Spec Miata Banter

Welcome to Spec Miata 2020!

Spec Miata is one of SCCA's longest running amateur classes, and the most common car on the grid is still the original Gen 1 MX-5 Miata.

We've added the comfortable feeling one can get from Race Brakes, Race Tires, and Race Differential, while keeping literally everything else untuneable. This makes driver much more important than tune, and keeps this series as low-maintenance as driving your street Miata to the track for a race.

With all that in mind, paint up your classic little hairdresser special and let's go racing!

yay

Reminder: Registration opens Monday, March 10 at each region's race time.

Numbers are first come first served.

I'm confused at why this car has been chosen over something like the much newer MX5 cup car and why it's got race tyres. what's wrong with sport tyres and new cars?
Also the fact it's got almost no tuning ability at all? It's almost the opposite of what most people want this car to be built like... How did this happen?

DDM Driv3 wrote:I'm confused at why this car has been chosen over something like the much newer MX5 cup car and why it's got race tyres. what's wrong with sport tyres and new cars?
Also the fact it's got almost no tuning ability at all? It's almost the opposite of what most people want this car to be built like... How did this happen?

Because this is a real spec cup and not like recent ones. This is exactly how they should be done and how spec cups started.

No tuning here, all skill. How it should be. Like the old days. Real spec cup is back boys!

DDM Driv3 wrote:I'm confused at why this car has been chosen over something like the much newer MX5 cup car and why it's got race tyres. what's wrong with sport tyres and new cars?
Also the fact it's got almost no tuning ability at all? It's almost the opposite of what most people want this car to be built like... How did this happen?

In real SCCA racing, the gen1 Miata is still the most populous car in the paddock. Likely because it is the most affordable, but it is also the lightest production MX5 to date.

We went with race tires rather than sport so that the car is a bit more predictable in the opening laps. Race tires come up to temp much quicker than sport..

Went with non-tuneable sport parts over the tuneable race parts so that you don't win races via having a better tune. It really is that simple. Then there is teh fact that SCCA Spec Miata uses spec parts that severely limit adjustments, so we're authentic in that regard.

This series was meant to be a break from tuning after the open build American Iron series.

"...what most people want..."? Not sure if that claim is accurate either

I like the fact that there’s limited tuning available, maybe that’s just cos I suck at tuning though lol. Makes for closer, more fun racing in my opinion.

Agreed, less tuning usually makes things more fun.
Although the cars look the same, why not make this closer to the real Spec Miata cars, 125-130 hp, 2300 lbs, race tires and limited suspension and brake upgrades.

Any ideas what kind of times we are looking at for Silverstone?

Judging by what I ran in my first 10 laps tonight, :02-:03?

1:02 mids will be the fastest, expect a high 1:02 for quali most likely.

I did little practice yesterday and after 4 laps my fastates was 2:03.3xx

There's gonna be a few guys in the 1:02.6-1:02.9 in qualifying, then a large amount in the low to mid 3's, then a few back to the low 6's.

Just guessing.

NerdyCyclist11 wrote:Agreed, less tuning usually makes things more fun.
Although the cars look the same, why not make this closer to the real Spec Miata cars, 125-130 hp, 2300 lbs, race tires and limited suspension and brake upgrades.

That was my original plan, exc with Sport Tires. However, there was a push for B Class within Staff discussions, which resulted in race tires and more power.

SFM Darkzer wrote:There's gonna be a few guys in the 1:02.6-1:02.9 in qualifying, then a large amount in the low to mid 3's, then a few back to the low 6's.

Just guessing.

I think the majority of the field will be between 1:03.3 and 1:04.3 with a few outliers on either end of the spectrum.

Good to know I'm not off the back, I was close to a high :02, but I'm not consistently there.

NerdyCyclist11 wrote:Good to know I'm not off the back, I was close to a high :02, but I'm not consistently there.

Duuuude, you have about a full second on me. Damn good job!!!

1:03.003 as my PB and I lost about 70 thousandths that lap going through the last corner. Would've been a mid to low 1:02.9 otherwise.

Nice

Lap times for Mugello?

1:04s towards the top, possibly even a high 3 for pole.
I'd expect there to be plenty of people to race all the way down to 1:07s and 1:08s

Seen 4s, hitting upper 5s myself.

Anybody able to actually get clean lap times at Mugello? I went as far as cruising around completely on the tarmac during testing and never would give me a clean lap.

isyoube wrote:Anybody able to actually get clean lap times at Mugello? I went as far as cruising around completely on the tarmac during testing and never would give me a clean lap.

Yes, I've been getting mostly clean laps now. I went to the Rivals, watched LMP Amoeba's lap from my driving view, with telemetry on, and rode it a few laps. Keep an eye on what lines he uses, and corner entry speeds. It helped me a bit.

Ax4x Mikey J wrote:

isyoube wrote:Anybody able to actually get clean lap times at Mugello? I went as far as cruising around completely on the tarmac during testing and never would give me a clean lap.

Yes, I've been getting mostly clean laps now. I went to the Rivals, watched LMP Amoeba's lap from my driving view, with telemetry on, and rode it a few laps. Keep an eye on what lines he uses, and corner entry speeds. It helped me a bit.

Re-read my comment. I don't need to drive behind someone to get a clean line. I kept it off the curbs, completely on the black stuff. Even turned on the boundaries, and never would give a clean lap. That's why I was asking.