I think I did a dumb thing...

Scott · 11-17-05, 09:31 PM

Brand new Spec Miata on a '93 tub. I'll have to sort through the thing, but it looks like all the goodies are there.

Like I needed another distraction. But I just couldn't stand wasting all that expensive driving education any more.

Scott

40 Bud · 11-18-05, 04:08 PM

Geez, Scott - now you will never work on the 40!!

MustangJohnny · 11-18-05, 06:29 PM

No, not a dumb thing.. A FUN thing!

ErnestH · 11-18-05, 06:41 PM

I didnt know they put bodies on GoKarts now

dfreeman95 · 11-18-05, 07:07 PM

Definately a smart thing! Looks an awful lot like mine. Couple of red stripes on the front fenders and they could be clones. Best part is that you will really learn to momentum drive before that '40 hits the track. Really helped my driving when I got back into the high horsepower cars. Try not to fall asleep going down the straight at Thunderhill though! You will not get better bang for the buck. We laughed at the first guy in the Shelby club who bought one and now there are 6 in the club. Enjoy and maybe I will see you at T'hill or Sears.

Scott · 11-22-05, 06:55 PM

Bud,

I keep telling myself that somehow having this thing around will keep me in the garage more, increasing my chances of working on the 40. We'll see how well _that_ works.

Scott

Scott · 11-22-05, 06:59 PM

Hi, Don.

The bang-for-the-buck thing was sort of what I was thinking.

I need to put a catalytic converter on it and get it re-registered so I can drive it to the track (I don't have space for a trailer), then I'll see if I can't drive the hell out of it.

Scott

Ron Earp · 11-22-05, 09:11 PM

Defintely a good thing. Getting into racing a couple years ago was the best "car" thing I have ever done, bar none. One of the reasons why I am not here on the forum much any more, also no point in being here since I have no foreseeable GT40 coming my way in the near future. This post just attracted my interest on one of the few times I've stopped in over the weeks.

We now have six company race cars (built five of them) and I drive SM's fairly frequently. Wheel to wheel racing makes other on track events pale in comparison - it is really hard to go back to a track day again. SCCA SM is National in 2006 though and competition is heated already, it'll be really tough now.

You'll need to get a trailer for the car - it won't be competitive with a converter or muffler (you could do bolt on and off sections) and the suspension settings you'll need to run decent will wear a set of tires out in no time flat. If your distance is short you might get away with it, but running shaved Toyo RA1s on the street with at least -2 neg camber in front and -2.5 plus in the rear with some decent tow out up front makes for a rather twitchy street car, although I do it for short distances to ferry around.

You might laugh at my comment about power/mufflers, but if you start racing you to, will be scrambling to have 2+ hp on a car that struggles to make 110 rwhp without cheating. Our two high mileage cars, 195k and 130k, make 108 rwhp and 114 rwhp on stock motors with only SM legal changes, not bad since some struggle to make that with fresh crate motors. I've driven both back to back and 6hp, believe it or not, is like night and day.

Pay attention to the cage in your car too. A welded in built custom cage from someone that knows what they are doing makes a huge difference in stiffeness, obviously, and vibration modes. And, it makes a difference in handling. I've had the pleasure of driving well caged cars, and, bolt in but welded cage cars - again, night and day. See what you've got and if yours is not like the front runners in your area, make it like theirs.

Maybe we could trade some west coast/east coast SM seat time. I just had Malcolm and Jools over from the UK, both www.gt40s.com forum members, to run the 13 Hour Enduro at VIR, The Charge of the Headlight Brigade. Fantastic stuff and I think Malcolm will post a report soon. Thead here:

http://www.gt40s.com/ubbthreads/show...0/page/0#66646

Anyhow, hope you enjoy it, I know you will. Only think I can say negative about the cars is that they make you feel like Superman - brakes NEVER fade, handling is impeccable - it can be as loose as you like or push like a front driver depending on setup, and it is so easy to drive due to light controls. And of course, as mentioned above, on power tracks you can read War and Peace on the straights. Let me know if you want to come East and do some racing sometime, we can set you up in one of the SMs (we've got three) or one of the other cars that is a little less "tame" but more rewarding to drive.

Scott · 11-22-05, 09:52 PM

Ron,

I've done a wee bit of racing (Formula Dodge at Laguna Seca) and really enjoyed it. I did feel like I had to go a little easy because I didn't own the car. Not to mention the whole locking wheels/getting airborne thing. The short-term plan is to get the car streetable and do a bunch of track days. I'm not going to make any non-reversible performance (or compliance) changes to it, so I can always make it competitive when I get around to doing the racing thing. I'm thinking enduros.

I totally believe you regarding the 2hp. A rocketship this car is not.

Thanks for the offer of seat swapping. I'll definitely keep that in mind. I'd like to get some experience on some non-West Coast tracks at some point, in preparation for an eventual One Lap run.

Scott

Iron Sheik · 11-22-05, 10:47 PM

Oakland Son,

Praise be upon thee, you can now clean out your place and give away the stuff you will not be using;

Guinness

Wheels on the 40

Ohh yes, the Fiero

I will be there on Turkey day to pick em up.

CONGRATS,

Scott · 11-23-05, 01:37 PM

Actually, Farhad, I've got Fuller's London Pride pale ale on tap right now. Does that mean you aren't coming over?

Scott

Malcolm · 11-24-05, 11:47 AM

Ron is so right. I have played GTD40's for 15 years being on the road now for 13 years, but I only have had one race in the Spec Miata and that has screwed my head right up on where to go now. If I hadn't already made the decision to retire my GTD from competition, which I have done for 12 years, the decision to retire my GTD would have been made for me after that one race.

So a Spec Miata is a good acquisition in my books. And if it goes wrong it is not a total disaster. Bang for buck? 100% the best there is.

Ken Mason · 11-25-05, 05:30 AM

I have just bought a 92 MX5 import for road use. I always thought they were a bit girlie but needed something for everyday transport. saw one in a local garage and bought it the same day....and I love it! The handling fantastic - it's not very quick but there is enough poke to make life interesting. Top car - thoroughly recommend one to anyone.

Scott · 03-08-06, 03:31 PM

Well, the car survived taking me and my father through SCCA driver's school at Thunderhill Park this past weekend. Three days of caning the car around the short course and all it wanted from us was two tanks of fuel a day.

I won my dry race from 10th on the random grid, and we managed to keep the car on track (mostly) and intact (except for one tiny rub mark on the right rear fender lip; wonder how that got there...) despite a lot of rain on Sunday and distinctly tread-free Toyo's. (4 days at Laguna seca and 4 days at Thunderhill will apparently do that to a set of tires.)

I have to agree that Spec Miata seems like a really good bang for the buck, but it also looks like it will be very difficult to be competetive without a serious understanding of chassis setup and a lot of testing at various tracks. My instructor is a pro-level Spec Miata guy and he had me make a totally counter-intuitive chassis adjustment that knocked seconds off my lap times on a 1.9 mile track.

Scott

Malcolm · 03-08-06, 04:59 PM

And the counter intuitive chassis thing was?.....

Well done on the driver school, you will love racing [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif[/img]

Scott · 03-08-06, 06:27 PM

The counter intuitive chassis thing was setting up the car for right-hand turns on a predominantly (eight of 11 turns) left-hand track. So much for "road racers rarely use asymmetrical setups".

I was pleased to find that my theory about being more aggressive in my own hardware panned out. When I was racing rental cars I always held back a bit because I would feel bad pranging a car that someone had entrusted to me. I know that doesn't make much sense, but there you go.

Scott