what you're up against
 

I thought this video did a good job of illustrating the difference between a front running, high dollar SM and a mid or back pack car- the details.
http://vimeo.com/15788586
[vimeo]15788586[/vimeo] ;)

Sweet jesus

The most expensive piniatas on the planet. It is crazy what the 'pro' SM built motors go for. One could build a really nice turbo engine, with the turbo, for what they cost. No offense to SM. It is a good example of what the expense of a racing series, even a series designed for cheap racing, can escalate to.

I remember when they were selling turn key SMs for $20k and "we" were comparing them to the Panoz series cars that were selling for just under that- ready to go. Those were full tube frame purpose built racers that used affordable mustang components and were coming with freshened cobra engines.

Crazy 0_o

Ceramic bearings?

Details :p

Yes Where do we buy those at?

That's Jim Daniel's video, so I'm sure he could sell you some. You can contact on specmiata.com.

Well said.

Do want

The CMRA has somehow been dodging this escalation for years. A good rider with good racing skills can spend $5K (or less) on a used. mostly stock track bike and still blow away a lot of people on superior machinery. I think it is mostly due to the relatively high demands on skill versus equipment, not to mention a touch of craziness.

Sorry, thread jack.

ftfy

REM isotropic superfinish. surface metal treatment
REM surface engineering is the company the developed it.
I am not sure if it is as good as ceramic bearings or not

I can gets where?

You would probably have to buy new bearings and then contact REM to have them treated and then repack the hubs yourself. I don't know if anyone is offering prebuilt You might want to contact REM first because different bearings have different metalurgy and I don't know if their process is compatible with all metals
http://www.remchem.com/page3-38/ISFServices

They are repacked with high quality grease like redline.

http://www.appliedracingtechnology.com/aboutus.php

My ART bearings didn't spin like that...no more free spinning than the "slow" one on the video.


BTW, AMSoil 2000 > Redline

this is pretty damn impressive too:
http://vimeo.com/14211666

It's not just bearings and grease, low drag bearing seals cut drag too. They've been running fancy bits for years. It's not hard at all to load in fancy grease, the stock stuff is not intended for track usage. If you've run into wheel bearing life issues that alone helps immensely.

BTW you can measure net rolling resistance of an entire car via simple low speed coast down tests.

Nice vid, Jims lines sucked.

i spent 3 years doing semi-pro short track inline speed skating. A free spinning bearing that is unlubricated can easily leave an 84mm skate wheel freewheeling for 5-10 times as long as the same bearing lubricated with a llight application of very thin grease or oil.

In this case, lubrication of those bearings will only serve to increase the drag on the bearing, and the only purpose is to significantly increase life and wear resistance.

Can we identify that both of those bearings were identically packed with the same grease? Or is the stock bearing correctly packed, and the remd bearing dry?

Honestly you can't verify anything w/o doing it yourself. But I can remember some guys I crewed for running Miatas in what was called "Speedvision Cup" (pre-Motorola Cup) doing the same thing. Basically the car got new hubs every event. They were built to last the weekend, so in essence to your point, they were a compromise between longevity and rolling resistance. Not to say that there weren't improvements outside of what's delivered stock, but it is a combination of the two.

@jacob- if you're car is quick enough, it doesn't matter if you have a sloppy line. ;)

@hustler- That is a good vid. I didn't realize World Challenge had new/rearranged classes. Crazy to see the Speed3 blasting by the in-car mustang in lap 1 thru the turn... followed by the rx8.

not Jim. read the video description

That series almost died two years ago. The price of the cars kept going up, mixed with the economy going down. SCCA had to restructure it to allow more classes and more competition.

The speed3 could possibly be Jason Saini, but it's unconfirmed. I know he's been running one that looks just like that.

tracking a miata every mth takes a toll, granted it's not broken but when should you replace/repack the oem bearing n hub?