The seam welds on my CSP Miata are completely shot and the frame rails are pretty bashed up from a long hard life of racing. I want to add some frame rail braces, mainly so that I can jack the car up easily and safely. The added rigidity is more of a nice bonus, since the car really is pretty floppy. However, I'm having a little trouble understanding the rulebook regarding chassis bracing. It seems like cross braces are expressly forbidden, and fore/aft subframe braces are permitted, but this isn't really either of these things. My class isn't super competitive in my home club (I'm the only CSP racer), so I know no one would really care, but I want to keep the car within the rulebook in case I run other events that are more competitive later on.
It's my understanding that no, they're not allowed unless they connect to the subframe and become subframe braces.
If you tack weld the heads of the mounting bolts to the tub you can make them fairly easy to remove should you ever need to compete where there are more stringent rules.
Gotcha. Well, the car really needs something to jack on from the side, and I don't currently havce a welder, so I might do as you say, and if anyone raises a stink I can always take them off at some later point.
They're probably not a performance advantage, autox rewards light weight over rigidity. So anyone who protests you and makes you take it off is hurting themselves by making you more competitive :)
Using a jack adapter under the mirror is a pretty easy way to lift too.
dps214
Dork
1/31/23 12:32 p.m.
Keith Tanner said:
They're probably not a performance advantage, autox rewards light weight over rigidity.
I mean...to a point. Though if the doors still close right, he's probably not at that point yet.
But yes, the only thing the rules mention is SFCs, therefore anything that doesn't qualify as a SFC isn't legal.
Obviously there are limits :) But chassis braces on Miatas overall seem to bring no advantage. The only one I'd consider a likely benefit is the rear subframe ladder brace to keep that geometry square with big fat tires.
