Congratulations to the Miata pilots at the PCA IA101 school!

[altiain]

We had four Miata pilots out at the IA101 school this past weekend, and they all did a heck of a job. Sammm and Valhalla benefitted from the excellent tutelage of our very own Maniac Mitch, while Tn was paired up with Maverick Region's Charlie Daniels (if I'm not mistaken), and I did my best to help out newcomer Eric Lee with his '99 FM2.

Everyone that I saw looked like they were doing an excellent job. Valhalla and sammm were both smooth as butter, looking completely at home behind the wheel. Tn was aggressive -sometimes a little too aggressive - but he was quick. Give this young man some more seat time and he's going to be very quick indeed. Eric also did an excellent job, especially in learning two key lessons that he'll be able to put to good use in the future - how to look ahead and anticipate where he wanted the car to be, and most importantly that sometimes slow is fast... even in a turbocharged Miata. In a car that was a bit tricky to drive because it had a lot more power than it did grip, he acquitted himself very well. In fact, they all did a great job out there, and my hat's off to all of them.

Last but not least, I did my best to make sure that Miatas represented at the instructor level as well. I took the new V710s out for a couple of timed fun runs in the afternoon to see what they were like. The result was FTD for the day... with a passenger in the car. :afro:

Glad to see you guys out there yesterday, and hope to see you at the next event!

Iain

[Kestrel]

We had four Miata pilots out at the IA101 school this past weekend, and they all did a heck of a job.

Good job boys! I'm looking forward to seeing you all out at an autocross real soon... like NTS2KOC this coming weekend?

Last but not least, I did my best to make sure that Miatas represented at the instructor level as well. I took the new V710s out for a couple of timed fun runs in the afternoon to see what they were like. The result was FTD for the day... with a passenger in the car.

Git outta here! EXCELLENT! I love it when "we" go out to other club events and set top time of the day! So I take it you like those v710s?

[sammm]

A big congrats to altiain, who turned a 45.9 yesterday! My best was a 51.8 (I had a 51.6, but fishtailed over 3 cones at the end!)

[altiain]

Git outta here! EXCELLENT! I love it when "we" go out to other club events and set top time of the day! So I take it you like those v710s?

Yeah, I think they're going to be a lot of fun. Hopefully I can give JRW a run for his money this coming weekend.

Strangely, after a bit too much oversteer on the softer front bar setting at the S2k test'n'tune, I had the front bar on the stiffer setting this weekend, and the car did feel like it wanted to push a little bit. There was a 100' diameter skidpad set up on part of the course, and I had to fight the car around it, as too much throttle would just make it plow drunkenly to the outside.

On the other hand, I was able to get back on the throttle a lot sooner coming off of corners than I have been in the past, and I could just plant my foot and go through the slaloms, never having to worry about the tail of the car getting away from me. So overall, although it feels weird not to have oversteer at will (which my car has always had to some degree), I think the car will be much faster this season once I re-learn to drive it like this.

I guess we'll find out this weekend!

Iain

[joe.MIATA]

I was able to get back on the throttle a lot sooner coming off of corners than I have been in the past, and I could just plant my foot and go through the slaloms, never having to worry about the tail of the car getting away from me. So overall, although it feels weird not to have oversteer at will (which my car has always had to some degree), I think the car will be much faster this season once I re-learn to drive it like this.

That is the feedback I needed to hear. Unfortunately, the S2K event will be my first attempt at 're-learning' to drive this car with a large front bar. I hope my learning curve is fast too.

Hey Altiain, was Cody Sears out there yesterday? How did he do?

[Tn]

That was a fun event and it was nice to meet some of the forum people finally. My instructor was Charles Davis was a really cool guy and gave me great advice. Yeah, he did tell me to try and drive a little more smoothly..lol.. well I tried! I learned a lot that day...especially how my car behaves at the limit.

I was behind Iain during the test runs and my jaw dropped when I saw the 45 sec run ...as for me..I forgot what my fastest time was during the 4 'official' runs, but on my 4th 'fun' run I managed to pull a 49.0x got too confident and spun out on the slalom on my last run

As for the s2k autox, I probably won't be able to make it. Working on the weekend sucks! But I signed up for AX102 on march 6th..see ya there