Bought a Miata... Now what ???

[BruceG]

Let em' tease all they want about spec pinatas, Todd. They are a great car. I went thru racing school in a Formula Skip Barber and then switched to mx5 cup miatas. Talk about a forgiving car. Try doing the same thing at Lime Rock in a Formula Ford,etc and see the difference. They seem to cover up alot of beginner mistakes really well. Lower limit but much more forgiving on the same tires. Good luck with the new car.

Bruce

[ddewhurst]

Same to ya dude. Like the incident you you pointed out a week or so ago when an ITA car received a T bone from a Miata. As you described the incident the ITA car was PARKED two wheels OFF track. The friking car was about blocking the entire track with NO wheels OFF track. Not dissing the ITA driver. Must have been the Miata's fault.

[dickita15]

Must have been the Miata's fault.

Of course it is David. Because the Miata is a very forgiving car for a new driver they go faster than they would in another ITA car. If he had a harder to drive car he would not have been as close to Ritchie and would have had more time to react.

Seriously, we are going to pick of Miata’s, that life, it is probably because we are all jealous of the most popular car in club racing.

[tnord]

to the original poster....

what are your goals, and how much are you willing to spend to build the car, and how much are you willing to spend on tires each weekend? answering those three questions will tell you which class is a better fit for you.

[rhygin]

I did track days for a few years and sorta got up to speed slowly without being in and around other people. I slowly upgraded the safety aspects of my car first (belts, seat, HANs) and then mechanical stuff.

I chose ITA instead of SM for two reasons:
a) SM is nuts and a very good friend of mine has essentially left racing at present becasue he kept getting hit. For him it was not personal with anyone, just frustrating
b) More importantly... I saw and liekd the variety of cars. Pretty fun where some cars are faster in different places and you really get to learn where you have a shot at someone and where you are going to likely get stretched. Well... everyone seems to gap me pretty easily... but I like that:
- I can really, really, catch up on brakes
- I love watching prepped acuras rip away from me
- RX-7s (IT-7) drive me nuts with their gearing differences v. my miata
- Love watching a Z3s do a hippity-hob immitation in some corners
- Love wondering how the eff that CRZ went by me soooo fast.

I really like the "mixed" nature of the class and makes it quite interesting for me.

BB

[jcocke]

I raced SM in the SEDIV the past two years and loved it. Having someone to race with all the time made it very exciting. However, I never liked the politics that came with the nat'l class, it just wasn't for me. Nowadays, it seems if you don't have a 99+, you're at a disadvantage in the SCCA. I had a 1.6 and it was a great car. But it simply didn't have the power/torque of the 99+. Nonetheless, you will have someone to race with if you have a 1.6, but it will be much easier to get to the front with a 99+.

As far as contact is concerned, there was some in SM, but most of my body damage came from SRFs...they give you no room in the corners!

With all that being said, I'm switching over to ITS b/c I want to run faster, and the laid back atmosphere of the IT classes suits my personality, style, and budget much better. You spend much more money in the "Spec" classes than you initially think you will. Either way the Miatas are great cars.

[IPRESS]

Contact Andy B.
Follow his formula and if you do just a good bit of his development you will have a really good ITA car.
I built mine from his advice and the car is way better then the driver.

[type r rocket]

High strung?Whadda mean were not high strung,high strung no way,whats high strung really mean anyway,high strung?no freaken way I'm calm as a the guy who was seventh!!!!!
What do you mean that was your line?I was up to your rear bumper,that was my line, you drove into the front of my bumper with your rear wheel,are you crazy?Shit where did my restricter plate go,it was there when I started the race.Why did you hit me when I flew off track and was trying to get back on?I flashed my lights,that means I was coming back on,you should of moved over.
Naa I love these Toyos,these thing last like 3 seasons and then you can sell them to the IT guys.
Yea my computers stock,I'm not sure why it shifts up to 7800 rpms,it started doing that after I got it back from the motor guy.

Go IT racing,you"ll be better off.I switched to Spec Miata 5 years ago and it was 2 years to much.Looking to change class's again.I would love to go back to IT in the Miata but I'm not sure taking a $18,000 Miata putting another $5000 into it only to end up with a upper midpack IT car worth about $10,000 is really a smart thing to do.You know I never did get my check from the government earlier this year....

[Flyin' MacLean]

I ran my car in the South East division for 5 years. First 4 years in SM, last year in ITA.

Here are my comments. Take them for what they're worth, politically correct I am not, truthful I am

SM is a FANTASTIC class. You will learn more in 1 year of racing in SM than you will in 5 years of racing any other class. Period. The racing is closer, MUCH more intense, there is an extremely broad talent spectrum from the best racers in the country to frankly the worst racers in the country. There are guys spending 40K on their cars and there are guys spending 10K. The majority of cars in the division are high-dollar and run race motors and "professional" setups. The guy pulling his car on the trailer and working on the car himself is in the minority. There are typically 30+ cars in a race. Running up front requires a big dollar, time and talent investment.

ITA is a great class in this division also. The majority of racers are pulling the car on their own trailer and working on it themselves. There is much less pressure in the races. The racers in this class tend to be more experienced and less likely to put you in the wall if you try to pass them. It's a much less stressful class. The racing is more "fun" but I would question whether it's more rewarding. There are typically 10-15 cars in a race. You can run up front much easier in ITA than in SM.

In case you're wonderning why I switched from SM to ITA, the rules were changed to make my 1.6 basically uncompetitive in SM at the pointy end of the pack. I was very frustrated being outspent and I wanted to race with guys who shared my dollars to fun ratio The investment in my car was way less than your typical SM guy, I recently sold the car for less than 10K so that'll give you an idea of the car's value. I think most ITA cars are in that price range.

[Mike Spencer]

<snip>- RX-7s (IT-7) drive me nuts with their gearing differences v. my miata<snip>BB

Ha Ha!! So run ITA and you can have those gear rations, too! Well for what it's worth, you guys drive *me* nuts. You go around me in the corner, and then park in front of me when my car "hits its' stride"!

Seriously, just about the most fun I've had in a racecar was during the 13-hour race at VIR last November. Early in one of my stints I got behind a Spec Miata and something just clicked. He would work ahead of me during the corners, and then I would climb back up behind him and we would run down the last half of the straight nose-to-tail. We ran that way for almost half an hour. I was really bummed when he turned into the pits!

<snip>I really like the "mixed" nature of the class and makes it quite interesting for me.<snip>BB

rhygin++ Amen!! During an ECR last year, I found myself behind an ITA Civic. I was faster than him in a couple places, but he was faster in others. We fought nose-to-tail for 45 minutes. The absolute best part was in impound when I found out the Civic pilot was a friend of mine sharing a ride in someone else's car. We continue to talk about race that to this day!

I've never driven in SM and don't pretend to know what it would be like. But darnit, IT is a *great* place to drive!!!

[antivenom7]

what a timely thread. i have been pondering this myself. honestly after watching the SPEC guys bump each other just for giggles, i think IT is the way to go for me, at least for now.

quick question for you guys, what kind of disadvantage would SPEC car have in IT. I know the extent of the suspension mods is different.

[tnord]

you'll be missing 10-15hp with a SM compared to an ITA for a 1.6, but you'll be 45lbs lighter. 1.8 SM will be down 15-20hp from an ITA, but will need to weigh i think 35lbs more.