I've had my 83' ITA car for about 3 months and have put in about 6 hours of track time including one race. My question is about the proper apex for a car like the RX-7 w/ a healthy but non-ported 12a. As you know, we race w/ lots of Miatas and when I late apex they seem to pull me out of every corner due to their extra low end. When I hit mid apex by getting off the brakes earlier and try and hold speed I seem to do better. For those with lots of RX ITA hours, what do you do?

 

I think you have identifed the correct driving style. Your focus needs to be on speed maintenance with corner exit being more important than corner entry.

Personally I never had allot of luck with Miatas but I did find that I could out run most of them down a straight away. I ran IT7 so that I had a more level playing field.

 

i have a 1.6 ITA miata (<120 hp) i pull like a mother on IT7 guys that try to rely on power out of a corner, but down a long straight they may pull a few cars on me.

but that being said. my qualifying times are usually a good second over the IT7 guys. but i am only regional (duh ITA) and its my "home" track Nashville super speedway. ( i run usually NSS barber)

but honestly i think a ITA 1st gen is a excellent cheap way to have alot of fun and still be competitive. If you can put a shorter gear in the car it will help get you in your powerband, but if you are running some high speed tracks you might run out of gear.

 

Thanks for the comments. Car has 4.88 in the rear end. I still need to log a lot more hours on the track. I know the car has a bunch more in it once I start to drive more consistent and a lot smoother. My original plan was to build a SM over the winter but couldn't pass up a great car for a great price. It allowed me to race this whole season!

 

If they aren't ITA cars, who cares? If they are running in ITA trim just accept the fact it is a better platform and you are going to have to be perfect to gain ground on them in the corners.

Remember one word; Momentum. Just be sure to get the car rotated early, you don't want to run out of road at the exit of a turn because you carried too much speed into the turn. Improved racecraft that will come with seat time will help you find their weak points and capitalize on them.

 

"late apex" is really something they drilled into noobs so they don't into troubles.

not saying you shouldn't late apex, just don't late apex every corner. I see many concentrate so much on track out speed. they park it on corner entry, so they can get a perfect track out..