First DE with track-prepped Miata @ Sebring
 

This was my first time out with my 1990 1.6 Miata, stock drivetrain with 160k on it, koni shocks, FM springs, 15x8 6UL wheels with 225 Hankook RS3s, gutted interior with seats/harnesses/6pt cage, and a few other odds and ends. This was my 4th DE overall, and just got solo qualified earlier in the day. The car ran absolutely great; I cant believe how well it held up for such an old, high mileage car! It was so much more fun on track than my previous car; it was literally like running a go-kart around the track. The car I was running before this was an 04 CTS-V, so I made a huge change going to the Miata.


The best time I could get was a 3:01.0. How terrible is that for Sebring? I was running mostly 3:02's and 3:03's.


Here are two videos I got; first one is me chasing an NSX around, the second is the same NSX and a Ford GT when it starts to rain, and the third video is me getting murdered by advanced drivers during Chin Motorsport's "Happy Hour" where all level drivers are on track together. I must say, it was a blast having some of those fast cars AND drivers on track with me!








Any feedback is appreciated!

Props to you for going to such a pitifully slow car- it will teach you how to drive fast as long as you're honest with yourself. The key to driving it fast is momentum. That means taking every opportunity to keep your foot buried in the throttle. You can dramatically reduce lap times by addressing the points between the straights- 1. brake later and harder 2. enter turn at higher speed 3. apply throttle immediately after turn-in. That will increase your speed in the turn, at the exit, into the straight and at the end of the straight. Look up some sebring Miata racing in-car videos and compare them to your video. :bigtu:

All of this and more. I've been in that situation many times. Sometimes you have to be on the slower cars ass for them to finally let you by or they'll keep romping on it in the straights, further aggravating you.

Very nice!! Glad to see you really enjoyed your time out there. I think sixshooter goes out to sebring so perhaps asking him about his laptimes is good for comparison. Otherwise, I think spec miatas run around 2:40s there.

I'm no expert by any stretch, but you can brake later and harder in several of those turns. Brake at 17 starting just a few feet before the flag station instead of lifting then hesitating to brake way back when you did. That is the fastest point on the track and you want to cover as much ground as possible at the highest speed possible. Turn in slightly later in 7a and then put your inside wheels in the dirt and straddle the gators and do the same thing for 7b. You can straighten out the 7a-b combo that way.

In the first vid the Acura wasn't running a great line and you were turning in a couple of times whenever he started to instead of waiting for your turn in point. I noticed this because I have to make a conscious effort to catch myself and not turn in early when following another car. It is something I struggle with.

That's not much but it is all I've got for now. I'm a rookie but my Sebring instructor set a track record in TTB so I got some good tips from him.

Nice cars to be tailing :) seemed like pretty good driving. One thing i thought of, and that has not been mentioned yet. Going too nclose to walls on long straights can cost you some mph's due to drag from the reflected air. Since i've never run sebring (wrong continent) this might or might not affect the times there. But worth paying attention to if you have a good laptimer.

Can provide a source for that? I have been reading about this can't seem to find an engineering consensus on if it increases or reduces drag. it seems that it would depend on how narrow it is, and the speed, and the angle of wall with the car, and other variables too? Plus a few people refer to race cars traveling close to walls as arguement for less drag. (playing devil's advocate slightly, as the drag increase side usually cite the bus in a tunnel idea as a counter point).

Best is to try it oneself with a laptimer (preferably that can measure speed) what first opened my eyes for it was EVO's "the evo guide to trackdays" where they pick up some speed on spa doing this.
But as you say, it probably depends a lot on engle, height, car etc.