Reply With QuoteSo is Kestrel's car a sport? It had leather and pwr windows . . .Originally Posted by sammm
I'm ready to see the Offical results. It was a fun day aside from freezing myoff. I left after my last run and missed out on trophies.
No more Miata
So is Kestrel's car a sport? It had leather and pwr windows . . .
His is a 'converted' Sport. He installed all the correct OEM parts after he bought it.
He stole* the hardest and most expensive part that makes his a sport...
* He didn't really steal it... but he got it for a song. You'll have to ask him to tell you the story.
Standard gracious winner's line. Anything over .009 is a thrashingAsk my codriver.
Yeah well, I'm getting closer.And I got a new helmet.
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague longing for something salty" - Peter Egan
Yep, mine's the fattest pig you could buy in 1999... an LP (Leather Package). Complete with leather seats, a wonderful () Bose Stereo, Power Windows, Power Doors, Power Antenna, Cruise Control, Limited Slip Diff... but no ABS. I put in the Sport Suspension Package:
The front swaybar and shocks are "free" (meaning, you can do whatever you like), so I have a Racing Beat tubular front swaybar and KYB AGX adjustable shocks. When I wear out my shocks, I'll go with the standard Sport Package Bilsteins, since I don't see any real difference with the AGXs, and with "non-adjustable" Bilsteins, that would be one less adjustment for me to get wrong.
- Sport springs
- 12mm rear swaybar (a huge improvement over the 11mm regular rear swaybar
- Sport's Shock/Strut Tower Brace (STB)
What 3Bean is alluding to is my purchase of the Sport's STB. In order to do an official Sport conversion, you have to install that particular STB -- you can't put in an aftermarket STB. Those STBs don't come up on eBay (or other selling-used-stuff places) very often, and they run something like $650 new.I managed to pick up a very slightly used one for $200 from a local Miata shop. I'm guessing he didn't realize how rare they are, how expensive new ones are, and how they are required for any autocrosser doing a "Sport Conversion". Most used ones seem to go for $350 - $400.
Anyway, the only thing I haven't done -- leaving myself open to some petty protest -- is to install the rear trunk lip spoiler (I hate those things). But I figure the weight of my appearance package (front spolier and side "skirts", which I also don't like) far exceeds the weight of that little spoiler. So I feel I'm well within the intent of the rules, and probably very slightly disadvantaged by a little extra weight...
"That which does not kill us, just makes us madder"
Cletus Nietzsche (Friedrich's half-brother on his sister's side)
That should be good for at least 1/2 second!
Hopefully.
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague longing for something salty" - Peter Egan
Um, so what's the deal with Jeremy Lessenberry's last time? Somone goof, or did something blow through the timing lights?
Also, I left just after the 3rd heat started. Did I miss anything? Did it rain there or did the weather get any wose?
Nice job on pax this weekend guys!
C5 Base Daily Driven Beater
Borrowed 1M
(2017 B-Street Pro Solo Champion)
Jeremy Foley
55.8?!?!?!
Sounds like you need to get kicked up a notch, there, sammm! BTW.... I assume it was drizzling on SS? Some of those times could have been measured with a calendar...55.8?!?!?!
Maybe 4 wheels aren't so bad after all... wickett.org
It only goes to show when people can no longer discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, or sexual orientation, they can improvise and still find someone to hate. - Dave Moulton
WOW...yeah that's a mistake. I thought my last run was a 62. something
Or maybe the wind blew my car accross the finish that fast.
No more Miata
Honestly Solo RX-7, if you're looking for a serious C Stock car, here's what I'd suggest shopping for (in this order):
- Someone else's prepped '99 Sport (like General Default's car)
- Any '99/'00 Sport Package car
- Any '00 model Miata with a Torsen differential
- Any '99/'00 PEP car
The first one is obvious - buy someone else's prepped car and you'll almost always save money. Unfortunately, these will be the rarest, although probably the best advertised '99 Sports out there.
The second one is obvious as well - start with a Sport Package car, and it'll be cheaper to make a top C Stock car out of it, since you won't have to start by converting it to a Sport. In this case, if you're planning on using the car as anything more than just a weekend toy, I'd lean towards a '00 model over a '99, even though almost every Nationally competitive C Stock car you'll find is a '99.
Let me explain why - Mazda has always packaged their options a little strangely. In 1999, the only way you could get the Sport Package was on a Base model car. You could not technically combine the Sport Package with any other Packages that were available (although in Kestrel's case he could probably claim comfort and convenience on things like the leather, power windows, cruise. etc... but no one has ever proven this at the National level on a converted car). This meant that you could not buy a '99 Sport off the showroom floor with power windows, locks, mirrors, antenna, or cruise. In fact, the only factory-installed options available on a '99 Sport were a/c and power steering.
Now, in '00, Mazda made power steering and a/c standard across the board (you want the power steering in an autocross Miata anyway, as it comes with a quicker steering ratio). They also allowed the Sport Package to be combined with other packages, so you could have a '00 Sport with power windows, cruise, etc.
This means two things:
- It's a whole lot easier to find a "proper" (i.e., non-protestable) '00 donor car to convert into a Sport.
- You can build an '00 Sport with some creature comforts, like power windows and cruise control without becoming protest bait.
This ties directly into my third suggestion above - if you can't find a Sport, it isn't hard to build one. However, to have an utterly non-protestable car you'll probably have to remove some power stuff if you start with a donor '99 (this is what Chris Williams did with his current car, which did not start life as a Sport)... or start with an '00 optioned the way you want and just add the Sport Package.
The last suggestion is the C Stock Miata dark horse - the PEP (Popular Equipment Package) cars had a Torsen, as well as slightly softer springs and a slightly smaller rear swaybar than the '99/'00 Sports. They also had 14"x6" wheels... which allows them to run a wider V710 (225/50-14 versus 205/50-15) with no gearing degradation. It also opens them up to some outrageously lightweight wheel options. A 9.8lb 15" SSR Comp seems light... until you realize that Volk makes some 14"x6" wheels that weigh less than seven pounds!Since both the minimal spring rate difference (about 10%) and the difference in rear swaybar thickness between Sports and non-Sports can be compensated for through alignment and shock tuning, a lot of people have suggested that these cars might be as fast, if not faster, than the '99 Sports. David Green in Topkea has been pretty successful in one of these cars.
Then there's always the turbocharged Mazdaspeed Miata, the 10AE (1999 10th Anniversary Edition, like Jon's car), and the '06+ Miatas that could be contenders on the right course under the right circumstances. Not to mention the Spyders. But I still think these are the outlying cars - potential contenders, but not dominant like the '99 Sport.
Anyway, sorry about the novel, but that's my take on shopping for a C Stock Miata. Hope it helps.
Last edited by Kestrel; 10-24-2005 at 04:16 PM.
Iain
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Me and all the guys in CS too!
55.8 is a little too fast. I can say the course was very fun. I'm starting to get the hang of this, one of these days I'm going to trophy.
Last edited by blackzx3_13; 10-24-2005 at 03:39 PM.
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague longing for something salty" - Peter Egan
I beat out Jimmy for the ES win, but it was slick as hell out there.
I was trying to pull off a hand out the window drift for some of you CS corner workers that were making fun of me. The Hoosiers were useless by the last run, not very good during the first run either.
Thomas
V-to-the-Dub
We weren't making fun of you, we were trying to make the best of a miserable, wet, cold, and slippery corner working assignment.
I was yelling for donuts out of everyone that drove by. Mark Madarash took home the "dorifto king" trophy, although I'll give Jim H. honorable mention for the look on his face after he sent all of the cones flying in our corner with a slow-motion pirouette.
Iain
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
As much as I love seeing my name in 1st place. I want this issue resolved. Who can I contact to get the correct time put in?55.8?!?!?!
No more Miata
EXCELLENT point altiain! He's dead-on right with his comments about what was -- and was not -- available on the Sport model. I'm going under the assumption that the other weighty stuff hanging on my car -- power this, cruise that, Bose the other thing -- would (1) not bee seen as an advantage, and (2) be allowed under the comfort and convienence rule, but that has never been proven. Show up with my car at Nationals, and I'm guessing it would be protested... perhaps not successfully, but I bet it would be protested.
Heck, I've even considered protesting my car myself, just to get an official ruling by the SCCA big-wigs. But I'm not heading to Nationals anytime soon ("gragging" a hard fought 3rd place
"That which does not kill us, just makes us madder"
Cletus Nietzsche (Friedrich's half-brother on his sister's side)
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