this morning I got outcornered by a Miata pretty badly.. embarassing

At a stoplight two, two left turn lanes, we were out the outside. I was behind him.. he goes smoothly thru the turns and puts all 150 hp down on the ground.. while I was behind him, but right at the end the back stepped out a little and I had to back off a little.. watching him pull away.. booo.

I blame my old bald hardened cold Comp T/A's, that waiting to be replaced this weekend..

 

heh. pretty much stock 99 Z28 with a 6 speed. lid, exhaust, sfc, and 17" SS rims with a toasted set of Comp T/A's. Hawk HPS pads up and KVR rotors up front. Next set of tire I'm trying are Kumho 712's.. They look like they would be a decent dry and wet weather tire(rains alot in Portland during the winter), and they are inexpensive.

Its my daily driver, and occasional autox and drag strip days..

The only mod I'm considering right now are shocks, since I know my stock decarbons are shot. Being tight on funsd, I figure I'll just concentrate on being a better driver by going ot autox and attending a school.

also, i did not go roll futher in the gas afterwards because the lanes merge into one... making it really seem like the miata killed me..

Ah well. Don't blame the car, blame the driver.

 

A great set of shocks and a larger front sway bar and you won't believe how much better planted the rear will stay. Tires too of course.

 

The car weighs about 1250 pounds less than you do, so to match the grip that the Miata has, your 17x9"s wont cut it.

Get some more seat time on a real track, the streets aren't the best place to go racing regardless. A good track should have a nice clean surface, versus a dirty street, run off space (hopefully), no comparison.

 

You don't know how refreshing that is to hear someone say they're going to focus on becoming a better driver instead of throwing parts on the car. You have the right approach. Train yourself first. You'll sell your car eventually and if you're not a better driver, you'll start all over again with another car, throwing money at it.

Now, for another point. Miatas can embarrass a lot of us. Heck, I was at Gingerman Raceway a couple of weekends ago and was behind a Miata. I noticed he was moving along pretty quickly and then he got stuck behind a slow runner. I caught up before he could pass the slower guy and we both passed the slower car at the same time. We went into the turn and he just inched away. When we hit the straightaway I couldn't catch him. Now I was getting a little irritated. Anyway, over the next few laps he put a good distance on me. After the session I talked to him for awhile and saw he was on street tires no less (albeit those sticky Falken Azenis). I was on Kumho Victos. Talked to him some more and found out he had a full suspension under it and 220 RWHP with a turbo and intercooler. My LT1 is maybe 20 HP over stock if i'm lucky. Heck, that thing would be a terror with some race tires under it. He had also done Gingerman 4 times before and this was my first time. Miatas aren't for me, but they can sure as heck embarrass some nice cars on a road course, to say nothing of a tight autox course.

 

A stock Miata is one thing, but one with 220 RWHP is damn near unstoppable. Just make sure not to drool every time you see him lap you

 

I have ran with a couple of Miata's and they seem to handle very well. On the more technical track where HP is less of an advantage, then they are dayum hard to stay with.

On the higher HP tracks then you would have less trouble, although they will run similiar times as you would. So driver can still play a big part.

 

220 rear wheel HP, after the turbo. The original stock Miata (which this one was) is less than 140 HP at the flywheel even. I had a Dodge GLH Turbo that I bumped up to just over 250 FWHP (front wheel horsepower) and it was a similar weight to a Miata (2400 lbs. without driver). It ran a 13.1 @ 110 MPH in the 1/4 mile on some autocross tires before they came out with the FWD slicks. It could never handle as well as the Firebird though.

For a comparison there was a stock Miata with race tires in our same group at Gingerman. He was a moving roadblock in the straightaways and I could out handle him in the turns also. This turbo Miata was another story.

 

I believe the first Miatas came out with a paltry 122 HP (check www.edmunds.com ). The 70 240Z came in around 2300 pounds with 151HP at the crank, which for the time was pretty good (about a HP a cube, 2.4L), although not the power to weight ratio we have (not that far from an LT1 car though).

Now imagine them lightened a bit 2000-2200#, big wheels/tires 16x8" to 17x11", and 400-600HP

 

Miata = slow street legal shifter cart.

 

yeah, it's Driver, then tires, then car

if drivers and tires are equal, the miata will win in autox or generally twisty against a Camaro. For instance, in autox in 2000, i actually beat miatas driven by inexperienced drivers, but never beat the experienced drivers.

on the street, the miata can enter and exit turns faster, but you should eat him on the straight that follows if 1) you were close behind in the turn, 2) you are a better driver, 3) your tires are not shot.

also, for straight-line accel, an estimated weight/hp ratio: 2200 / 220 rwhp = 10 lbs/hp

you would need 340 rwhp in a 3400 lb car to equal that ratio