it's not just a ban this, ban that, add weight problem. it is that, but there's so much more.

it's a combination of development curve and emotional problem. Small, RWD sportscars, epitomized by miatae, are better than generally more compromised trunk and 4 seat touring cars. fact. but a fact that CAN be dealt with. miatas will always (or have always, since about 5 years into the existence of SM) be ahead of the curve because of the massive numbers and existing development of the car and the drivers of them, so coaching, parts, setups, etc.. are all well vetted and avaialable. that means that without fail, miatas show up quickly, and some of them show up up front.

the other fact, though harder to provide objective evidence for, is that people are sick to death of getting beaten by miatas. true or not, the perceived advantages, success rate, and "miataness" irks people who want to run competitively with similar cars to their own and FEEL, true or not, that they CANNOT compete with a miata in [insert favorite FWD/TC/larger 2 or 3 box car here]. just because SOME examples of other chassis/engines have been identified as overdogs DOESN'T change that feeling. and frankly, $ to $ and hour per hour, the development IN miatas means Joe Average CAN get a faster miata for less effort and money than he can get an equally fast [whatever]. this puts the burden on the not miata guys to A: work harder than the other guys, B: buy a miata, C: just suck it up and go for best of the rest, or D: park it, find another hobby. a lot of people don't want to or have time/resources enough for A, and B might be unnatractive or no longer financially viable leading to C and, often, D.

if you have a civic, IS300, VW, or Focus (or hell, even an S2000, 240SX, or other good sportscar) and are thinking about running in STL - you have to look at the class and start figuring out how to beat miatas and the difficulty of that is going to stop some builds before they start. it will inspire some people, too - but I bet there's a smaller number of those.

a large part of the reason we spend the money to do this is the emotional connection to the car, and that comes with a lot of baggage notions. Just as the bomber IT guys were driven out by the pro-build IT guys, the miatas run the risk of driving the touring car guys out of STL (or preventing them from coming to play in the first place) as they unbalance the class as perceived. this isn't all about how to make it work on a spreadsheet, even if that spreadsheet is based on real-world facts. the single fact to consider is the happiness of the "customer" because the happy customer comes back and comes back more often. some people don't pick a class, pick the car, and go out to win. many people want to race their favorite car, and they want to feel like they COULD win, even if they do not. they are sick of seeing miatas, sharing tracks with maiata, HEARING the miatas.

I know I'm not offering a solution, but seriously, some of you vulcans seriously miss the point. this is a place where people throw away money that would be better spent in college and retirement savings, philanthropy, whatever. as soon as the experience is "not fun" enough that someone thinks about that vs. WANTING to spend the money to come out and play, they'll stop. since everyone seems to like metaphors here: the carrot has to appear in reach, and it has to look fresh and tasty, too.