[Spridgets] New Person on the block

[David Lieb]

> If you are only interested in an auto-x car, you may want to rethink the
> Sprite idea.  First of all you can put whatever motor you want in there 
> for
> the go-fast part, but you still need to stop fast and corner fast. 
> Putting
> a new motor in there will put you into a modified class against outright
> racecars.  That will take some serious bucks in your Sprite to come close 
> to
> competing with.  Unless your local competition is really weak, you won't 
> be
> taking home the trophies.

Larry is 100% right on this one. If you are wanting to build a car for 
autox, you really have to dissect the rules of the group where you want to 
run. For instance, I run with the local Miata club and they have two classes 
of non-Miatas; one for the tiddlers and one for the unlimited. I have modded 
my Midget to the point where I run in the Unlimited Class, cause I got tired 
of winning the Tiddlers Class. OTOH, if I were to leave my race rubber at 
home, I could technically run in T. OTOH, by the Madison Sports Car Club 
rule-book, even without race tires I would be one class under full race and 
not even close to being competitive. Horse for courses as they say. In the 
right class, with the right mods, a relatively stock Spridget can be a lot 
of fun.

Part B is that, unless you have several seasons of autocrossing under your 
belt, YOU are the limiting factor, no matter what you are driving. If you 
are starting out in autocross, spend a couple years or so driving your daily 
driver for it. You need to learn lines, you need to learn smooth, you need 
to learn apexes, and you need to learn that you aren't the next Michael 
Schumacher ;-) It can be very educational to have one of the hot shoes drive 
the course in your car... firstly it is a trifle humbling, secondly, you can 
watch the number of things that he can do and you can't, thirdly, he can 
then give you advice on how to drive the course in your car.

Autocross is fun! Autocross in a Spridget is a blast. You won't be winning 
anything much the first couple years no matter what equipment you have, wait 
until you know to make the mods. A friend of mine races Spec Miata; while he 
was earning his SCCA novice license, he asked one of the other drivers what 
tire pressure he should run. The man's response was exactly right... "run 
them at X psi until you can feel the difference." In your case, run stock 
until you can benefit from a change.
David Lieb