> As Dennis said, don't over-estimate the importance of a few
> horsepower and
> other minor changes. Will the 2001 Miata be a "faster" car than a
> 99-00 model? Almost certainly. But not by much.
I had thought the main point was Prepared/Mod versus Stock
from a cost perspective Mod cars are cheaper.
My Miata is my daily driver so while I will grant that an extra
10 HP is an asset it's worth more to a skilled driver than someone
of my caliber. :)
However a skilled driver is going to clean my clock anyway
and cost effectiveness has me leaning toward a Mod car.
Sure I'm going to get beaten there as well but I'll have more
fun for less outlay and even an older F440 can be quite competitive
in F-Mod since the differences are fairly negligible especially
when compared to stock class cars.
> If you are talking about winning a national championship, then, yes,
> you
> might _need_ to have a 2001 model next year. But if you're talking
> about
> being regionally competitive, having a shot at winning Divisional or
> National Tour-level events, and at least trophying at Nationals,
> then a 99-00 Miata certainly won't be obsolete IMHO.
You would have to be one heckuva good driver tho, since
the BS/CS Miata class has very competitive drivers in it
even regionally.
> Didn't Tim Aro beat top-level competition at the Ayer's Tour in a
> borrowed, "obsolete", '94 Miata this year? There's a lesson in there
> somewhere...
Experience does help out more than the car but I know once
I'm out of Novice class it'll be a few years before I can come
close to the times set by the guys in Open class and if they start
running the newer cars the chances of catching them lessens.
> As for the MR2, there's a certain nationally-known Chicago area
> driver
> who's waiting for her's to be delivered, so we should start getting
> an idea of how quick they can be.
It will be interesting to watch.
I like my '99 Miata, it's a great street car but I'd have to be a lot
better
driver to beat the new cars against experienced drivers.
In the end a Prepared/Mod car is cheaper unless something
major breaks but Stock cars can break too.
Steve Bernard
Red '99 Miata (B-Stock)
NER Region (Novice Class)
mailto:Solo-2@juno.com
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