11/05/2...-cup-official/
Everything sealed from the factory.
But for me, the closest thing to it was SSB (showroom stock) previously and T3 (touring 3) currently
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3,055
Likes: 3
From: Westchester/Fairfield County
I'm doing 4 local races with SCCA next year in Spec Miata.
I've been around it locally for a little while, have watched the full race videos at SCCA Runoffs, and talked with a good friend who has ran one locally for years.
My thoughts:
Crappy cars lots of failures
- Naw. A basic build is quite reliable. But maybe not so for building a ridiculous motor that has a chance of podiuming at the runoffs.
Too much money on body parts
- I think a mid pack guy banging doors everywhere would have that problem. Probably region dependent. Folks race very clean and respectful in New England. I have heard the opposite in other parts of the country.
Too dangerous
- LOL. No more dangerous than any other form of racing. The speeds in spec miata are quite slow to be honest. The only danger would be due to aggressive douches making bad judgement calls and running out of talent. That happens everywhere though.
Too expensive, $50k+ to be competitive
- It's cheap to run a car regionally and have fun. It's not cheap to build a car with a top motor trying to win the runoffs.
Too much about racecraft and not about driving/cars
- Having driven SM's on track and in autocross and watching the runoffs videos, there is some truth to this, yes definitely. The cars are very light, on sticky tires, with very little power, making the throttle not a complete on/off switch, but not far from it. From this perspective they are very easy to drive. That said, they are like go karts, in that a minor mistake in the corner can cost a LOT of time on the straight since you aren't really accelerating that well. But the problem with this is that the draft on higher speed tracks/tracks with long straights becomes a big deal. So it's very hard to outdrive someone and build a gap if they can hang on to the slipstream.
It has its Pro's and Con's. My main reason for doing it is that I want to get my competition license, and that it is a relatively low cost way to get out there and be moderately competitive regionally (co-driving with a friend).
As it stands, I have to say, Lemons or ChumpCar is an absolute blast. If you haven't considered that yet, I would recommend it. It's a great way to hone race craft skills, and the lower grip street tires put some good onus on the driver.
I've been around it locally for a little while, have watched the full race videos at SCCA Runoffs, and talked with a good friend who has ran one locally for years.
My thoughts:
Crappy cars lots of failures
- Naw. A basic build is quite reliable. But maybe not so for building a ridiculous motor that has a chance of podiuming at the runoffs.
Too much money on body parts
- I think a mid pack guy banging doors everywhere would have that problem. Probably region dependent. Folks race very clean and respectful in New England. I have heard the opposite in other parts of the country.
Too dangerous
- LOL. No more dangerous than any other form of racing. The speeds in spec miata are quite slow to be honest. The only danger would be due to aggressive douches making bad judgement calls and running out of talent. That happens everywhere though.
Too expensive, $50k+ to be competitive
- It's cheap to run a car regionally and have fun. It's not cheap to build a car with a top motor trying to win the runoffs.
Too much about racecraft and not about driving/cars
- Having driven SM's on track and in autocross and watching the runoffs videos, there is some truth to this, yes definitely. The cars are very light, on sticky tires, with very little power, making the throttle not a complete on/off switch, but not far from it. From this perspective they are very easy to drive. That said, they are like go karts, in that a minor mistake in the corner can cost a LOT of time on the straight since you aren't really accelerating that well.
But the problem with this is that the draft on higher speed tracks/tracks with long straights becomes a big deal. So it's very hard to outdrive someone and build a gap if they can hang on to the slipstream. It has its Pro's and Con's. My main reason for doing it is that I want to get my competition license, and that it is a relatively low cost way to get out there and be moderately competitive regionally (co-driving with a friend).
As it stands, I have to say, Lemons or ChumpCar is an absolute blast. If you haven't considered that yet, I would recommend it. It's a great way to hone race craft skills, and the lower grip street tires put some good onus on the driver.
Or as CKIT adds tap into the new Mx5 series, that does look awesome! I forgot about the cheating, thanks for bringining it back up! Perhaps the spec Miata in current form is on the back side of its racing life, but man seeing videos like this one here just blows my mind!!!
http://youtu.be/8sp6mSSK7g8
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 266
Likes: 1
From: Missouri
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,355
Likes: 0
I run SSM with the DC region of SCCA. It's a ton of fun and relatively cheap. I don't know where you're located but we have a few people that make the drive down from New Jersey. The only cars permitted are 90-93 Miatas and everybody has to take their car to one of two dynos to have it tuned to the same HP and then it gets sealed. Car counts are consistently above 30 and we had a few last year that were over 40. Two sets of tires can last all year, brakes are cheap, tires are cheap, wheels are cheap. The cars are easy to work on. As far as "top prep" goes I don't think our class is anywhere near spec Miata when talking about a home built car vs a pro built car. I built mine in my garage for 10k including the cost of the car and by the end of my first season (last year) I was usually somewhere between P10 and P15. If cheap and close racing is what your looking for SSM is where it's at. If you search youtube for MARRS SSM you should find some pretty entertaining videos.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,101
Likes: 27
From: Ohio
Maybe I will check out one chump or lemons. I am running NASA comp school in April, but will just get provisional and won't do a race till later in season. Need 4 for licnese. Who know I may rent a miata for them! SM may be good in my case to develop racecraft skills locally in New England, and eventually compete in s2000 in other classes probably in an NA form at that time....
Or as CKIT adds tap into the new Mx5 series, that does look awesome! I forgot about the cheating, thanks for bringining it back up! Perhaps the spec Miata in current form is on the back side of its racing life, but man seeing videos like this one here just blows my mind!!!
http://youtu.be/8sp6mSSK7g8
Or as CKIT adds tap into the new Mx5 series, that does look awesome! I forgot about the cheating, thanks for bringining it back up! Perhaps the spec Miata in current form is on the back side of its racing life, but man seeing videos like this one here just blows my mind!!!
http://youtu.be/8sp6mSSK7g8
Fwiw, I'm doing NASA comp school at in april too, at mid ohio. For now just planning on PT regionally. Maybe eventually nationals
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,742
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So Ive been looking more and more at moving to w2w along with TT. In going down the route I've been watching a ton of miata race videos and honestly can't imagine why anyone would want to race anything else.
Wanted to get everyone else's thoughts here. If you're here chances are you choose not to run Miatas just want to get the logic behind it, again looking at SCCA run off and other videos, I don't think ive ever seen something as exciting!
Wanted to get everyone else's thoughts here. If you're here chances are you choose not to run Miatas just want to get the logic behind it, again looking at SCCA run off and other videos, I don't think ive ever seen something as exciting!
I think the vast majority of folks on this forum don't do W2W racing, and/or don't have any desire to. Real racing is a lot riskier/dangerous undoubtedly than HPDE and TT, not to mention it requires a tow vehicle/trailer/etc. I have heard of a few people move on from doing HPDE's in their s2k to doing spec miata racing. It seems like a natural progression for many.
I've watched a handful of youtube videos and know I lack the cojones to bother with W2W racing. 
