August 18, 2008 - The Flyin' Miata Open House track day was last weekend.
It's always been my plan to have the car finished by this point. Last year, the Open House marked the first track outing of the car. Since then, of course, I've done a whole lot of work!
I'm a little conflicted. The car didn't feel that great to drive, with a soft turn-in and a steady-state cornering balance that was slightly biased towards understeer. Just like last weekend, naturally. This time I had a passenger every time I went out and the car was happier putting down power.
However, the car was fast. Really fast. The fastest Miata out there despite a big power gap.
I was a full 3.230 seconds faster than last year. Granted, everyone was going 1 or 2 seconds faster this year, either due to track conditions or improved cars. But still - over 3 seconds. Some of that is engine, some of it is driver, and the majority of it is setup. I also picked up 0.2 seconds over my time on the same track in April, and the track was fast that day.
I'm going to check the toe on the car and then call it finished. There's another track day next weekend, but I'm going to resist the urge to keep tweaking. It's time to concentrate on final preparation for the race. After all, I have to hit the road in less than three weeks!
One of the other drivers there did note that the fastest Spec Miatas aren't as fun to drive as the slower ones due to their setup. I suspect that I have the same problem. Don't get me wrong, the car is still a lot of fun. The first corner on the track shows off the light weight of the car as the nose dives for the apex, and it's still quite faithful. I've probably given the impression that the car understeers badly, when really it is fairly neutral. Never does the front end wash out on me, and I can always get the back end to step out if I try. A couple of times on the day, I got the rear end out a little too far! So it's a good balance, especially as I'm not a hero rally driver.
tags: testing, other cars, skills |
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