563 replies to this topic

[pat slattery]

I am just myself... if I was trying to be charb, nobody can be charb but charb. I do try hard to drive as good as him but since I can't hang with Jim I know I falling short on that one.

Kyle I was refering to your You Tube post. 

[trimless]

. " By the way it is my understanding that Mr. Buras has ditched his 1.6 for a 2001 car. "

 

Can someone please disclose the location of the ditch Mr. Buras' car is located?

[Caveman-kwebb99]

I understand all of YouTube posts but I never understand his... in order for me to be like him I would have to post vids that I don't understand

[svvs]

Give the 1.6 mega squirt plus some other reasonable mod. then give it a plate and adjust accordingly. Would keep costs away cost of having to flow multiple intakes and heads??

How about we leave the 1.6's how they are?  I like my 1.6L how it is.  I'm competitive with drivers near my ability in whatever year car they have that is somewhere around an equal level of prep as mine.  I lose to better drivers every weekend.  Very rarely do I lose to a better car with a driver of less ability, or at least that's what I tell myself and I'm 90% sure I'm correct.

 

Also please don't split the class.  I love running SM2 because I get to amortize my tow fuel costs and hotel costs and my precious time over two race groups in a weekend.  I don't love it only for the fact that all the cars have pop up headlights.

 

Actually, half the time we have SM2 combined with STL, so it's just like having a second spec miata race.  Plus I like racing against all my other friends that have '99's.  Generally speaking when we finish everyone has a smile and a beer and talks about how much fun we had.

 

I still vote for a remake of the "pros vs schmoes" article.  Top flight 99 with top flight driver, mid level '99 with the owner, "normalish" a 1.6L prep car with the owner, and "normalish" 1.8L pop up headlight car with the owner.  Throw some traqmates in the cars, try to make sure it's a track all the players are familiar with.....everyone go have fun in everyone's cars.  Lay some lines on each other and see what happens.  I bet at the end of the day there will be a lot of smiles and a lot of opened eyes.

 

-Vick

[Jim Drago]

. " By the way it is my understanding that Mr. Buras has ditched his 1.6 for a 2001 car. "
 
Can someone please disclose the location of the ditch Mr. Buras' car is located?

I think we first need to define "ditch" I can't disclose the details. I would ditch my car, maybe both for the same"ditch" deal, especially since he still has access to the car.

[Johnny D]

Johnny, 75% (maybe more) of us are not at the pointy end.

 

Aaa, ya, it's a competition.

And what you want to give everyone a trophy or run up front to feel good?

 

With all that was discussed here, you have to understand the magnitude to win at the Run offs.

It's a great acheivement.

 

 

 

Victor,

I get what your saying but the top is the top and defined.

"Normal" is in the grey area and whould have it's our parity thread of what normal is.

 

Each class needs it's ceiling.

 

CNJ said it best "total package" it's not some of the package at the run offs.

 

Or you'll never get a 3 doller troghy.

J~

[pat slattery]

Just out of curiousity was Berry pushing Buras up the hill every lap in the video Jim posted?

I would bet that is a big yes.  Team racing, . Did you notice how Long got zero help

[Craig Berry]

I would bet that is a big yes.  Team racing, . Did you notice how Long got zero help

I can easily answer this one....NO I did not push Todd up the hill on any lap....and its not because I would not help him, he is a friend and someone I respect. On that day I had one of the best cars I have ever had and felt I was faster than Todd, Jim, and Pat (THAT NEVER HAPPENS), also notice I dont push Jim, I pass him, so according to our team orders you do what is best for you, and we have to trust you have made a smart deciscion. I passed Buras twice in that race...the one you see, and again later, both in turns....watch Todd's right hand when I pull up beside him, he shows frustration that I made the move and did not push. I will say most of the time I have not felt my car was so much better that I needed to get around asap, and would have been more patient.
And YES none of us helped Long, we all felt as if he was an outsider, not just E Street but an outsider comming in to SM to show us how to do it...He almost did! He is an incredible racer! I learned a few things in that race from Long.

[HoneyBadger - BrianW]

I normally dont get involved in these hopeless conversations, but this is getting ridiculous... Half the guys complaining about the 1.6 cars don't even race, or if they do, not with enough regularity to be competitive. Honestly, if the guys complaining about the 1.6 cars went and got a job at Mcdonalds and worked the same about of time they spend bitching here, they could have bought a top prepped 99 by now.

 

Let's just all get over it already.

[Johnny D]

We have new people come in, it happens about every 6 months.

 

You know I'm not shy, I to was all saying the same.

 

You go threw stages and learning,

Not knowing.

knowing some, maybe not correct, but thinking.

I'm currently at not knowing what I don't know.

And I get some, oh that's what I didn't know.

 

You know?

J~

[Chris Blough]

I love this debate every 6 months. Ever read the SM5 rules? All the problems in SM solved in SM5 and you get to drive a modern car.

 

I'm going to start a build over the winter, Mike. I've talked to Windsor and a few others, and the only thing keeping me back from building an SM5 is the lack of participation. Given the fact I could by a 99 that (if I were a better driver) could take top 5 in MARRS events for the cost of what it would take to build a SM5....well. It makes it hard for me to justify starting the build.

[FTodaro]

Drago started this Thread if you can believe that!

 

Now that we have beat this horse for 15 pages I thought it was time to start the Top 10 reasons that the rules should be changed to favor the 1.6

 

1. Pat might not have anything to Post about for 12 months (happy birthday pat)

2. Bench racer will have more time to smell the coffee

3. Drago, Wheeler, fowler, and others will be flush with new car builds.

4. We can free up some band width.

5. Webb might not post any more video.

6 Three more pages of rules will be created and we can talk about tech

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[pat slattery]

I normally dont get involved in these hopeless conversations, but this is getting ridiculous... Half the guys complaining about the 1.6 cars don't even race, or if they do, not with enough regularity to be competitive. Honestly, if the guys complaining about the 1.6 cars went and got a job at Mcdonalds and worked the same about of time they spend bitching here, they could have bought a top prepped 99 by now.

 

Let's just all get over it already.

Spoken like a true overdog driver

[Bench Racer]

Drago started this Thread if you can believe that!

 

Now that we have beat this horse for 15 pages I thought it was time to start the Top 10 reasons that the rules should be changed to favor the 1.6

 

1. Pat might not have anything to Post about for 12 months (happy birthday pat)

2. Bench racer will have more time to smell the coffee

3. Drago, Wheeler, fowler, and others will be flush with new car builds.

4. We can free up some band width.

5. Webb might not post any more video.

6 Three more pages of rules will be created and we can talk about tech

7. From Wikipedia:   Parity (sports), an equal playing field for all participants, regardless of their economic circumstances

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Friken coffee, came out my nose reading this. 

[Caveman-kwebb99]

[Mike Collins]

I'm going to start a build over the winter, Mike. I've talked to Windsor and a few others, and the only thing keeping me back from building an SM5 is the lack of participation. Given the fact I could by a 99 that (if I were a better driver) could take top 5 in MARRS events for the cost of what it would take to build a SM5....well. It makes it hard for me to justify starting the build.

No you can't...My current '99 build about $10k more than my SM5 build.  3k of that in the motor, the rest in parts that need to be replaced or massaged.  the numbers are growing and will grow greater when the current cup cars get dumped into the market place when Mazda introduces the "new" miata.

[LarryKing]

when Mazda introduces the "new" miata.

 

Or as I like to call it "the Fiata"

[Tom Sager]

No you can't...My current '99 build about $10k more than my SM5 build.  3k of that in the motor, the rest in parts that need to be replaced or massaged.  the numbers are growing and will grow greater when the current cup cars get dumped into the market place when Mazda introduces the "new" miata.

 

I've thought about SM5 a number of times and sometimes as a result of the information you have shared with all of us.  When the current MX5 cars are no longer running the pro series and are more widely available as you say, I think the class will get the jumpstart that it needs.   

[AW33COM]

My current '99 build about $10k more than my SM5 build.

 

How much is SM5 build?

[Brandon]

How much is SM5 build?

Good question - and the answer I imagine would surprise most folks.

 

Everyone likes to talk about how the MX5 will 'come down to' us from the pro ranks without really accounting for the fact that those "pro" cars will need what is essentially a suspension overhaul to the tune of $3k+ worth of parts plus a hardtop (I have no idea what one of those costs).

 

MX5 Cup !== SM5 (though pretty close)

 

And from what I've heard from someone doing the Skippy Series this year, the NCs do NOT 'bend' like the NB/NA chassis does.  These were clean-slate designs for Mazda and they incorporated a lot of "crash survivability" features (aka take impact, dissipate, release/break from chassis) which make them quite expensive to repair.

 

Take a wheel-to-wheel shot on the rear axle and you'll be lucky to get away with only a corner rebuild (hub, upper/lower CAs, half-shaft) and not a full rear-end replacement (subframe/differential).

 

To me, what I ultimately hear being talked "across" everyone (not to anyone) is complaints about 'level of prep' and not necessarily 'level of build'.

Everyone can have an identical build level: are you taking advantage of the "may" allowances in the rule book?

• hard top, adj. end-links, adj. sway bar, adj. FPR, wheel spacers...

But not everyone can have an identical prep level: the "open" allowances in the rule book

• "blueprinted" hubs/calipers/rotors/whatever, special grease, dyno time (adjust FPR, AFM, timing), chassis setup, sticker tires for every session

 

It's the second bullet point that I think a lot of people are getting hung-up on when it comes to comparing the final outcome of the 1.6s vs. everything else.  

In the case of the NBs vs. the NAs, the NA1.6 just happens to take a bit more care & feeding to maintain its level of competitiveness when compared to the '99 with the NA1.8 requiring an in between amount.

 

I frankly don't have a dog in this fight (NA1.8) but I'm happy with where things stand now and look forward to my fun racing weekends and finishing ahead of a driver with a better level of build than my own.

 

See you at the track!