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ST6 Miata's need to move to ST5


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Posted

Anyone feel the same that these cars are in the wrong ST class.  In Texas they are running within the top 10 lap times of the SM cars and a good 5-7 seconds faster than any other ST6.  The lap times are consistent with ST5 cars.  Either NASA should reclassify them or create a ST7 class for lower HP cars.  No way a ST6 Miata with a claimed 129HP that weighs 2400 min should be faster than almost the entire SM field.  

Travis

TX SRX7 series director

Posted

Faster than SM, why not? More power, Hoosiers and a ton of other allowed mods. Are your ST5 cars faster than your SE46 cars? They should be.

Are the other ST6 cars FWD or RWD? Strut or A-Arm? How developed are they? How experienced are the drivers? Similar track types or different? 

Miata is certainly the easy button, but that much of an overdog? Let's discuss. I have a non Miata 6 car, so I'm all ears.

 

Posted

These are power to weight classes.  The answer should never be "lets ban or move that specific chassis".

The answer should be, "do we need to add, remove, or adjust some mod factors, in order to achieve parity between the different platforms".

If you can make the power to weight ratio, you should be allowed in the class.

Posted

Miata isn't even close to the right 6 car on most tracks, they are just the most developed.

They make ~16whp more than a Spec Miata at the same weight (and should make much more torque). Much more optimized suspension. Optimized gearing. 15x9 w/R7 is a hell of a lot faster than an SM7 on a 7 (and WAY WAY WAY faster, more than enough to make up the gap on its own that you're talking about) over an RR if you mean NASA SMs.

If you want to win 6, build a 944. Or an FWD car that takes the best advantage of the modifiers. I can probably name 10 6 cars that are much better starting points for ST6 in every way other than ease of build. 

  • Thanks 1
Posted

Hey Travis this is David Whitener the guy with the Blurple 5 (formerly 6) class Miata. I have always enjoyed racing with you guys and can understand your frustration having a large group of spec cars that aren't super competitive in ST6. I am not sure what the solution is. I think I have mentioned it before but I am happy to meet you guys on a Cresson member day and let you try out a set of my wheels and tires if you ever want to experiment with a faster wheel and tire package. But I can understand wanting to stay spec as well. No pressure!

As I said I am not sure what a good solution is and I hope we can find a way for all of us to have fun. That said I do think there are a lot of reasons why a ST6 Miata is faster than a Spec Miata. If you compare a 2004 Spec Miata with my ST6 Miata my car has everything the Spec has plus these additional mods:

  • Way better springs, shocks, swaybars
  • 160whp but then the car is detuned to make the class legal 125whp at every RPM
  • 6 speed transmission
  • OS Giken differential
  • Bigger rotors/calipers
  • ABS with dynamic proportioning
  • More camber and stiff bushings
  • Flat undertray
  • Hood vents
  • 15x10 wheels with 225 hoosier r7 tires
  • Less restrictions on weight reduction so some parts like the hardtop might look the same but the spec miata part is WAY heavier
  • No restriction on ballast location makes getting perfect weight distribution possible plus a lower CG with 100lbs of lead under the body
Posted (edited)

As hinted at above, ST6 cars regardless of chassis platform, should be multiple whole seconds ahead of NASA SpecMiata record pace if prepped to even 8/10ths of the ruleset.

18:1 sounds slow until you realize all the 'free' allowed modifications we got with the PT to ST changeover.

Im waiting for someone to build a proper ST6 E30, 944, or fwd strut car like an SER. Any of them would crush the Miata boogyman at Daytona. Most of the current E30/944 are Spec class prepped and only changing tires/ballast to double dip, and as we saw at Mid O Champs, extremely capable with very minimal ST specific prep.

Edited by Dan Howard
  • 6 months later...
Posted

Hey guys, just found this thread. A well driven and well prepared ST6 car should be 2 or more seconds faster than a SM, 944Spec or SpecE30. 
Just the swap from the Toyo RR to a Hoosier R7 with the same wheels is 2 seconds a lap faster if it is a track with lots of turns. Take another second plus off for wider wheels. 
There is no way you should expect to be competitive against a prepped ST6 car in a spec car. Just simple a fact. 
A National level driver in a spec car may have a shot at a podium finish in ST6 but the odds are not in his favor. 

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