I know it's the wrong kind of car and all, and the local P-car people get a bit antsy about a cheap non-German car beating them, but I have a perfectly legitimate turtle riding my left fender:

 

Great shot, Mike! Glad you're wearing your colors proudly

Perhaps I've got a bit of a different take when I'm on the track, but I actually think it's cool for a lower-HP car to pass me. It reminds me that:
a) I could be doing more, and
b) that driver is more skilled and deserves some kudos.

And every now and then, I actually get to experience "that" feeling, albeit rarely

Oh, and did all go well with that autoX in another's 993?...

Edward

 

Hey, Miata does well enough in two local PCA series (NER and NCR) to the dismay of the P-crowd. I enjoy their needling and instruct for free :-)

Edward, I did not get to drive a 993 yet. I hope to get a couple runs in it before driving it in Zone 1 two-day event in October. Or I'll have to do it from scratch and learn there.

I co-drove a bone-stock Boxster this Sunday. On Continental tires. On a _perfect_ course, no less. This was one of the more paranoid experiences I've had in a car. I finally got the pressures dialed in where Boxster started to rotate for me. The car did everything well, except accelerate, brake and turn. It had plenty of power and very good brakes, but the tires would not allow me to apply them. I gave the owner a ride and he was looking at me kind of funny. Tires were screaming for entire 80 seconds and car was wagging its tail. Smoke was coming out of the pads, tires were hot to the touch - you know, the normal autocross experience. One good thing came out of it - he learned that you can actually wiggle the car through the gates and not drive it through and you can steer with your right foot.

I also got to drive a 911 (pre-964, I think) that belonged to my students on a couple of runs just to show them what the car can do. Street tires, unknown setup, unknown pressures. It was fascinating to me. I don't dare to do this with my 993 on the street, but it was the purest form of applying weigh transfer principles. Point the car in any direction, steer with your right foot. My student asked me "how come the rear end constantly slides and we never spun"? By the end of the day he was sliding the car too.

 

Hey, I resemble that remark. Kim, your Miata has a full 2 seconds on my P-Car 944 SPEC LX(luxury model with AC & radio) at Laguna Seca. So now who drives the turtle, or drives like a turtle??? My turtle needs to follow your turtle to get a bit more speed, not that a turtle would want more speed.

Mike and Kim, I love the Miata as a track car and actually that is how I ended up going down the SPEC 944 route. I rode in a friends SPEC Miata and was blown away by how much fun the car was. I did the 944 as I really like PCA & POC and the 944 class is getting very competative. These momentum cars are a hoot to drive and surprisingly fast...at least downhill

 

That's the beauty of autocross - all the 700 hp cars can do is go fast _if_ there are straight sections
We actually have a pair of pretty fast drivers in a 993 TT. Very well suspended, somewhat modified, fast as hell. I usually beat it in a Miata on an autocross course. That TT is also often co-driven by some of our fastest people, those who PAX over me by 2 seconds in theur own cars. I beat them too when they drive the 993 TT. It's simply a very hard car to drive. I should get around to trying it sometime.

 

ugh, i need a spec miata.

 

and i heard that there's one for sale... your ex...