From a Miata's perspective
 

Just wanted to share a clip my friend made at our recent track day this past weekend. Not a knock against Miatas at all, I'm a huge fan, used to own one, but just thought it was a little funny to see how it happens from his/their perspective when we share the track.

Friend is in his Miata and I'm in the Z06. Friend is a very talented driver, but I think I might have a slight hp advantage. :lol:

That cracks me up. :D I decided a long time ago, if you want to go fast, you have to buy fast. Then work on your talent.

Steve

Need to share that one :)

LOL nice vid sure walked em on the straight

Not your typical Miata pass...:rofl:

:rock: I've been on both sides of this one, having something for the right foot to do is better :rock:

Hahaha. My co-worker runs a BMW 135i and I run my highly modified 03 Coupe during our HPDE days. He gives me the point-bys. A few times I've also noticed the middle finger raised in my rear view mirror. :rofl:

Do you guys have data to compare?

I'd be curious to see who is really faster and who has more hp under their right foot when the track gets straight....

I found so much satisfaction in blowing by liter bikes on my little 600.

thanks for sharing... that was hilarious.

Great video. My brother drives a miata and I drive a c5z at track days. My brother is a much faster driver but doesn't have the power. That's what it usually looks like.

My brother and I always get a kick out of the below video:

I'd say that's 10/10ths :D

That GT40 driver better get ready with a point by :rofl:

I hear ya, having power like a V8 is pretty amazing. Though the great thing about lower HP cars like a Miata is it trains you to maintain momentum, otherwise you're not going anywhere. Having one years back, I learned a lot from it and makes having a higher HP car even more satisfying.

As much as I love our high HP cars, there is something special about the purity of a nimble and light car like a Miata. You really have to drive the wheels off of that car to keep up and that is a ton of fun.

:eek:

Glad he kept it on the course!

:lol:

Those 135is are no joke. Pretty quick. Go a coworker that tracks his, I need to see what his schedule is like and head out with him sometime. His is all tricked out with some bigger brakes and all that.

Sorry, no data or telemetry, other than some basic lap times, but that doesn't tell you what you're looking for. I have some anecdotal feedback to share.

This video was during our first session and I was taking it a bit easy getting familiar to the car on track. I've been on this track with another car before, but it was my first HPDE with this car, first drive on these tires, and first drive on that alignment, so that was what I called a 'discovery session'. Just getting familiar with the behavior of the car and working my way up, so my braking was way early and I was leaving a little extra on the table in case I needed to correct. In no way that was 10/10ths.

We both dialed it up and got more aggressive later in the day. We took ride alongs in each other's car in the later sessions and we probably pull very similar amounts of lateral G. It always feels faster when in the passenger seat, but I think we were pretty close. During other sessions when we were next to each other, neither of us were pulling away from each other during turns, but I had the power to make a pass once it started to open up. To his credit, I've got a wider tire and stickier compound, so I should have been able to carry more speed through some of the steady state corners. He was on the brakes later than I was, but I knew I was braking early as I was feeling the car out. So while I was have quicker around the course overall, I believe he was getting more out of his car than I was getting out mine. He is a good driver and his car is setup really well.

My goal for this event was to get familiar and used to the car's behavior, characteristics, and identify where I need to improve for my next outing. I felt like I accomplished all of that.

My goal for my next day is to dial up the aggression. Brake later and hold more lateral G. I think I have some time to save there.

Wow! What a hell of a pass. I'll have to share that with my friend :lol:

:yesnod: They are quick. He stays right with me to ~80 mph. Then he starts to fade away.

Some fun stuff. :thumbs:

It would be interesting to overlay the two different cars to see where the gains and losses are.. Looking the video can see the brake zones are different but really seeing the time distance graphs would be cool.

:D great vid

I raced Miata's there twice in the 25 Hour Endurance Race.

The sessions were 1 1/2 hours long.

Sorry but, I was bored with the car after one lap.

Thanks for the great video. Loved it. :D

Here I am in my 400 hp vette at the same track. Except I'm more like a miata against this twin turbo porsche...

Nice drive!