2manyturbos
Moderator
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
- Location
- Monroe, OR USA
It's a Mazdaspeed, factory turbo, tweaked slightly from there. About 220 at the wheels.
Yeah, I think in my head I'm thinking that going wider in the sweeper lets me go a bit faster, but in reality the going farther part negates the going faster part.
You are exactly correct. You are going faster, and losing time at the same time in that particular part of the course. There is no set rule for the quickest line. Slightly wide in a corner that leads to a straight away is a good line in order to keep momentum up and get back on the gas sooner. Wide in a long sweeper loses time. Wide to get in better position for a decreasing radius corner is a good line. Most of the "rules" of road racing fall short when applied to Autocross. I bought Solostorm at the end of last year's season and it really helped tighten up my driving. It's amazing to be able to see exactly what is happening when the run is logged with position, throttle setting, g-forces, speed etc. I can be 6" off the line running faster and losing time according to the data. I can overlay runs and compare them. I'm in the early stages of data logging. I need to get faster at it so that I can look at a run as soon as I'm back in grid. All the top competitors have been doing this for several years. I finally decided to join in on the trend.
You have the perfect platform for Autocross. The Mazdaspeed Miata is a really quick, balanced car that is super competitive for very little investment.