Targa Miata
MIATA BUILD
May 14, 2009 - A peek at the Targa New Zealand.
I've been corresponding - on and off - with Euen Burke about his Targa NZ experiences. He drives a TG Sports, a MG-inspired kit car that uses Miata mechanicals. It's a pretty cool little device, giving the style of an older car with the Miata's reliability and handling. The picture shows one of his better parking jobs after a bit of a moment on a bridge. Sorry Euen, I had to use this shot because it's such a good parking job! He reports that it took six people to pull the car straight so they could continue, and they were not the first to hit the barriers!
Well, he recently sent me some video of one of his stages and it is in stark contrast to Newfoundland. First, look at the altitude gain! Also, note how smooth the road is. It's a completely different experience from what we dealt with. Here's what Euen had to say about the stage:
"It was a hillclimb stage on the last day, just north of Wellington. About 14 or 15km long. A piece of road that I have enjoyed for a long time as I used to live not far from it and used it frequently. We managed to catch a Reliant Scimitar about 4 minutes in (we started 30 seconds behind him). The Scimitar is powered by a 3.8 litre GM/Holden V6. Has the legs on the straights but cannot shake me on the tight stuff."
Video link
Thanks Euen!
entry 679 - tags: Targa NZ
September 8, 2011 - So, what's in the parking lot of your Holiday Inn?
Yes, that's a Murcielago and a Maserati MC12 parked beside a mere Ferrari 430. The Enzo is down at the Comfort Inn as part of the Targa school. All of these cars are running in the Touring division, which means they are in the same class as Brandon and Zach. This is possibly the only time a Miata has ever taken on a MC12 in direct timed competition.
As for the Targa Miata, it's changed from a very fast car to an extremely fast car. I took it for a quick run down the road and made an involuntary comment the first time I hit full throttle. I'm going to go do a bit more tuning later this afternoon to tweak the zones I couldn't reach at altitude, as it's running a bit rich in those areas. And of course, with all this power, the forecast is for rain.
entry 937 - tags: targa, 2011 race, exotics, tuning