The today's results from H-stock are up
http://www.scca.com/Event/Result.asp?Ref2=342

Not quite the domination so far for MINI that G-stock had, but still MINI's are doing very well.

More to come tomorrow.

 

The west Course is sweeper intensive with 2 slaloms, one 3 cone and one seven cone towards the finish(Mini should dominate on this portion of the course since it is a bit tight). I wonder, does the Mazda 3 have any camber up front? I know it has good low end torque. Its going to be a battle in HS. I might just make a 6am trip to Topeka in the morning so I can witness it myself. :-)

Anyway, great job to the Mini guys in the trophy hunt and on top!

 

Is the Mazda 3 really on Falkens? If so - wow!

 

no minis in sts???

 

I checked the mazda 3 forum and it looks like the Falkens are a typo - the car is running kumhos.

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=58243.0

The mazda3 vs mini trashtalk is under way already, though its very mature and respectful. I am happy to see that the mazda 3 is looking like a good H stock competitor - keeps things more interesting.

 

It'll definitely keep them honest evidently, anyhoo!

 

I think the 3 would have gotten a one-way ticket back to GS if the thing was on Falkens

Ya, it's great to have some competition in HS, as it makes arguements for moving the Cooper to GS a whole lot weaker They moved a bunch of cars down from GS, and to me, it's interesting that the 3 seems to be the one that's fast! I had my money on the 99-00 Civic Si as the new car to beat

 

mazda3 represent!

hehe, I always thought this car could be competitive in HS, it started in GS, where of course, it got whooped by cooper S's, but against the regular cooper, its a fairly good match! I beat a fairly seasoned veteran in a cooper on R-comps (HS) in my 3 on street tires (STS but only because of a CAI) at the last local event.

As far as the civic goes, the brakes on that car are horrific, which won't help it, not to mention in stock configuration, it pushes really badly. I've driven two of them before actually (my college roomate had one and my wife had one). The 3 is far more balanced, and has way more low end torque (they have the same hp, but the mazda makes 30 lb-ft more of torque and at a lot lower revs, 2.3 versus 1.6). Its a bit lighter, but the balance, brakes, and low-end torque of the 3 do a lot to minimize that advantage.

 

So someone help me understand which Mazda 3 (sedan vs. 5 door, options, etc..) is the competitive setup in HS. How adjustable is camber?

The two cars don't seem all that similar to me; from what I have read while the 3 handles pretty well, its no Mini. So is it the torque thats the big advantage?

 

I think the 3 at nationals is the 5-door, which as far as I know, only has the 2.3L engine option (there is also a 2.0L available in the sedan I think, with a few less ponies).

I am suprised by the 3. To me, it seems like it has similar strengths as the Mini (good transitioning skillz, good brakes), but has the same weakness (no camber). The 2.3L should produce a lot more low end than the Mini's 1.6L, but the 3 is probably a couple hundred pounds heavier. I think the 3 wagon has 17x7's. Maybe it's just a statement of huge rubber vs. less rubber.

I don't think the Si is pushy. My old Civic EX had way less understeer in sweepers than my Mini. It does have weak brakes and slow steering, though.

Edit - I was shopping 3's before buying my Mini We had a Civic sedan at the time, so I figured we really didn't need 2 small japanese sedans variety is the spice of life, right?

 

I don't believe camber is very adjustable, but its has some pretty decent negative camber from the factory (not sure of the exact specs though). I do know that its raw handling numbers are right on par with a cooper S (couldn't find any number on a regular cooper) with skidpad of .87g and slalom at 68-69 mph, and thats on what are really shitty tires from the factory (Goodyear Eagle RS-A's on 17x6.5" wheels for the sedan 2.3 with sport package or any hatch). So handling numbers, despite the added weight, appear to be just about the same, so I think it really is just the added torque (an extra .7L and an undersquare engine design will do that for ya). I know numbers don't tell the whole story, but starts to give you how well tuned the stock 3's suspension already is. . .

 

http://www.scca.com/Event/Result.asp?Ref2=343

Tentative final results are in. Looks like the Mazda 3 came away with 2nd place, an '89 Civic Si came in 7th (last trophy spot), and the rest were MC's. Congrats to Karter, Jack, Keith and all the other MC drivers at Nats!

-Keith

 

That was a whole lot of fun (nats always is) but frustrating...I've been going over my driving, trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I think I made my mistake before I even started the clock--I made the serious mistake of thinking that since it was so cold, I should drop my normal rear pressures from high 50s to the mid 40s to match the fronts. That just wound up making the car twitchy when cold (no real help) and pushy when the rear tires were warm. I should have just left them high. The car was much more balanced in all those sweepers on the first two runs (ie, when the rear tires coldness was offset by the lower pressures).

I wound up 10th, 1 second back from the people the leaders who drove really well in pretty windy and cold conditions. Kim was 18th in HS open and got closer to the leaders on the second day. Great for her first nats!

congrats to Karter and Jack Burns for first and third!

Per (going back to sunny florida by way of Spain to test the new MINI)

 

Do you mean the new new MINI? The R56? If so, which issue of GRM should we expect the review in?

 

Hey Per,

Was anyone running 15 x 5.5 Holeys at nationals or was everyone on dedicated 16 x 6.5s?

Thanks, Jim

 

The new one...R56...I'm staring at about 50 of them right now


Holeys: Marshall Cone kicked booty at the Finale on holeys, but the top finishing car at Nats on holeys was terry baker in 17th.

 

This makes Marshall's MC showroom stock. Last time I spoke with him, other than alignment, he hadn't made any suspension or exhaust mods. And he is using holies. Pretty impressive...

 

What about stock struts? When I talked to Jack Burns last year, he was still running on stock struts, and was convinced that they were good enough to do well at Nationals on. I wasn't sure if he had upgraded his struts or not. Anyone know how many (if any) of the top finishers were still on stock struts?

-Keith

 

Jack and I were on Koni FSDs, not sure what the fastest car with stock shocks was...Terry baker in 17th? Marshall Cone drove the RSX at nats, so his car wasn't racing..it was a support vehicle!

 

Mark McNight's setup is an original 05' with 15" wheels and 205 K V710's. Nothing more than maybe an alignment.

He's a great driver too being mostly underestimated.
Jim

 

He had shiny yellow Koni's under there too. And I agree, great driver.

 

I still must ask... any minis in sts? haha

 

I think the common perception is that the Cooper is too heavy to compete in STS. It makes roughly the same HP as the 89 - 91 Civic Si, but is a good 300-400 lbs heavier.

Even the Sentra SE-R (old style) with the VLSD is as-light or lighter than the Mini, and makes 150HP from the factory... And I don't think many people think the Sentra can run with the Civics.

Personally, I think the Mini might be a better STS car than it's given credit for, but still I'd be really suprised to see a top level driver spend good money on (and put serious effort into) an STS Cooper.

I've been toying around with building my HS Cooper into an STS Cooper since I bought it, but I'm not a top level driver However, I'm lazy and thus far, haven't even really prepped it for HS, so the STS thing may never work out for me

 

Nope. STS2

http://www.scca.com/Event/Result.asp?Ref2=46

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Marshall wans't really driving a Mini. He's listed as co-driving with Robert Seelig (who won) in a CRX.