Advice for new driver wanted please

[Clarkey boy]

A good mate of mine wants to start sprinting/hillclimbing and is looking to compete in a open sports car and fancies getting an MX 5 up to about 5-6k that he can also use as a fun car at other times. His problem is there is a massive range of various models available with different bhp etc.Can any one advise which are the best MX 5 's to go for. Many thanks.

[*Kosta*]

Clarkey boy said:

A good mate of mine wants to start sprinting/hillclimbing and is looking to compete in a open sports car and fancies getting an MX 5 up to about 5-6k that he can also use as a fun car at other times. His problem is there is a massive range of various models available with different bhp etc.Can any one advise which are the best MX 5 's to go for. Many thanks.

Arent there just a 1.6 and a 1.8 in that price range?

[Clarkey boy]

Yes, but I think that there are different bhp's in both 1.6 and 1.8, and he didn't know if there were any real differences in perfomance and how competative they would be.

[anonymous-user]

Clarkey boy said:

Yes, but I think that there are different bhp's in both 1.6 and 1.8, and he didn't know if there were any real differences in perfomance and how competative they would be.

how competitive a driver is he going to be? seriously, will he notice the difference in power which can surely only be 5-10 bhp, surely that sort of power can easily be found with a few go faster bits so if he got a 1600cc car, of which the early ones were quite a bit lighter than later 1800cc cars if i remember rightly, he could buy a few bits and make up the difference.

my advice would be to find the one that best fits the regs, in the south west championship either car (1600/18000) would be in road production over 1400 and upto 1800. so i would opt for a cheap series 1 1600 car for 2-3K, spend the rest on track days to get used to the car and sorting out the suspension, induction kit and safety gear (helmet et al) to make it a bit more suited to the track. Then just enjoy himself. the cheaper he finds a car the more he can spend on it and the less annoyed he will be if there is a car/barrier collision.

i think an early series 1 1600cc car is definavery much the best way to go.

[pikeyboy]

might be better posting this quetion on the Mx5 forum. no doubt some anorach will tell you the best model to buy

[rustybin]

The Hillclimb & Sprint Association have a dedicated MX5 class. If you ask on their forum you will definitiely get some genuine advice. Either that or pop along to a meet.

[Clarkey boy]

Brilliant guys,thanks very much for all your help. Will pass all the info. on.And maybe you will see him on the hills next season.

[zac510]

You can't post on the HSA forum unless you're a member . Anyway I have done this exact thing and am just about to put roll cage and some other stuff in too. I'm still not sure if I'll aim for the HSA's MX5 class as it's quite restrictive in what you can modify. There's not many competitors and tbh I'll probably spend more time just at the average track day and so forth so will bias the car towards that.

That's a good budget that should get him a good mk1 car and then afford to put quite a bit of good stuff in it.. Or he could start with a later model and keep it more original.

[rustybin]

zac510 said:

You can't post on the HSA forum unless you're a member . Anyway I have done this exact thing and am just about to put roll cage and some other stuff in too. I'm still not sure if I'll aim for the HSA's MX5 class as it's quite restrictive in what you can modify. There's not many competitors and tbh I'll probably spend more time just at the average track day and so forth so will bias the car towards that.

That's a good budget that should get him a good mk1 car and then afford to put quite a bit of good stuff in it.. Or he could start with a later model and keep it more original.

Oops, forgot It was a members only forum for posting. I wasn't aware that the HSA was more restrictive than elsewhere on Mods, I thought they just went with the blue book definitions. Are you going with a full cage or roll over hoops? I gather there has been some debate recently as to what is accepted by the HSA with some competitors using hoops being moved around the classes at events as a result.

[zac510]

I don't think HSA is restrictive, but the A2.1 roadgoing MX-5 class is exactly that and I am told you must carry full interior minimal mechanical mods etc. Haven't actually got my mitts on the regs yet.

What class do you run in? >2l modified sports cars?

[rustybin]

Yup, roadgoing is a bit restrictive. Carpets and mats out buckets seats, harnesses, wheel and that's about it from interior perspective. I think mechanically you can get away with more but it seems counter intuitive that you can do stuff like a grand's worth of coilovers but cannot remove your passenger seat. Plus of course you are limited to 1a tyres that you would probably upgrade from just for trackdays.

I am in the modified saloon >2l class. Mainly to avoid spending the season debating whether or not I was modified and having to put my back seats back in. With a UK stock impreza you neeed to go modified just to get close to the level of a road STI RA. Unfortunately that does mean that I am in the weapons grade 730Bhp Audi class but what the heck!

Edited by rustybin on Wednesday 2nd July 09:51

[zac510]

Just in it for the fun obviously

[suffolkpaul]

I would look at the classes you are entering. if you enter a 1.6 will that put you in a more competetive class than if you get a 1.8?

for example, how many rwd 1.6's will there be? are they mostly mx5's? if you have a 1.8 will you find yourself against a load of MR2s etc.. etc..

[anonymous-user]

suffolkpaul said:

I would look at the classes you are entering. if you enter a 1.6 will that put you in a more competetive class than if you get a 1.8?

for example, how many rwd 1.6's will there be? are they mostly mx5's? if you have a 1.8 will you find yourself against a load of MR2s etc.. etc..

and elises.....

[onomatopoeia]

pablo said:

suffolkpaul said:

I would look at the classes you are entering. if you enter a 1.6 will that put you in a more competetive class than if you get a 1.8?

for example, how many rwd 1.6's will there be? are they mostly mx5's? if you have a 1.8 will you find yourself against a load of MR2s etc.. etc..

and elises.....

Don't we know it

[OJ]

You see a few of the Max5 championship cars being driven to the events with numberplates on... maybe its worth considering buying one of those in case he wants to progress to circuit racing