MX5 MK3 SuperCup - a fresh start
Discussion
Andy, the reasons may be different but I see a lot of mileage in them getting the power and performance up on those cars. Firstly it opens the gap to the Mk1 and secondly it helps make the cars more attractive against cars like our beloved Porsches or front wheel drive stuff. Personally I think it would be great if they went further and used one of those high revving cam tune up jobs I read about last year, that Paul ???? fella was going for 200 Bhp from this engine. Now that really would be something.
NJH said:
Andy, the reasons may be different but I see a lot of mileage in them getting the power and performance up on those cars. Firstly it opens the gap to the Mk1 and secondly it helps make the cars more attractive against cars like our beloved Porsches or front wheel drive stuff. Personally I think it would be great if they went further and used one of those high revving cam tune up jobs I read about last year, that Paul ???? fella was going for 200 Bhp from this engine. Now that really would be something.
Neil, You may be right but in one make racing I'm still not sure I see the point. Will these mods preclude the cars from racing in the Max5 series? If so, I see that as a retrograde step as its always good to have a wide range of series to race a car in as ultimately it tends to attract more overall competitors. The mods wont preclude them racing in CSCC Modern Classics.I do think that the Mk3 is a great club racing car for all sorts of series, not just one make stuff. Lots about, spares relatively easy to get hold of, RWD (of course), the engine is a Duratec basically so lots of tuning options including 2.3 litre options. Should be successful cars for a long while to come.
One of the criticisms levelled at the SuperCup cars over the winter was the noise (or lack of). Following a vote for existing and new drivers 70%+ were in favour of the manifold and intake. The manifold was a better option than just a new backbox as it gives a bit more power too. It also makes it them 'feel' more like a race car when you look under the bonnet which can be very important to some people.
The cost is approx £450 pounds for exhaust and Intake to the drivers, for a power increase of 10-15 bhp.
The update in spec has sparked a lot of interest in the championship and it seems to have paid off judging by the number of registered drivers and the arrival of at least 3 new 'teams'. It's possible the grids could be bigger than Ma5da ever managed (peaked at 26 i'm told) during this season.
I was initially skeptical of the benefits too, but so far it's looking good.
The BRSCC have balanced out the cost by writing into the regs that there will be no more techincal changes to the spec of the cars for at least 3 seasons (other than on the grounds of safety of course!).
ETA: Always makes me laugh how MX5 racing in general never fails to spark an internet debate!
The cost is approx £450 pounds for exhaust and Intake to the drivers, for a power increase of 10-15 bhp.
The update in spec has sparked a lot of interest in the championship and it seems to have paid off judging by the number of registered drivers and the arrival of at least 3 new 'teams'. It's possible the grids could be bigger than Ma5da ever managed (peaked at 26 i'm told) during this season.
I was initially skeptical of the benefits too, but so far it's looking good.
The BRSCC have balanced out the cost by writing into the regs that there will be no more techincal changes to the spec of the cars for at least 3 seasons (other than on the grounds of safety of course!).
ETA: Always makes me laugh how MX5 racing in general never fails to spark an internet debate!
Edited by mattmk391 on Friday 7th March 14:49
NJH said:
Andy, the reasons may be different but I see a lot of mileage in them getting the power and performance up on those cars. Firstly it opens the gap to the Mk1 and secondly it helps make the cars more attractive against cars like our beloved Porsches or front wheel drive stuff. Personally I think it would be great if they went further and used one of those high revving cam tune up jobs I read about last year, that Paul ???? fella was going for 200 Bhp from this engine. Now that really would be something.
Well Neil, just to bring this up to date a bit, PH has had a couple of articles recently about Brodie Britain Racing (BBR) marketing 200Bhp upgrades for road cars - maybe that kit is the way to go? I'd like to see BBR race one in CSCC Modern Classics!Since andy97 has kindly resurrected this thread here’s an update from inside the championship;
We (myself, dad and brother) built a new car over the winter for a little over £8k which included purchase of a 36k mile donor car which my brother qualified in 4th in its first race at Silverstone.
Average grids for the year have been 17/18 cars, peaked at Silverstone with 26 and low point was 15 at Snetterton. 30+ drivers in total have scored points so far this year. There have also been guys from MAX5 who’ve joined the SuperCup for the odd round.
There have been 4 different race winners and some very close racing.
Paul O’Neill (of BTCC and ITV4 fame) is guest driving this weekend August 30th at Oulton Park.
The BRSCC have really got behind the championship with a new website (http://www.mx5supercup.co.uk/), race day co-coordinators, and photography at every meeting by John Elsey (http://jonelseyphotography.photoshelter.com/), who is really rather good. The only thing maybe missing is TV coverage, but perhaps that will happen in the future, who knows.
Eligibility scrutineering has been much better, for example we’ve had ECU’s checked 3 times this year amongst other things like diff ratios, suspension mounts and gear linkages (all bar the ECU must be standard btw).
I, as a driver, have personally spoken to several people intending to build cars for 2015 including people from the mk1 championship and other one make series. Word is that the organisers have had more enquiries.
In my opinion, although not without drama, 2014 has gone even better than anyone expected for the Mk3’s and is a massive turnaround from the end of 2012!
I’ve certainly enjoyed the racing. Here’s my last race from Anglesey on YouTube, dropped from 3rd to 5th on the last lap
; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4lWKBT3XL8
WRT more modifications the cars rev to 7500rpm as standard and as far as I know there are no plans at the moment to go down the BBR route and change the cams (which is the expensive part of that kit). I’ve just read the PH review and whoever drove it doesn’t seem to feel they make a huge difference. SuperCup cars already have intake, exhaust (manifold, race cat, backbox) and ECU mods. As it’s a one make championship absolute BHP is not really that important, Porsche Boxster racing is available as a more powerful one make option for those who want it, although at the last round pole in the MX5’s would have been 5th on the grid in the Boxters on the same day.
We (myself, dad and brother) built a new car over the winter for a little over £8k which included purchase of a 36k mile donor car which my brother qualified in 4th in its first race at Silverstone.
Average grids for the year have been 17/18 cars, peaked at Silverstone with 26 and low point was 15 at Snetterton. 30+ drivers in total have scored points so far this year. There have also been guys from MAX5 who’ve joined the SuperCup for the odd round.
There have been 4 different race winners and some very close racing.
Paul O’Neill (of BTCC and ITV4 fame) is guest driving this weekend August 30th at Oulton Park.
The BRSCC have really got behind the championship with a new website (http://www.mx5supercup.co.uk/), race day co-coordinators, and photography at every meeting by John Elsey (http://jonelseyphotography.photoshelter.com/), who is really rather good. The only thing maybe missing is TV coverage, but perhaps that will happen in the future, who knows.
Eligibility scrutineering has been much better, for example we’ve had ECU’s checked 3 times this year amongst other things like diff ratios, suspension mounts and gear linkages (all bar the ECU must be standard btw).
I, as a driver, have personally spoken to several people intending to build cars for 2015 including people from the mk1 championship and other one make series. Word is that the organisers have had more enquiries.
In my opinion, although not without drama, 2014 has gone even better than anyone expected for the Mk3’s and is a massive turnaround from the end of 2012!
I’ve certainly enjoyed the racing. Here’s my last race from Anglesey on YouTube, dropped from 3rd to 5th on the last lap
; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4lWKBT3XL8WRT more modifications the cars rev to 7500rpm as standard and as far as I know there are no plans at the moment to go down the BBR route and change the cams (which is the expensive part of that kit). I’ve just read the PH review and whoever drove it doesn’t seem to feel they make a huge difference. SuperCup cars already have intake, exhaust (manifold, race cat, backbox) and ECU mods. As it’s a one make championship absolute BHP is not really that important, Porsche Boxster racing is available as a more powerful one make option for those who want it, although at the last round pole in the MX5’s would have been 5th on the grid in the Boxters on the same day.
Brscc were looking to the Boxsters to be their 'headline series' looking at this seasons grids I'd say the mx5's can go for that slot...plus the whole grid is all one class, 924's make up half the grid which lets down the modern image.... I've driven both mx5 and Boxster and to be fair it's who your racing rather than what your racing.....so I hope you guys carry on getting bigger grids.
Boxster66 said:
924's make up half the grid which lets down the modern image.... on getting bigger grids.
That's a little bit harsh considering that the Boxsters were brought in as a new class in an existing championship which comprised solely 924s. Would a Boxster championship have got off the ground without the 924s, bearing in mind that in the early rounds there were only two or three Boxsters?Personally I like having the 924,s , makes for a food battle when lapping etc.. I was just pointing out that a single make series of modern cars all the same class makes it easier to sell to prospective sponsors and tv etc... Even now the Porsche series would have even smaller grids if it were not for the 924's. ....
Well the 2014 season finished at Donington Yesterday, 22 identical cars on the grid at the final round.
Abbie Eaton beat Tom Roche by 3 points to take the title.
These videos (recently uploaded) are the TV coverage from back in August when Paul O'Neill of BTCC fame guest drove at Oulton Park.
Well worth a watch/skip through even if you've no interest in the championship as the racing was excellent, the top 3 separated by less than 1 second at the flag in both races:
http://youtu.be/E_cEXkF-gd0
http://youtu.be/WvezdRB_cho
Abbie Eaton beat Tom Roche by 3 points to take the title.
These videos (recently uploaded) are the TV coverage from back in August when Paul O'Neill of BTCC fame guest drove at Oulton Park.
Well worth a watch/skip through even if you've no interest in the championship as the racing was excellent, the top 3 separated by less than 1 second at the flag in both races:
http://youtu.be/E_cEXkF-gd0
http://youtu.be/WvezdRB_cho
I'm getting good at this bad omen thing!Just resurrecting this thread again as I'm going to look at a SuperCup car tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what they are like. Hoping they might prove to be very cost effective racers.
I'm not involved with the CSCC committee any more but they have indicated that if a few people were interested then they'd consider an MX5 mk3 stand alone class within the "new millenium" series. Would anyone be interested in running regularly with CSCC in addition to a SuperCup campaign?
Just for balance, because I know people like that, they are also eligible for 750 Roadsports!
I'm not involved with the CSCC committee any more but they have indicated that if a few people were interested then they'd consider an MX5 mk3 stand alone class within the "new millenium" series. Would anyone be interested in running regularly with CSCC in addition to a SuperCup campaign?
Just for balance, because I know people like that, they are also eligible for 750 Roadsports!
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