ITA cornering question
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?
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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!
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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.. |
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