sweet! I will be seing him on Saturday.

 

I think he might cringe if I do the alignment for life plan as well. I think he's at a loss on you by now. I had to laugh to myself after I mentioned you referred me. Robert was silent for a second and I could have swore I heard him thinking, " Here we go again..." He then assumed I needed some custom alignments for which he was correct.
On a side note. I found some 8inch stock rims for cheap (FR/RR) that Hoosier recommends their 255/50/16 A6's on. All in all it will be about $500 cheaper than getting 17in 5zigens and wrapping w/275's. Do you think the difference between 255-275 will be that much? The difference in patch is 10.2 for the 255's(hoosier A6) and 10.83 for the 275's for Kuhmo.
What do you think Casey?

 

Hey Casey looks like I misread again. According to Hoosier the footprint for the 255's is 9.4 and 10.3 for the 275's. So By running 255's I'll be losing 10% or almost an inch at each wheel.
Rob- Here's the link for the specs and recommendations for the Hoosier A6 and R6's
https://www.hoosiertire.com/rrtire.htm
go to specs on the left column and then choose A6 and R6 specs.
Damon

 

yeah that’s a big difference.

but you need to ask yourself how competitive you think you will be anyways. remember that the car may be locally SM2 fast, but at a big race it will not be. even with the bigger tires. If saving $500 means a lot to you, then you might want to go that rout. also consider tire cost that comes around every time you burn up a set. (whats the price difference between a set?)

but to answer your question.... yeah its a big difference. though it will still be WAY WAY WAY faster then what you have on the car now. no matter what tire and wheel you go with. ;-)

Hope that helps, sorry if it confuses you more.




as for the alignment. make you mention that the car is a street car and you should not be needing to come in often once he does it. this should make them both feel better. (even if you don’t mean it.)

I mentioned to both of them that after this time I should be good to go for a while. no more coming in after every race. (since we SHOULD be done putting new parts on and screwing it all up.) That made them feel better.

As for the tech (Robert), I think he gets paid by the hour, so I doubt he cares. But I do bring a case of beer with me every now and then, so that helps ease the “again???” factor.

 

Thanks Casey. Not confusing at all and some pretty funny stuff as well.
Thanks,
Damon
Looks like the man to beat locally in SM is that white BMW M3 w/ the huge spoiler and corner scales. Do you know what he's running, i.e. turbo, tires. I'm going to check him out this weekend

 

To elaborate a little more on the tire question…

There are several options for us CSP miata guys:

1) a street tire – blah

2) The Kumho 215/xx/13 V710 tire,

3) the Hoosier 225/45/13

4) the Hoosier 225/50/13 – almost the same tire, but a tad thinner, and a bit taller – changes your gear ratio more then anything.

5) the 255/40/13

6) the 275/xx/15



up until 3 months ago the 275/15 was the way to go. No doubt about it. But I have been running the 225/45/13. why?... because its cheaper. By far. No its not as fast, its not nearly as much tire as you would need to keep with the 275’s. but its what I could afford while still being able to build the car and race at the same time. Locally the car is somewhat fast. But when we did the 2 big races we were so out classed it was not even funny. Placed like 12th or something like that…. Outa 14 cars. (we beat a car on the 215’s and someone on the 225’s)

then Hoosier released the 255’s. it almost as wide as the 275’s but you get the better gear ratio because its such a shorter tire. So the world is still testing to see what tire is better. But the good news is, the 255’s will work great on the new wheels. (the whole reason I got the new wheels). Even if they are not the top tire, they will still be close. And right now, close is all I can do. The 15s are much more money still. (and early results show that the 275’s ARE STIL faster)




same with the engine. I had a few options.

1) stick with the factory 1.6 – blah

2) drop a 94-97 1.8L

3) drop a 99-00 1.8L

4) drop a 01+ 1.8L

the problem is the 01 cost more (they increasingly get more expensive) and the 01 requires a stand a lone…. Yeah its more bang, but the 99 was close and a lot less money. So it will have to work. Locally it works fine, but nationally it’s just not top notch.

The point of the story is I still have fun. The car is heavily modified, but its still 2nd best compared to a top of the class car. If you want to be nationally competitive, then the wallet needs to be big and things need to be done right. If you want to be locally fast and have a freakin blast while doing it, then go with the parts that make sense. If the best part makes the most sense….. then it’s even better!

(like buying the used Panasports….. that was a deal I could not pass up…. And now I can move to the wider 255’s while being on a MUCH lighter wheel) …… (went from a 20 something pound wheel to a 10 pound wheel. That’s 40 pounds of unsprung spinning mass tht was removed!)

Does that help at all?

 

yup. I'm going to think about it. We'll see what happens. Anyways, race day this Sunday!

 

link is no bueno!

 

looks like Hoosiers site is donw.

 

but here is a picture of the car with the new whel, raised, and rolled.

 

nice.

so you were the one who has my friend's fender roller

 

andrew's fender roller ........ noooooooooo........

 

Looks good!

Re flaring: I pretty much went back and forth till the lip was flat, then I started going back and forth and started pulling away from the car. I was pretty aggressive because I didn't care about the paint, and I'm actually surprised it didn't crack!

 

I cracked mine pretty bad.

we started to pull the fender, but it became so damaged I just stoped...... all well.

maybe I should have YOU do it!

 

I couldn't get the roller to fit under the fender, because my suspension didn't droop far enough. I ended up using a steel tube for the fronts. I might do the rears soon.

A good way to prevent the paint from cracking is to use a heat gun to bring the paint temperature up to 150F.

 

I had to drop the shocks. (id didnt fit under my wheel wells either.

A bit of a pain, but it worked once the shocks were no longer holding it all up.

I heated the paint, but it still cracked pretty bad. all well. at least they are rolled now. besides its a race car, no one will notice when it flys by right?

he he he.

 

^50 mph at 50ft I'm sure it'll be lookin' good!
Suspension is done and ready to roll! Front toe-out is crazy on the freeway!
The big increase in caster has made it feel like a whole different car, well, that having the right springs at the right tire doesn't hurt either

 

Here's another Miata with 275's all around:



Sticks out like crazy

Damon was shocked that I have 265's all around and it cleared like nothing

 

I would not want to tangle with ^ that miata on a tight course! 275's
I guess an FD set-up well would be even tougher though.

 

I don't doubt FD's could fit more than 285's underneath. With 265's, I could almost put my fist in between andrew's wheel and coilover.

 

Time breakdown for this Sun.
http://solo2.com/eventpage.asp?eid={AD73C285-6CBD-4704-B559-8E91C1D75615}
You may have to copy/paste url if it doesn't link.
I'm planning on running Group 3, working group 1, and tech group 2.

 

Here is one of our local guys running the 275's

 

Did you beat that car last month by a 100th Casey?

 

Why did you decide to run 3rd? (and if you Run 3rd, you have to work 1st.)


Register, Tech and walk before the racing even starts.... thats what I always do.
that way its all done an over with.

 

sheesh, I wish. no that thats the guy that is "too good for us" so he runs in PAX where he has competition.

He is the 3 time National Champion in CSP.