Next Miata Ready To Race?We're still having a hard time getting our minds around the fact that Mazda isn't calling the new Miata, the Miata. It's officially merely the MX-5. But if there's one part of the Miata heritage worth keeping, it's the one that has made it an extraordinarily popular racecar.
Whether it's in parking lot gymkhanas, Showroom Stock racing, or the Miata Spec series, the Miata has a firm position as the world's favorite platform for amateur racing antics. Mazda is determined to see that the tradition persists and it's doing so with this "race-ready" version of the new MX-5 it displayed at the New York Auto Show.
"With the all-new 2006 Mazda MX-5 as a starting point, it was easy for us to create the fastest, best-handling and most comprehensively prepared Spec Miata yet," says Steve Sanders, manager, Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development. "The combination of a tuned suspension, a willing engine and consistent braking means Miatas have always made terrific racecars. With more grip, more power and more stopping ability, the new MX-5 is the perfect starting point to be the very best Miata racecar yet." Did you expect him to say something other than that?
Since it's built to eventually race in the SCCA's wildly popular Spec Miata series (which we assume will be inelegantly renamed), the race-ready MX-5's 2.0-liter four is basically untouched and likely still makes somewhere around 170 hp.
But there is a Racing Beat stainless-steel header and exhaust system, and Mazda filled the engine with Idemitsu lubricants and added Racing Beat anti-roll bars as well as springs and shocks from Mazdaspeed. And those are Racing Hart 18x7.5-inch wheels inside Hankook Ventus DOT-legal race tires.
Of course, the normal array of safety equipment has also been installed, including an AWR six-point roll cage, an AiM Sports custom dash display with data logger, and a racing seat, steering wheel and belts from Sparco.
Mazdaspeed's intention is to use this car as the prototype from which it will further develop the package of components that will transform the MX-5 for the 2006 professional Spec Miata series. As testing continues, some of these parts may change as Mazdaspeed hones the car with the perfect combination of cost vs. performance.
Expect the Spec MX-5 to first show up on the professional Miata Cup level, with a trickle-down effect for other Miata racers ensuing soon afterwards. At least we know Mazda is already seeding the aftermarket with cars to ensure that MX-5 doesn't lose a step when it supersedes the Miata.
Big Evo NumbersOwn a Mitsubishi EVO VIII and you're usually obsessed with numbers. EVO-nauts know their car's boost levels in both bar and psi; they've memorized every ratio in every differential; they've measured how quickly their car launches at different tire pressures; and they know their car's current curb weight down to the ounce.
The number that their minds focus on most intensely is total horsepower production and GSC Motorsports is claiming the record in that area.
A few weeks after introducing its camshaft kit for the EVO VIII, GSC now says that kit is an integral part of setting a claimed new power record for an EVO running the stock turbo and stock block.
Daniel Willey of Atlanta's Batlground Engineering (www.batlground.com) built this EVO; it's running 28 psi with a 50/50 mix of C16 and 93 octane, a stock turbo, full cat-back exhaust, intake, a stock reflashed ECU and a Super AFC fuel computer. It peaked at 436.66 hp with peak maximum torque of 437.23 lb-ft on Batlground's own all-wheel-drive Dynojet chassis dyno. Studly.
Still available from GSC is a $1,000 cash prize to any EVO VIII driver in the United States to run a 9.99-second elapsed time (or faster) at a sanctioned drag event displaying the GSC Motorsports Power Division logo. We assume GSC is talking about a quarter-mile run. More information is on the Web site at www.gscmotorsports.com.
Finally, A Really Expensive NSXHonda's (er, Acura's) NSX was the best car in the world when it was introduced nearly 15 years ago. But let's admit it, there are some better cars out there now. And the NSX has been floundering. So, to revitalize the car, Honda has decided to produce a version that costs about six times as much-the JDM-only NSX-R GT.
This is probably the current NSX's last gasp before the clammy hand of death pulls it into the grave. The NSX-R GT was developed in order to homologate certain changes for Japan GT Championship (JGTC) competition and Honda. The most apparent changes are the adoption of some radical carbon-fiber body panels, including an oversize front air dam, that snorkel intake scoop, and larger side scoops to pump more cool air into the engine bay and onto the brakes.
Otherwise, most of the NSX-R GT is familiar stuff from the JDM NSX-R. That means there are practically no changes to the drivetrain, including the 280-hp, 3.2-liter, VTEC V6, or to the underlying aluminum structure of the chassis.