51 replies to this topic

[Jamz14]

DStevens,

None. Not my point is all.

[Jamz14]

Not driving SM to be noticed by some mythical sports car team looking for a talented driver. Looking to build race craft before spending money in the apporpriate Dev class.

And In the Rotax class I have seen jr drivers with 250K budgets. I think we can do just fine here with a smaller number than this. And BTW, we did pretty good to close the gap to within a second of the 250K teams with unlimted engines and chassis. We had one chassis, and one engine. No tuner and no chassis guy, it was worth it for me to learn. No pushing the rules beyond intent. But still finished 3rd in the championship. Mainly by no DNF's, and decent results. And IMO, because we didn't push the tech ragged edge is why there were no DNFs. All on one motor. The difference between me and the other guys that have only one motor and chassis, I spent much time on aligment and a well lubricated running gear that rolled free with the power that we could provide. Most other guys with budgets the size of ours don't stay on top of their aligment and their bearings. Our aligment tools were used before every race.

All this being said, I know what is going to be required at the next level. But at the next level, there will be budget for running your gear to the extreme.

[dstevens]

My apologies for derailing your thread. Personally, I'd get one from Drago when the time comes but you can't go wrong with any of the regulars. If you don't build his car to the fullest he'll be back in the kill zone where there is quite a bit of carnage. Though, at the big nationals the front of the pack isn't so safe at times.


Best of luck, race safe.
Dave

[Jamz14]

Thanks Dave!!! Hope to meet you in person at one of the up coming races in so cal.

[dstevens]

You're, welcome. I'll be out of the driver's seat until at least March, perhaps June but likely the rest of the year. If they crack my chest it's easy a year. I've got some medical issues and the docs don't want me driving 100 plus next to 20 of my closest pals. But they don't mind me doing solo or DE. Go figure.... It's more the meds than anything. And NASCAR could care less, they just renewed and upgraded my license. And that was only running 2 seasons in 3 years and not running at all last season. The wife is starting a muscle car parts biz, and we are restoring a 73 Ford Gran Torino, 429 ci, four speed stick with 35k original miles. As part of the biz I've partnered with a local circle track fab guy and we're doing fab work for 4 hobby stocks. First one starts Sun. I'll see more of the Bullring this year than Fontana or Buttonwillow. I'll throw Drago some coin and advertise that I'm also selling small batches of metal, gauge, plate, rd and sq tube, DOM, expanded, 4130, AL, though haven't found a good SS source. No minimums

If you don't mind me asking, who is doing your Star Mazda program? And, did you build or buy your car? It is a good, cheap way to get seat time.

Dave

[Danny Steyn]

JamZ14

welcome to our class. Hope you and your son have a great time here. We are a passionate group of drivers and like any testosterone filled group of Type A personalities, we all have an opinion, and we are seldom quiet of the subject!!!!

That being said, all the pro engine builders are building much better engines today than they were several years ago, and they are getting more power within a much tighter spec. Three years ago, I was thrilled when my engines would dyno out at 122-124HP on our Dynapack, now if we are not at 126+ we have an issue!!!

Personally I use Rossini Engines and had some success with his engines,but I use his engines because Mike Rossini is just one of the most likeable guys in this class, and because he stands behind his product.

[LarryKing]

In a round-about way Mr. Steyn makes an excellent point. Why just get a head? Why not an entire pro motor?

[Ken SM94]

Jamz14,

One other point.....All heads are not the same and a bad one will always be bad no matter who works on it. An experienced SM engine builder will tell you when you need to find another head and not waste any money on the one you got.

Your local machinist won't know the difference. Even if he has a flow bench to test it, he won't have the data to compare to other good heads. Starting with a good head is very important.

Good luck!

[Newton]

First of all i just want to say that I have absolutely NO inside knowledge of miata performance.

But I do know a bit about engines in general.

So first of all with any piece of equipment with a "perfectly true" piece rotating inside 3-6 "perfectly true" journals there is almost always room for improvement. all of this concept applies to both cams and cranks.......and even balance shafts if applicable. So after casting the original part and doing the final machining most engines are assembled, put in the car and sold. so as a piece of ANYTHING that is cast is heated and cooled a few hundred times the actual dimensions of the pieces are going to shift just slightly. this includes cam and crank journals, so if we take a head with 50,000 miles on it and check the alignment of the cam bores.......they are probably just slightly out of alignment. this misalignment is going to add friction which increases heat and possibilities of damage, but also parasitic loss. and at the same time, a slightly warped cam or crank in a perfectly aligned block or head is going to cause the same things.

I had an instructor at school that said the camping world east series "spec" engines they were assembling benefitted from simply line-honing the main journals.......to the tune of 6hp. thats on a 600hp engine........1% improvement is actually great.

next after so many years of running miatas in general and spec miata specifically, LOTS of machinists have become quite familiar with the little things like exactly how much valve stems will expand at race temps and can therefore adjust things accordingly to maximize power and longevity.

right now im drawing a blank on other places wheres theres a little bit here and there to be had.

another thing to keep in mind is that on NASCAR's restrictor plate races the difference in power between all of the finishers is probably less than 5hp, certainly less than 10hp.

bottom line is
#1 a solid grasp on how engines work equals probably 75%
#2 an even more solid grasp on miatas probably 20%
#3 a solid grasp of the grey areas in the rule book is probably only the last 5%

95% is pretty good, but when everyone else is at 100%.........its just not enough.

[Jim Drago]

95% is pretty good, but when everyone else is at 100%.........its just not enough.

Reminds me of a story someone told me once...

If your 95% as good as the best golfer you are pretty darn good.
If your 95% as good as most any pro athlete, again your pretty good.
If your 95% as good as the pole sitter in SM, YOU $%^!!!! that's 5 seconds off at most tracks

[Bruce Wilson]

Reminds me of a story someone told me once...

If your 95% as good as the best golfer you are pretty darn good.
If your 95% as good as most any pro athlete, again your pretty good.
If your 95% as good as the pole sitter in SM, YOU $%^!!!! that's 5 seconds off at most tracks

And at risk of being lapped over the course of a race.

[Tom Sager]

Reminds me of a story someone told me once...

If your 95% as good as the best golfer you are pretty darn good.
If your 95% as good as most any pro athlete, again your pretty good.
If your 95% as good as the pole sitter in SM, YOU $%^!!!! that's 5 seconds off at most tracks

The good news for us is that it's easier in SM to close the 5% gap than it is for the golfer or athlete looking for that same last 5%.