...just to keep the argument going (boy, how I love to tweak those Midget
guys)...
; )
OK, then would somebody please explain WHY a Midget is so much faster
than a B in racing form (as you all seem so convinced)?
Both are unit-body roadsters with similar design, construction,
suspension, aerodynamics, you name it, with iron 4-cylinder pushrod
motors in a similar state of tune from the factory.
The B is heavier, wider, longer, with a larger displacement engine. The
Midget is lighter, narrower, shorter, with various smaller displacement
engines.
Despite the Midget's advantages of low mass and smaller frontal area, in
stock form it can't touch a CBB in acceleration or top speed. Not even
close. Neither did it turn appreciably better skidpad or braking numbers
in contemporary road tests.
So, given the same racing regulations, if you spent the same amount of
money on a B and a Midget, how would that make the Midget faster than the
B? Besides the obvious fact that 14 inch wheels and tires cost more than
13 inch, and other such factors of size.
If that is your claim, you have to demonstrate that either the A motor
responds much better to special tuning, or that the handling of the
Midget responds better to racing modifications; or some other
asymmetrical process of that sort. (Actually, something of the sort is
plausible, given the minuscule brakes and general directional instability
of a stock Midget).
My personal guess, based on the data Mike provided (thanks!), is that
since the cars are currently lumped into the same racing class (as
opposed to the old days when they were 2 classes apart), the Midget is
allowed more liberal modifications and/or a weight allowance, in order to
make it competitive. It would also seem that this handicap is set a
little too high for the B -- thus making the Midgets "sandbaggers"!
Now it's Mike's turn to disprove this contention...<g>
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the red one with the silver bootlid.
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