Anyone play in Spec 3 or Spec MX5?
 

I'm not likely going to make anything happen here but feel like i need to go through the motions of researching it to get it out of my system.

Interested in doing HPDE's maybe 4-6 times per year. Have a tall torso so headroom with helmet is important. Don't need to go faster than my ability or wallet. Figure if i'm gonna build or buy a track car might as well get something built towards an existing series in case i find the $$ and time to compete. Should also help with resale if i opted out.

Any thoughts on cheaper and simpler options for this? Miata would be a first choice if i can fit with helmet and I see NC's going for dirt cheap locally. Don't think i'd want to go faster than the e36 bimmers. Spec 3 looks like fun for sure. Can i get on the track for $15k + consumables? Is it reasonable to buy a street car and drop in spec suspension, race bucket and cage then enjoy HPDE's for a few years before building to race spec?

After racing in friends’ spec miata cars for endurance races, I bought one last fall.

My first race is in 2 weeks… if I can still race this year.

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Miata is always the answer.

I've been racing in ChampCar (previously ChumpCar) since 2014. We currently run an E36 (similar to Spec 3, but the car is actually cheaper to put together.

The cheapest way to put a race car on the track and race is to buy a car already built. We bought our E36 (raced another vehicle before that that we built) as a finished - but older - race car and that was the way to go. I think we paid $7k for the car ready to race with quite a few spares.

And, in a plug for ChampCar, I think it is by far the best $$/lap value out there. You'll need at least a couple of teammates for the races as they range from 7 to 14 hours long, but we can do a whole race weekend easy for $3500 or so.

Our next race is Carolina Motorsports Park in June.

The beast about to pull out of pit lane at Road Atlanta last Feb:

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^^^ I started in Chump Car in 2010 and this allowed me to race at some awesome tracks including Watkins Glen, Laguna Seca, Daytona and lots of others.

We do Lucky Dog now (started by Cathy and Chris formerly of Chump). It is a way better experience, more fun, and it’s all about the racing.

The big difference is that classing happens after the race starts and is based on lap times. Adjustments can be made. This prevents ‘cheating’. There are 3 classes and it’s awesome!

I haven't looked into Lukcy Dog, but checking out the schedule they have very little in my neck of the woods. We typically do Road Atlanta, NCM, Barber (before they kicked us out), Charlotte Motor Speedway (all within 3-4 hours of me) and then I've also done AMP (don't like that track), Sebring, and Indianapolis.

Need to check out Lucky Dog. We race for fun only, so I don't get caught up in the cheating drama.

When it comes to track time your wallet will always be faster than your car :D

That’s the thing with lucky dog… there is no cheating. You can’t cheat in a series with no technical specs.

You are classed according to lap times and if you have a ringer who runs faster, you may get bumped up to the next class.

The ‘SuperDawgs’ that show up and are way faster than everyone else, are discouraged and I recall that they don’t get a trophy…

Wow $7k track ready?! I’d buy that in a heartbeat. Found one spec 3 at high teens or 20 with enclosed trailer.

What suspension are you running?


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They're small. Check if you need to lower the seat pan.

I started Chumpcar racing back in 2010. The seat time for the buck was suberb ! I did HPDE through PCA prior to SCCA, Lemons, Used Car Racing, and then Chumpcar. I had 2 different teams and helped set up others. I also worked as a pit marshal. I wrote their pit marshal guide ( they didnt have one previously and working pit lane could be very chaotic). John Condren offered me a driving position in his IROC Camero for the 14 hours of Daytona (May 2012). Unfortunately, due to a death in the family, I couldnt make the race. Too bad, I had my airline ticket down paid by a wealthy widow that wanted me to bring her car up from Florida. A friend had dropped his travel trailer at the track for my use. Everything was set for a remarkable event. Oh well, such is life. I worked with Mike Chisek at a number of races, until I gradually faded out. Due to a serious spine injury, I had to give up driving. That really sucked, but I got to do what many only dream about.

I was at that Daytona race in 2012… we raced in a tropical storm.

In the end, it was a good thing that I missed it.

^^^ there was a big wreck and a fire in the pits at the end of my first stint. Red flag. Then downpour then mandatory driver change.

Chumpcar Calgary 2010

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Chumpcar Spokane 2011

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Daytona 2012

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Laguna Seca (we ran here twice)

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The Ridge Lucky Dog 2019

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Lots more pics but not on my iPad…

Being 6'-4'., I never considered a Miata, but would say E36 or E46 non-M. I track my 2005 E46 330. I can run all day on a tank of gas. The cars are affordable and easy to work on.

There is a tub modification if you are tall and fat, otherwise you will fit in a spec miata at 6’4”. 3 of the guys I codrive with regularly are taller than my 6’ stature.

The standard Bilsteins (B8s?) and H&R race springs. We have some different-sized antiroll bars that we mix and match, but there is disagreement amongst my team as to which setup works best.

Basically, the car is "stock". Gutted, cage, fire suppression, all that. 2500 lbs. We are just a bunch of old guys out there having fun, but generally finish in the top 25%. The main thing is that we generally finish the race and pride ourselves on quick pitstops, no mechanical issues, stay out of trouble on track, stuff like that. Had a third place overall at Charlotte Motor Speedway a couple of years ago. I think our fastest lap at Road Atlanta last February was just under 1:46. A 1:45.8 or something, so not the fastest car out there, but competitive and lots of fun.

A perfect strategy. Ours is similar but we have a couple older ‘hotshoes’ in the mix which keep us in the top 4 if we finish.

We are a beer drinking team with a racing problem…

That's a perfect strategy... SmileWavy

spec MX5 is quite expensive right now. not sure what used builds are going for, but they are solidly 40-50k builds right now.

Spec 3 is dead here, i wouldnt jump in for that reason alone.




spec miata is always the answer:

https://i.imgur.com/0wJHtAM.jpeg

you can race them anywhere, cheaply.

So if I know how to drink beer I’m already halfway to a race license?


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Definitely. I would say Spec Miata is the way to go - you will always have someone to race/run with. You won't be competitive for top 10 but you can still have a lot of fun.

I won the local Spec Miata championship on nothing but seat time, replacing tires every other weekend, brake pads twice a year, and lots and lots of setup time.

Subtract the freshest tire budget and your annual expenditures (not including time) could be < $2k running 6-8 events per year.

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As a flagged at Laguna Seca, we all appreciate the “intensity” of the MX5 races. Bump drafting up the hill to the corkscrew makes for good racing

Why not 944Spec? Roughly the same speed as a Spec Miata, but you can find them for under $10k.

If your heart is set on a Miata, and you're not going to race for a couple of years, look outside Spec Miata for a track car. A SCCA ITA Miata, a NASA ST6, something that isn't quite legal for SM, but will get you a couple of years of track time, then it might be time to refresh whatever on the car isn't SM legal and get the car ready for the class. As others have said, it's legal to lower the floor pan to drop the seat, and make guys with a long torso fit under the roll cage.

One hang up of building a SM is the insane price of the hardtop. They're in short supply, you can get a Boxster hardtop for less right now.

Same deal on the BMW. Spec 3 isn't the only class they run in, and there's a lot of track prepped BMWs out there.

There are hardtops to be found for $1000-1500. If you need one NOW be prepared to drop $2500-3000.

There are a couple Miata Facebook groups. Good people on them.

I found some parts I needed desperately while fixing my car.

I was dumb to not him into SM 12 years ago when the local series was started by a friend. My buddies even built me a car which I ignorantly refused because, ‘I race Porsches’… these are an amazing platform with good competitive racing with good people. The platform is incredible.

I have a 99 which seems to be the year with perhaps a slight edge and allows a fat guy like me at 202 lbs (post hospital visit) to make minimum weight.

One other thing that anyone who has raced in a multi class race would have noticed is that there are 3 lines through most corners, the beginner line (brake hard, apex late), the race line (trail brake, apex mid corner), and the Miata line (hug the inside of the corner and pass everyone else in the corners… only to get passed back on the straight).

I have seen NASA Spec Z cars for cheap. May not have as many people to race with as in a Miata, but cheap to operate too.

I race an SPB in PCA. It's by far the biggest class in PCA so there is always a good group to race with no matter where you go. Can run in NASA GTS3 but I hear it's hard to be competitive. Can run in SCCA but I have not as there are not too many events in my area with them. Buy in and operating costs are higher w/ a Boxster.

If you're 40ish or under, do karts. Might not be cheaper than what I'm seeing here though. Maybe just the tires. The big track enduro racing is about as exciting as it gets unless you get in a formula car.

I’ve done karts and don’t like it as much as in cars. To be competitive in karts, the cost is more than SM. This applies to both Rotax and Briggs.

As I said, might not be cheaper other than tires. But you don't need a trailer and a lot of tools. I was watching some Formula V races on YT. Seemed like a lot of fun and a good way to learn car control. I always thought F classes were kinda dangerous. SM is probably a good way to go.

I just did my first SM race weekend (done lots of endurance racing in other peoples SM cars)…

My car is incredible- best SM I’ve driven yet. Very well setup.

Somehow I qualified 5th, and did as well as 3rd place in the 6 races this weekend (I thought the first session yesterday was practice so I pointed guys by to see their lines)… really, great weekend. Not bad results for a car I’d never driven before on a track that I had only coached on (but not driven on) before.

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Now that is funny! lol

Reminds me of "I was 7th!"

Looks like fun Unc!

Man that looks so damned fun!

Trying to get a few things in order to see if i can fit something like this into the schedule.