The thread of discussing my stupid cars and how I waste my

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Well what are their stats? HP, torque, displacement, etc.

Every class has rules, and you can't just build the car to your desires and put it in any class you want. So you'll probably be disappointed.

Spec Miata basically stands for "Factory Specifications". That means the motor is a sealed unit. The ECU is stock, and you're not to mess with it. You are not allowed to change any of the internals. You can run certain intakes, adjust the timing, and run premium fuel. The car has a spec suspension package (A Bilstein/Eibach setup), and spec tires (Toyo RA1s) that all competitors must use. The biggest adjustments from a factory car (besides stripping it out and installing a roll cage.) are made to the cars suspension, tires, weight, and brakes. Steel braided brake lines are popular. These are not horsepower monsters. You'll probably see 118hp from the 1.6l and perhaps 125hp from the 1.8l. That isn't to say people don't cheat, they just are not supposed to. With all cars being equal, it's driver vs driver and makes for very close, very fun racing.

IT or Improved Touring allows for more in depth modification of the vehicle. Since it's a class that allows more than one type of car, there are certain specific rules for each vehicle. The vehicle's motor is no longer sealed, but it's not completely open. You can run an oil cooler, reroute coolant for better cooling, run cams with slightly more duration, slightly over bore (very lightly), the engine is blue printed and balanced, and you can modify the intake. All air must still travel through the stock AFM, but it doesn't have to function. It's just there to restrict how big you make your intake. One very important mod is that you can replace the factory ECU with an aftermarket programmable one. This gives you the ability to fine tune the car for max performance. On a good day you're looking at 145hp from my little 1.8l. It makes it tough to keep up in straight line with some of the 2.4l cars, but that's where being able to make the car even lighter and run better tires comes into play. At this point the car is also much lower, running stiffer springs, and much larger sway bars.

I can, and will eventually, run a front air splitter for aerodynamic purposes.

You still can't change the size of the brake calipers or rotors.

Production is the most modified a factory car can become in the SCCA.

Now many parts of the car are open. The vehicle can be much lighter still. Tires and wheels are allowed to be wider, you can run a full widebody kit (which it needs to cover the wider wheels and tires.), the windsheild and top are removed for better aerodynamics, and two piece brake rotors can be installed for better unsprung weight. Lighter aluminum suspension arms can be used to replace factory steel parts and reduce weight more. Brake ducting, air splitters, and under chassis down force modifications are allowed. A dual reservoir brake master cylinder with adjustment controls for the driver are allowed. Much more aggressive cams, higher compression pistons, and other engine internals are allowed. A more powerful programmable ECU can be used, and that allows for different things to be done. (There's still limits, but the rules are far more open.) The intake is no longer restricted, routing and filter placement are open. The suspension is more open. A full sequential racing transmission with straight cut gears is allowed. (They're also stupid expensive and incur a weight penalty )

Our 1.6l FProd makes right under 190hp on a good day. Dyno runs change depending on atmospheric conditions and a multitude of other things. So take that with a grain of salt.

Basically, no matter what class you're in, the Miata is what's called the giant killer. Or a momentum car. They don't have the power of some of it's competitors, but it embarrasses them by carrying more speed through the corners and braking later.

I don't know much about that type of racing.
I just hauled down a drag strip.
Do you have a car with a good quartermile?

As you probably gathered from above, these aren't straight line cars. We've modified street cars for customers that are faster in a straight line than our race cars. It's just a different type of autosport.

EDIT UPDATE!

I'll mention this even though I plastered it all over facebook and G+ becaue I'm quite glad I found it. This could have been very bad!

Had a bolt fail on the driver's rear upright of my ITA Miata. It didn't work itself out completely, but the bolt had sheared and worked about halfway out. That explains why it was getting so hard to keep from getting loose in the corner during the last race. Instant camber change! I thought my tires were going out, and that must have been the bolt getting more and more loose. Now I don't feel so bad about second place and that Honda getting away from me through the corners.

Thank goodness it didn't completely fail going through the banking, since we're doing around 130 or so. Glad I found this before the next race!