One week later

Another Saturday practice and Sunday Championship March 24-25, with another forecast for rain which fortunately held off until Sunday evening. 

  Saturday was terrible for me and probably my worst day of driving in the last several years.  Over driving, coneage, and DNFs ruled the morning session, but I came back in the afternoon and put together 4 solid runs, about a half second behind another fast STR Honda.

  I lowered the rear of the car another turn (1/8" at the shock) and was on the 15x7.5 195 Toyo combination.  As usual, koni shocks full stiff front, full soft rear.

  Sunday's championship course was reverse from Saturday, but the designer modified a few corners which opened it up way too much in my opinion. Speed maintenance may help the smaller more nimble cars such as the NB Miata, but I would rather see a more diverse course. I finished second in class with a very fast first run again thanks to the Toyo tires. The Toyos now have about 72 runs and 700 street miles.







RESULTS


  It seems that when a front tire rubs the inner fender splash liner, it rips out the plastic clips.  The NA Miata did not have this problem.

 












  Not wanting to get protested,  I installed the air intake baffle in the stock location behind the driver side headlight.  Some will argue that this baffle needs to stay to be legal because it serves two purposes- one being a place to locate the AC and fog light relays.  Without air conditioning or fog lights on my Sport model Miata, the relays that mount to this panel are absent, but the electrical connectors remain.  Not a big deal until I decide to alter the intake with a custom cold air box.

It never rains in Southern California...

   March 18th championship event at El Toro did not go as planned.  Because of the forecast for rain, I initially was not going to make it until I got a call from K-Mo interested in co-driving in STR with me.  Even says I can use his brand new 195 Toyos/SSRs. Deal.  I figure this is a good way to get valuable insight about the car's handling and potential from a multi-time champ and see how the car stacks up against the other STR competitors on the grippy ET surface.

   STR runs after lunch but we decide to run out of class in the first morning heat because Ken had other commitments in the afternoon.  Rain, wind, and cold throughout the first heat and then it dries up completely before lunch.  Screwed again, but at least I won my class (CST).  I should have run time only runs in the STR heat.

Although in the dry, STR was 5 seconds faster than my time.

RESULTS

March 4th Autox

195 Toyos, 80*F weather in March, carne asada burrito from the roach coach, and third place in class.

Results

Car was more stable with the rear lowered 3/8" at the shock.  Could go lower but I am near the bumpstop limit with this particular spring and top mount combination. More testing needed.





Only 6 weeks untill the SCCA San Diego Solo National Tour comes to town.  Still waiting for Dynotronics to finish the ECU updates as I am currently limited to 7500rpm.

Car in grid with lower ride height and 15X8 wheels.

Camera mount.

Rear fender rolling is next on the to do list.

Next event is at El Toro March 18th with a much grippier surface than Qualcomm.  I plan to run the higher rear ride height and hope that the balance is good.  No spring or bar changes expected.




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March 3rd Practice

Tested 195 Toyos in the morning and 225 Hankooks in the afternoon.

Toyo R1R 28 psi on 7.5" wheels.

Hankook RS3 30psi F, 28 psi R on 8" wheels.

New camera mount works good.






Lowered the rear ride height 3/8" at the shock.

3.15* front camber, 2.9* rear camber.  3/16 total rear toe in.

Lift off oversteer.