Drew_K

I haven't raced mine yet, but I've heard that SM's tend to get 'intimate' on track!

Drew_K

Not very often. The trick is to hang back a bit during any turns before passing straights and then accelerate hard at corner exit to get a good run. People seem to be pretty good about letting me by.

I said I wouldn't get into the Porsche vs SM debate, but I'll dip my foot in the pool: If I was only going to DE the car, I'd rather run a Porsche, aka turnkey track car. However, if my local track was very technical with minimal straights or I had concerns about safety due to lack of runoff areas, I'd lean towards a SM. Just my $0.000002.

38D

All the freaking time. When you get to the higher run groups, egos come into play. There is almost no one that will allow themselves to be passed by a absurdly slow car like a 2.0 914. Given the car's "accelerationly challenged" disposition, here was a typical lap at Watkins Glen. Go into turn 1, give 1 car the signal. No lift into T2 (obviously) and actually start to catch the idiot that I had given the signal to after T1. Car starts to pull away at apex of 3, 2-3 more cars catch up given my ~95mph terminal velocity. Give 2-3 more signal down back straight. Cars are now 10+ cars lengths ahead entering the busstop. Catch up under braking and have to slow down until well after the apex of T6. Become cranky. They pull away, another car has caught up. Give him the signal. On his *** all thru the downhill. Car in front finally gets on the gas and pulls way ahead down the laces. Go into the toe. Actually catch the guy in front while entering the toe. Wonder how my grandmother got into the event. 95hp is not fast up the hill...consider taking a nap. Give give 3 more signals down the sole. Catch last car in the heel. Catch up to car in the off-camber. No signal from him. Go into the fast left (no lift of course). Catching car in front so rapidly that I think I may see god. On rear bumper inthe last turn. No signal...powers away like I am a tug boat...will see him again in the same spot next lap. Take 45 seconds to get down the front straight. Contemplate future car upgrades...

Lather, rinse, repeat. It got old.

That being said, driving such a slow car taught me what I know today (club race rookie this year, 3 races, 3 podiums).

Greg Fishman

Greg,
Thanks. His was a name that came up when I talked to another shop. That shops advice was to have the car at a shop central to where you would be racing. I think I could handle Florida in the middle of the winter.

ColorChange

Hmm.... one for, one against.

What do you think about the NASCAR car idea?

hrk

About Nascar,
I thought you wanted to slow down. These are very fast.
Lots of steel around you, not much tire for 3500# weight.
Not cheap to run since weight eats tires and brakes.

Greg Fishman

NASCAR car would be awesome and you could put a relatively sedate motor in the car~ 350-400hp and be reliable. Brakes might be a concern but $$ could solve that problem. Not sure what tire availability or durability would be.

Friend drove an older WC car at Road Atlanta and said it was one of the most fun things he had done. This is a guy that has driven 996GT3RS's, etc. He said the acceleration was unreal.

M758

SM is the best.

I agree that you will have trouble in DE with point and shoot types. What actaully helps is bunch of race decals. Then some folks get the message that this car is fast. No decals and it will look like and old slow miata.

Also of you can run with group that allows open passing then you can just pass them in the corners and be done with it.

STILL... you will learn an awfull lot trying to hustle a low hp car around the track and how to pass those big hp point and shoot types.

sjanes

Boy, you're a guy of extreems aren't ya. Miata or NA$YCAR Cup car. Why not try something like a 964 cup car:
-factory built with all the safety stuff
-fast enough not to get bored
-already developed
-already has a class to race in when the kids grow up

I don't know how cheap one of these would be to run, but others here do.

ColorChange

sjanes, I know I sound schizoid, but here is what I'm thinking.

Guys regularly put these things into walls and each other at over 200mph. Almost always they walk away no matter how ugly. I think they are the safest cars on the planet. Now if I have it geared to go no faster than 140, I figure I should be in pretty good shape. I get to go fast, safely, and they are supposed to be great fun. The drawbacks are higher consumables, more maintenance cost, and probably more set-up work. Also tailoring is a little more difficult due to the weight. I would drop the strain on the motor (lower the hp) to increase reliability. Seems like a possible alternative.

Check this out. http://www.cars-on-line.com/21046.html


The other is the new '06 Pro spec miata. They are supposed to have these for next season and I would try to get one. The biggest concern here is getting stuck behind other cars. It may take some more set-up work and not as be safe as the cup.

964 means old and higher chances for major mechanical problems. I really don’t want an old car.

BBailey

This option might not work depending on how the '06 Pro Miata cars are allocated. Its very possible these are allocated only to teams/individuals that commit to running the series. And since there is relatively little if any concrete information on cost/release date/etc at this point it might be something to consider so you don't put your eggs in a basket and have the basket end up with a hole in it.

For what its worth, I've got an '01 996 thats fully prepped to just beyond PCA stock class standards (interior is stripped since its prepped for Grand-Am CUP racing) and upgraded to a 2005 spec 3.6L engine and ECU. I'm likely going to upgrade to a 997 for next season and will probably be selling this car in a couple of months once the season is over. Stock engined 996 with trick suspension and all the safety equipment you could ever want might be something to consider. It's also already got AIM data acq. installed. And its fast enough at DE's that you have no problem getting point by's but isn't so fast that you're worried about doing any real damage to yourself in a wreck of any kind. There are also a few other similarly prepped 3.4L cars out there for sale currently as well.

__________________
Brian Bailey
Autometrics Motorsports Porsche 996 - Grand-Am Cup #45
'87 Porsche 944 Turbo - PCA GT3s

ed devinney

Hmmm, interesting idea, but: "As close to the real thing as possible" might or might not mean "safe as Buddy Baker's car" IMO. Also, I'd bet that a 5 year old Nascar or clone won't be fundamentally less problematic than any other older race car...

The miata will probably make you happiest, for a while, and then you can move to something else. In the mean time you'll be driving. Safely.

ltc

CC,
If you are looking at NASCAR type stock cars, a road racing chassis with the Jericho transmission is suggested; the standard speedway gearboxes are not well suited to road courses.

ltc

Ouch, that's hitting a little too close to home (see sig).............

gbaker

Hey, you could make Florida your Southern Command Center! Just pop down during the winter for some arrive and drives.