I just registered for my
first autocross competition, and I must say that the entry list for the C Stock class is consistent, to say the least. Here's the list of cars registered as it stands now, just an hour after registration opened:
- #26 1999 Miata (NB)
- #33 1999 Miata (NB)
- #36 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata (NB)
- #31 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata (NB)
- #68 2000 Miata (NB)
- #72 2006 Miata (NC)
- #133 1999 Miata (NB)
- #136 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata (NB)
- #144 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata (NB)
That's right, there's not a single non-Miata on the list. In fact, only one is even a non-NB. (In all honesty, I should point out that there are 2 pairs of people sharing cars---#33/#133 and #36/#136---so there aren't quite as many unique Miatas as I that list might lead you to believe. But still...)
Meahwile, E Stock is evenly split between older Miatas and MR-2s, while the C Street Prepared class currently has 7 NA and NB Miatas and a single CRX.
Is the rather monotonous car list the result of Miatas simply being the best-performing car in this class, or is it more the result of the kind of people who like to drive rallycross events preferring Miatas?
ReplyDeleteNick,
ReplyDeleteWell, keep in mind that I only listed classes where you find a lot of Miatas. You won't find any in B Stock, A Stock, Super Sock, A Street Prepared, and so on. There are plenty of non-Miata cars in autocross and other motorsports. However, the Miata is indeed very popular.
Mazda claims, in some of their advertising, that, on any given weekend, more Mazdas are road raced than any other brand of car. They base that statement on data from the Sports Car Club of America. Based on my experience, I'd say that the majority of those Mazda's are "Miatae." There seem to be a decent number of RX-7s, some RX-8s, and a few Mazda3s and such. Shoot, there's an entire class called Spec Miata, which is the most popular spec class in SCCA. NASA also runs Spec Miata, so it's one of the few classes run by both organizations.
The reasons that Miatas are so popular for racing and track days are the same reasons that they are popular road cars:
1 They are inexpensive. For many years, they were the cheapest true sports car you could buy. Nowadays, you can configure a Solstice cheaper, but not by much.
2 They are fairly capable. Miatas don't have much power, but because of the light weight, even weight distribution, and well-engineered suspension, they are agile.
3 They are very forgiving, with neutral handling. Even though they are front-engined and RWD, they aren't too prone to overstear.
4 They have been around for a long time. So, there are lot of them out there, and used ones can easily be found for <5 k$.
By the way, this even is an autocross. Rallycross is different.
By the way, here are lists of (stock) car classifications by class and by make:
ReplyDeletehttp://moutons.org/sccasolo/Lists/2006/stockc.html
http://moutons.org/sccasolo/Lists/2006/stockm.html