Not That I am very competitive in local autox's , but I am curious:

I am currently in SM (we call it SM all here in CT because we dont split SM up)
I receintly swapped in a mazdaspeed 6 speed to my 96 miata....

Does this bump me out of SM or can I have a non - oem (year specific) transmission in my car?

 

*Deleted*

 

nope and yes , u mean sm2

 

In our CT club they combine all the street mod classes, so there is no SM2. We call it SM all.

I wasnt sure if it would bump me to prepared because it was a drivetrain component that wasnt an OEM option during that year.

 

Noob. Its SSM now.

 

nope u be okk with sm

 

Does that rule apply in SSM? If you can swap components because of Update/Backdate in SP, I'm almost certain you can in SM.

 

you are good for sm.

 

Too bad the gearing absolutely sucks in the 6 speed for outcross. Good gearing for autocross in a turbo miata tops out in second at 65-70 so you don’t need 3rd. My 6 speed 3.909 combo tops out at 55 in second. Most courses end up where speeds put you right between second and third for a lot of the course. Having to shift to third is a serious handicap It cost time and autocross doesn’t really have straights where shifting is simple. You’re competing against cars with lots of torque across a wide RPM range like vetts that don’t have to shift.

I think the farytail 3.308 rear end would be good with the six speed. Or maybe put in a 4.30 and then just ignore that you have a 1st gear. but then you would have autocross only gearing. The 3.636 is close but not quite ideal. Also grabbing 3 gear for me is not near as smooth and consistent in the 6 speed as the 5 speed. The 5 speed shifts better.

Just wish the 5 speed wouldn’t blow up so easy. 5 speed with a 3.909 was nice.

Bob

 

ud/bd, no problemo.

What Bob said.

Where's Saintfoo, he's got this setup? I co-drove foo's car at the NeDivs this year, after a lot of deliberation we ran most of the weekend in third. It's got good low end and good spool, so torque off wasn't too much of an issue.

It's a tough situation, with no great solution, other than a custom gearset.

 

I dont really have long courses so i can stay in 2nd. This weekends course was perfect... second the ENTIRE time and just barely reached the top of 2nd into redline.

 

I've read that some people launch in 2nd with the 6sp. Is that true? If so you can skip the 1-2 shift and just go 2-3 only for some courses. But of course you'll probably have to downshift again.

+1 on a 3.636. I want one so bad but for now a 3.9 will suffice.

 

6speed with a 4.30 would work good starting in second I think. it would suck for driving on the freeway though and I would run out of 6th on many of the tracks I run on for track days.

a six speed with a 4.30 puts second gear pretty close to what first gear is with a quaife gearset and a 4.10. with the narrow quafe you could actually go faster in first than you could in second with the six speed combo.

The six speed just put too much shifting in the low gears.

Bob

 

I can start on second on the street, but I dont know if I would launch it without purposely trying to just make lots of smoke.

I have the stock gearing with a torsen.. so 4.01?

 

I am thinking of selling my 3.636. Not sure yet though, i haven't had money to 6 speed yet, and i need body work. But your still SSM.

 

I always hit red line with my 6 speed at auto x. I think the top speed is 50 or maybe it was 55 with my setup. But Yeah the 6 speed does suck for auto x :(

 

I dunno, some layouts work well for the 6spd, some are a little tight. But remember, I use 17"s wheels and have a 7300rpm redline so my effective gearing is a bit longer.

 

I’ve been running 3 different series. The Bellingham courses are rediculusly tight on small lots and second works good. Western Washington and SCCA both have courses where 3rd is almost always required to get a good time. With my 6 speed 3.909 combo with 275/35/15's and a 7400 rpm rev limit first gear gets me from the stage line to the start lights. Usually I’m bouncing off the rev limiter in second by the time I get to the first major on course turning event and trying to grab 3rd while turning has resulted in some pretty messed up shifting grabbing either 1st, 5th, or just not getting it into the slot for 3rd. Usually works best to try and short shift into 3rd then there will be a few corners that really need second to get out of them fast so add 2 or 3 down shifts and up shifts in a 45 to 60 second run and it gets busy.

The last SCCA course was slower than usual and only had one section where it was definite that I needed 3rd. but there were 3 other locations where I would bounce the rev limiter a tad before entering tight corners needing second. I got 8 runs and was improving my cornering speed but my times weren’t coming down much because as I was improving my corners I was just spending more distance bouncing off the rev limiter and not really going faster.

I’m positive I could be faster if I could get another 10 to 15 mph out of my second gear. The 5 speed with the 3.909 was much better. The 700 hp purpose built SSM corvette with huge wing and splitter I was competing against for top time of the day didn’t have to worry about shifting to go faster.

There is a limit to how fast or how slow sections of a typical autocross course can get based on basic acceptable limits on course design. almost all of them I need a gear ratio that is difficult to get with the 6 speed. our Bellingham courses are below width limits for SCCA before they get that slow.

Bob