Thanks for calling my car a pushing pig on the National list, Phil.:-)
Actually , when you rode in it it was with the old swaybar on a very
tight course. As Randy said (and found out:-)) the car turns in
*much* better with the modified front bar.
As far as the 1.6 in CS, I think they have the potential to do OK, but
will be course dependent. With enough tight turns, the 1.8 can be
slowed down to where the MR2 can take it. The 1.6 will only have it
even harder, and McCormick-like downshifting won't help you. On top
of that, the 1.6 gives up quite a bit of hp to the MR2, unlike the
1.8. That's not going to help on fast courses. So, my guess would be
the 1.6 would do well on medium speed courses (what's that?:-)) where
speed maintenance is key and the light weight will help.
Addressing the ease-of-driving issue, I think my car (the way it is
now) is very easy to drive. I've seen people hop in and be very fast.
The same people were't so fast hopping in a Miata. I've also had a
fair amount of experience in a Teresa's 1.8R, Jesse's 1.6 (once), and
my MR2. I'd say that starting from scratch, the MR2 is definitely the
car whose potential I'd be pushing first.
-Andy McKee
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