Perfect Track Beast

Guys, I drove Keith Vs SM Turbo in the SCCA Green Country Grand Prix at Hallett this weekend. It was an absolute blast. He really has a great concept and has done it right. A basic spec miata add: wider wheels and tires, an FMII Turbo kit with IC, gauges, and do some hood venting....go smoke the IT field! Of course most of the cars were ITA or ITS, but dang that bumble bee is crazy fun to race.
Teaching myself NOT to drive it like an SM took some time. Yes trail braking is a must. OH my do the spectators love it coming out of the last turn towards the S/F line with the car in a four wheel drift.:clap: No telling how fast they can be driven as I was babying it around in the 1:27s.
Keith really has developed a great little race/track car...and now it has won in both NASA & SCCA.

Pics or vids?

...and you can have one for a very minimal price, compared to the cars you'll be embarrassing. 270whp Miatas can be lots of fun!

Guys, I was a bit unorganized as I didn't take my regular race trailer to Hallett, so no video. The best observation I can make is..... bang for buck, Keith has a winner. If you can keep from going STUPID on the boost, the car will be a lot more trouble free than I gave it credit. There should be a dozen of the cars out there racing the wheels off of the bigger cars. Performance to dollar is silly good. I guess it would be a good solo car, but since I have never run solo I don't have a real clue...but for wheel to wheel racing it is really a good choice due to the cheap price of body parts and other miata stuff compared to the other cars.
I don't actually get a grin on my face while racing very often!

is your build in your signature the silver nb that was at the nasa event at msr-c a month ago?

Lol yeah riding in that car is at the top of my automotive highlights!

Haven`t talked to him in long time; I wonder what suspension set up he has on that now? I actuallt have the old coilovers from that car!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spoolin2bars

is your build in your signature the silver nb that was at the nasa event at msr-c a month ago?

---

No that is Cliff Crowder's car which Mark Perry built a year or so ago. I drove it a few laps that day before the motor let go. Mine is in mid build over at MER.

I think Keith still has an SM suspension on the car, it felt fine. That thing really can travel!

Cliff's car lost the motor? Wow, he's had a lot of trouble with that thing. I bought my Wilwood brakes from him.

Yeah Cliff's car has been the test mule for development on the V8R kit use as a track car. Most of the previous builds have been for street use. Also V8Roadsters has developed several new parts that Cliff has changed to since Mark did the initial build. Cliff's car has been up at the V8R shop the last month being fitted and tested with some new parts that are track tolerant. Between Mark, Cliff and myself, we are doing what we can to develop a fool proof, and economical Miata LS1 track / race car option. MER is doing mine out at Cresson, and has worked on Cliff's on occasion. Mark Perry is almost finished with his new build which is his personal car. He and a guy in Chicago are probably the most experienced guys around in this regard. As Mark is doing mostly track cars, his knowledge is most helpful in our cases. Mark's car and my car are following some "guidelines" being developed by the V8R guys in an effort to organize a race series at a later date. Our motor package, trans, and rearend are the same. I plan on using Mark's body kit and aero package so that the cars will be close to the same. Cliffs car is similar, but not exact as his trans is a T-56 while ours are T-5s. His motor is a 5.7 LS1 while ours are built from scratch 5.3 LS1s. We are looking at around 340HP maybe slightly more. For NASA classing we may have to restrict it a little to fit into ST2. In SCCA we wil be in SPO or ITE depending on the division. Keith's turbo car is similar to what we are building and due to his work on the development side probably has just as reliable package as we hope to have after the kinks are worked out. It is always cool to se a miata out there "giving the business" to the big ol high HP cars on track.

You guy get it all figured out and when my 1.8 blows up maybe I'll build an LSx car.

I agree that a 250whp miata is a KILLER on the track for a very reasonable price. I ran teh car at 310whp for a while and now I'm down to 250whp because that's enough power to scare you, the trans and rear end live a longer life, and I can get about 5mpg on the track with it.

Did the turbo/manifold and turbo/dp flanges stay tight? I know Keith is using exotic metal connecting hardware there with safety wire, but how long does it hold up?

I lvoe coming out of #10 at Hallett with 250whp going down in the 4-wheel drift, lol. 4-5-6 are awesome out there with some power too, the best roller-coaster ride I know of from Texas-area tracks.

Ah, so now I can put a name to the car. Saw your build going on at MER. Very nice.