gbuff

All true regarding these cars you mention, but their lap times don't compare to a Radical or other sports racer (OP states he's not interested in a "slower" car).

Gary

85Gold

Only 2 in NASA spec class. There was one running in ST1 running in the 2:13 range but I have no way of knowing if it was stock.

Peter

Plavan

Yeah- only 2 Spec Np01's at Sebring- And the ST1 NP01 (Higher output motor- 216hp to wheels). We just had 9 at Thunderhill last month.

For those that think they are slow- At Laguna Seca, the same weekend- The Pirelli Yokohama series was racing with NASA. The top NP01's were faster than ALL GT4 Clubsports by a few seconds, ALL 996 Cupcars, pretty much even with the 997 Cupcars, ~2 seconds slower than the 991 Cupcars. Keep in mind all the Porsche's were on SLICKS. We (NP01's) were on Toyo RR's (DOT tires).

The cars are fast in the right hands with right setup. They are momentum cars with Aero.

Side note- There were 2 enduros this last weekend with the SCCA (Thunderhill) and NASA (Sonoma). The NP01 finished 2nd overall at Thunderhill and 2nd & 3rd overall at Sonoma ( 2nd place NP01 got passed by a modified Porsche Cup Car in the last 10min)
Again- The NP01 is a great weapon in the right hands while only requiring "Miata Maintenance". Its cheap to run!

Would I like more power in mine? Sure- Who would ever say no to that? They are no slouch while making you a better driver. You can't rely on huge HP/TQ to make up for your mistakes.

Best bang for the buck.

Coochas

I don’t know if the OP would consider it but Formula Mazdas run 20-30k and run similar times to 6-cups. In my middle aged hands:
Sebring 2:13
VIR 1:58
WGI 1:57
Trenendous bang for the buck and you feel like an F1 driver except with 1/3 the G’s. They can take a lot of hours without issues. Lots of fun. PM me if interested.

hughp3

Hey Coochas - a 1:58 at VIR is excellent, congrats! I am fixated on the SR1 right now + waiting to see if local support may come about. The Elan looks good, received a nice note from Rennlister here that says heat not an issue but that car does require a cool suit. I would rather not, been there with the Cup. The SR3 looks too much car for me although I guess i can drive it slow . I emailed Radical UK for current US$ parts list.

CharleyH

Why do you think the SR3 is too much car for you?

hughp3

Charley from what i have researched SR3 is good for a very fast 1:26 at road Atlanta. I do not want to be a poser, My best at RA is a 1:35.4 in RS with TBT of 1:32.6 (cannot hook those segments together ugh). I feel good for at least a 1:33 or better but getting into the twenties is fast. If i cannot do say 90% of the cars limit not going to fare well when first race comes around. I feel i can take the SR1 closer to its potential, learn from that car and maybe later jump to SR3. Thoughts?

ProCoach

Yes, lots of bang for the buck. My comments weren't a slam. The idea is really good, but if it's a spec series, it needs to stay a spec series, and I'm not sure that it is, with cars running in ST. That's all.

The ClubSport GT4's have been two to four seconds quicker at Road Atlanta than the only published time I've seen for the NP01, which is a high 1:32-low 1:33

dizzy8085

Here is a video of one the with with a built motor that runs hoosiers. Setup for NASA ST1 class. 126.6. For the money. I would still rather a radical. My friends have radicals and they are cheaper used. When running a built MZR. I'm sure rebuild costs are pretty similar.

ProCoach

Built, bigger MZR. Hoosier slicks, too. Not the original spec. I predict gearbox wear and ring and pinion replacement cycles will increase.

THIS could be a good track day car, but it's no longer "the spec" originally envisioned.

CharleyH

I may be biased, but it seems like the SR3 has a lot more going for it. It is an extremely refined and capable car that is a dream to drive and straight forward to maintain. There is also a deeper pool of knowledge on the SR3s because there are so many more of them. I would recommend driving both. I can tell you that the paddle shifters on the SR3 are fantastic on the track (I don’t think they are available on the SR1). I can’t imagine going back to a non paddle shifted race car. There were a lot of comments in this post about how small an SR 3 is... but an SR1 is considerably smaller.

If you are concerned that there will be much faster drivers than you I can assure you that there will be in both classes. I was at Laguna Seca this year when the Radical challenge was there so I was out on track with many of them (I was not competing in the Challenge). And there was a wide disparity between the fastest and slowest drivers competing in the challenge. I was faster than some of the drivers and I was about 10 seconds slower than the fastest. Everyone had a great time regardless of how fast they were. I went up to one of the fastest drivers and asked him if I could get a copy of his AIM video data so I could learn to be faster and he freely shared it with me. By the way he was an amazing driver and was literally getting the car airborn coming over the corkscrew.

The bottom line is that all of the people that I met that race radicals were great people that were willing to help you go faster. There is greater than 12 seconds differential in lap times for the people competing, and it isn’t a problem. Also, you can get a very solid used SR3 for a very reasonable price that will be very competitive and much more capable than an SR 1. If you are going to go for it I would recommend going all the way to the SR3... you should have a larger field and you will have a great time learning the car.

But you can’t go wrong with either car, so drive them both and get the one that meets your needs the best.

Have fun,
Charley

hughp3

thoughtful post charley! glad to know there are times differences and would not be just me. makes me rethink yet again. btw SR1 does have paddle shift. i will try to drive both.

Plavan

Of the ~35 NP01's sold to date. Only 3 do not have Spec motors.
BTW West Coast NP01 drivers are always faster than the East Coast drivers..... :P

Just adding Hoosiers to a Spec NP01 without changing any settings netted a 4 second/lap decrease at Watkins Glen. Crazy. I really wish we could run Hoosiers.

ProCoach

Hahaha! Touche!

Wow, that's surprising. From RR's to slicks, that's a lot. Especially for a car designed to be run on R-comps.

fatbillybob

???? I thought the whole point is to have spec class and no arms race? So what are people putting in the NP-01's and how do you equalize the class? Are those 3 outliers doing something else like trackdays and not class racing?