130 replies to this topic

[Mike Collins]

Chris said the Traqmate had him at 180hp. They make 160ish. We have Dynoed 8 cars all within a couple. Pretty close!

[skeeler]

Anyone else with a Spec MX-5? Post 'em up!

[Mitch Reading]

I expect there will be a number of SM5s at the 13 hour in October.

Meat, are you guys planning to run again?

[DES4]

Although there was a run group for SM5 at last week's SARRC event at Daytona (it was meant to be run with SM), there were 0 entries. None.

[Tom Neel]

We have three MX5 cars..None have the SM5 suspension however the two playboy cup cars and a NASA PTD car all have the sealed mazdaspeed engines with 6 speeds and stock rear ends. They all make around 150-160 on our inhouse mustang dyno..And that's hours of playing on the dyno with them.. Great cars!!.

[Mike Collins]

So I listed mine for sale to see what kind of response it would get. 250+ ad views but little traffic... What price point does the car need to be for someone to bite. Not sure I want to sell it but I want the class to grow.. Let me know, we are building 3 more right now as well for customers. I will sell the car...Nothing is wrong with it. I just build and drive a new car every year.

[Mike Collins]

Bump...So now almost 300 views and not one word???? I want some feedback. What does it need to cost to sell?

[davecarama]

Trade me for my ITA car?

[Mike Collins]

'davecarama', on 12 Oct 2012 - 7:19 PM, said:

Trade me for my ITA car?

Not what I had in mind....

[James York]

Ok Mike, I'll bite.

There is no way I would pay 35K to run around and race nobody. Doesn't matter if the car is worth it or not. Remember how SM was started. People showed up in 7-12K first gen cars and ran the snot out of them. Then it become popular and cars, prep and investments escalated to today's figures. If SM bombed when it was in its infancy, you could sell off your car to an IT guy and not be out much money.

For me SM5 is not proven and might very likely flop. Look at the SM fields now. How many people really have over 15K invested in their SM. Not many. A good SM entry level car=$15K. A good entry level SM5 car= ??? $30+K. There is not nearly as many buyers in that market. I don't want to spend 35K on something that "might one day" be as popular as SM.

[Mike Collins]

I get it... In dc we regularly have a bunch of SM5's and when we went down south or too another track people could not believe the times we were turning. We race with ITR cars, they have more straight line speed but like SM these cars handle!

Sure you can probably get into one for less than $35k. I would probably sell this one for less then $35k.. If I don't, this car is going down to OPM for the winter for the boys down south to play with. We are building 3 more now.

This car cost me about the same to build as one of my personal SM cars.....

[Todd Lamb]

Yep it is a critical mass situation. SM is great because of the sheer number of cars competing and the level of competition.

The cars are big fun to drive, lots more power from sealed motors, and ABS to keep the novices from flatspotting tires. What's not to like...except we need 8 cars to show up and put on a decent show before the masses will even think about jumping on board.

IMO not so much about cost - yes a newer car costs more to build but the motors are bulletproof and true spec out of the box.

[Keith Andrews]

I agree with Todd. Not so much about the dollars. I've raced 3 other guys (in class) for a $3.00 trophy, somehow it's more fun racing 20-30 for a $3.00 trophy.

Also keep in mind when you leave the DC area and go into the real world, economically things are quite a bit different.

[davecarama]

'Mike Collins', on 12 Oct 2012 - 7:25 PM, said:

Not what I had in mind....

I was actually kidding (but I think you already knew that).

Your cars are always top notch and I would expect to pay top dollar, especially for one you drove to a championship.
I wonder what it costs to build one for a DIYer like myself? A (wild) guess? $20k including the car?

[Mike Collins]

20k to 25k. If you could do it all yourself...closer to 25k if you have to farm some of it out..

[LarryKing]

Quote

true spec out of the box.

This is what excites me the most about the SM5 class. I hope it catches on. It gets old chasing the constantly raising bar of SM.

[Caveman-kwebb99]

'Moose & Squirrel', on 15 Oct 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:

This is what excites me the most about the SM5 class. I hope it catches on. It gets old chasing the constantly raising bar of SM.

I do hope you dont think that if SM5 does take off, that there will not be a constantly raising bar. Any class that attracts the kind of competion that SM has attracted should expect that ultimatly you will have to, test, tune, prep, and spend money to get the the front and stay there. it is just a reality...

Im the Caveman and I approve of this message

[LarryKing]

Perhaps Mr. Collins, et al, will learn from SM and keep rules creep to a minimum in SM5.

SM 2012 is a far cry from SM 2002.

[Caveman-kwebb99]

'Moose & Squirrel', on 15 Oct 2012 - 2:01 PM, said:

Perhaps Mr. Collins, et al, will learn from SM and keep rules creep to a minimum in SM5.

SM 2012 is a far cry from SM 2002.

I couldnt agree more and I wasnt around till 2010, things have changed and I have manny times cursed the day we had to have a damn fajustable fuel pressure regulator in the damn car, although, there were many who had regulated their fuel before the new rule just not with any ajustability. but there will be many things like that example that will be done, never teched for, therefor will pass a tech or teardown. Those who test most and try the most things will be right up front and those that just buy a 30k car and drive it as is will not be at the pointy end. there is just no way to stop someone who wants to get atvantages, and has the means to do so.

[Michael Novak]

Sealed engines are great. Some will still try and succeed at playing but most will not. The engines are cheap through the program also. I think as soon as the base car can be had for under $10,000 the class will start to take on some legs.

$10,000 for the car + $7000-$12,000 for the build + $4500 crate motor = $21,500 - $26,500 Complete... Pay a Drago or a Collins to build it for you (Tested and True) $28,000+

Many of the parts are also saleable... Engine