So the GTA Super Lap Battle 2017 thread turned out to be pretty good, I figured I'd start this one to provide a place to talk about all the events and progress for the 2018 season, and to build up to Super Lap Battle 2018 which will likely venture into a new frontier of fast Miatas.

Feel free to discuss the rule changes, plans for the season, ideas and strategies etc etc. This is the year that should put to rest the idea that Miatas can't be a fast platform.

The first event is at the end of this month, anyone going? Also cool that the they added another Pro round at NJMP this year as well. My participation is going to be pretty limited this year, had to go back to night shift in order to get a promotion at work and they're stingy with time off for nights.


2018 Schedule Click Here

March 31 - Pro Am Event @ Buttonwillow Raceway Park
May 11-12 - Pro Champ Event @ Road Atlanta
June 3 - Pro Am Event @ Willow Springs (Big Willow)
June 15-16 - Pro Champ Event @ New Jersey Motorsports Park
September 8 - Pro Am Event @ Buttonwillow Raceway Park
November 8-9 - Pro Champ Event - Super Lap Battle @ Buttonwillow Raceway Park

 

I am shooting to be at the May 11/12 event. Just need to get a new motor built before then. Running in street mod.

 

Already taking big steps in improvements/changes to the car for this season and have begun testing. I'm aiming to do more test days and then hit a few targeted events rather than just show up to the full schedule of GTA. Something about BW three times in a calendar of 6 events makes me OK with skipping a few events and focusing on development and coming correct for SLB. I do have WSIR on the calendar, haven't run there yet with the new drivetrain so I'm looking forward to returning and the car should be at a really good place in terms of development by then.

 

Planning on being at BRP at the end of the month assuming things go well next week at CVR.

 

So. Big news today, new overall record was set for Buttonwillow 13cw today at Round 1. Crazy.

1:37.308 by Will in the Unlimited FWD Vibrant/PZTuning Honda Civic

 

Amazing time.
So happy for Will and the crew, some of the nicest guys ever, solid program, solid performance.
Well deserved.
Can't wait to see what Will and crew do at WTAC this year!

 

In other news, huge congrats to Ryan for winning while setting a new PB of 1:47.5 and the fastest lap time of all Limited classes!

 

We're planning on having OGK ready for Super Lap Battle In November. That will be a tough pull as it's a very complex build with almost all one-off parts. If we can't get OGK together in time, we'll take Vegas, our super clean S1 build with a 6758 and the Quaife sequential. Hope wold be to nip under 1:40 with that. OGK's target is well below that but we'll see if we can get it built, tested and tuned by November.

 

Temps were higher than ideal, a bit of cloud cover and breeze came out just before the 4th session and brought the surface down to ~105 which is when most everyone ran their fastest laps of the day, including me. Not as good of conditions as SLB but decent. Still working on finding all the speed in the car. More items added to the "improve" list. Still, 1 sec improvement on my PB.



Thanks!

 

Nice work!

A quick question re the twitchy steering,

I notice some cars/people do this and others don't. I don't except in very high load sections of the corner (or sketchy moments), Wondering if that is a car setup - maybe high/low caster or a car setup up to be more on its nose or purely a driving style do you think?

 

Alright who's been watching the pictures and videos rolling in from the Supermiata Instagram page?

I'm getting pumped for SLB, will be watching the live stream though since I'm unable to make it this year.

 

I'm ready to see Supermiata take the field by storm. I'm honestly conflicted about who I want to win more, the SuperMiata or the HyperMiata.

 

They're in different classes.

 

I was referring to overall laptimes. Ryan's shown his car very capable even on street tire.

 

Emilio has 100+ HP more on tap and big hoosiers, so expect his car to be faster.
I'd love to see both winning their classes.

 

Ryan has a lot more testing time though. Best of luck to 949, their car surely as some huge potential, but my bet is that Ryan will be faster...

 

Even with Ryan's car being about 150lbs lighter, and with arguably better aero design, he's down 100whp and stuck with 245 200TW street tires.
Vegas is already quicker around Streets of Willow on trash 245s from April/Hyperfest, and we now get to bolt on fresh Hoosiers than are 30mm wider, at each corner. Plus our tweaks from what we learned testing.

The class rules build in several seconds of handicap for Ryan/Hyper. Limited cars and Unlimited cars don't compete, two totally different animals.

Ryan's car also uses Supermiata Xida suspension, we're on the same team here. They're both capable of class wins, like last year, and will both set new standards for Miatas in Time Attack.


Ryan's PB, which I expect him to reset, is a 1:47.5.


Bullet ran 1:46 at SLB 2017, and 1:44 a week later with heavier springs and the same tires.
Vegas is a handful of seconds faster than Bullet was between the extra power, the Quaife sequential, the bigger aero/flat bottom/diffuser and bigger tires.

 

Power delivery is also different, Ryan's a torquey N/A V6, Emilio is a boosted BP. Ryan might also have the weight advantage, I know he has alot of carbon bits where Emilio still has stock items(doors, fenders, trunk).
Honestly I expect Emilio to be faster. All the aero and Hoho's are a convincing argument. But I think Ryan has a solid shot.
​

 

Vegas has a dry carbon top and composite doors/fenders/trunk, just like Hyper.
Power delivery? Have you driven an EFR turbo yet?

Hyper is amazing. Its a GT3RS.
Vegas happens to be a GT3 Cup Car.

 

I'm guessing that if Ryan and I both ran say, 245 A7's, Vegas would still be quicker though the gap would close.

HyperMiata's overall L/D ratio is going to be superior but we still have more net downforce. Bigger wing, flat bottom and diffuser. I'm guessing his 2018 front end has around the same down force as our front end but with probably 1/3rd the drag and weight. Even with our flat bottom and diffuser not validated or fine tuned, that is a lot of surface area on Vegas. One factor that evens out the comparison is that Vegas has almost no exposed dirty undercar bits anymore. That radically alters under car velocity gradient which creates a sharp reduction in overall form drag. Meaning, the flat bottom is a bit of a free lunch in terms of L/D ratio, when viewed in isolation. When viewed as a whole, the increased undercar velocity and huge barge boards help flow over the side and top of the car, making the wing more efficient. We're running the lowest possible AOA on the ****. Instead of AOA, we're letting the span do the work. We have picked up some total drag lbs but that's mitigated by a lower overall L/D ratio from the flat bottom and diffuser. So net, we have way more downforce than we did for 2017 SLB and 2018 UTCC.

I wish Vegas were lighter but as I mentioned on facebook, it's a full tub endurance car with a near FIA cage. All composite panels but steel rear quarters. Most URWD full builds are just using the min amount of OEM tub with tubular frame extensions. Usually fully composite body work and often a simpler, lighter cage.
We should be around 2400lbs wet which is pretty porky. The car we planned for this year was OGK which would likely weigh around 1900 wet when done but we gave up on that early in 2018 when we took a close look at project timelines. So our fall back plan is to take a heavy S1 and add stuff to it for SLB.

We're aiming to go under 1:40. I think Ryan will get the LRWD record in the mid 1:44's.