Title says it all. I'm fairly sure there's a one stop company that could help out with the cars to drive. I'd love some impartial feedback on how they feel, drive, kit quality etc of the follofing:
Title says it all. I'm fairly sure there's a one stop company that could help out with the cars to drive. I'd love some impartial feedback on how they feel, drive, kit quality etc of the follofing:
I approve of this request.
GRM did drive three Exocets from three sources at the Mitty last year, so that's coming. One of them was the XXXocet, one was an LS3, one was an FM II powered car.
I also think this would be cool, but throw in a somewhat modified Miata as a baseline.
Define "somewhat". Just curious.
In reply to Keith Tanner: Something along the lines of "the exocet cost about $x to build. A Miata with roughly $x in modifications was y seconds slower/faster/whatever in our test"
Something to give an idea "bang for your buck" when you build one of these kits from a Miata, rather than just putting money into the Miata itself.
I dont' want any with LSx engines. Similar spec NA BP's only
Interesting. So if we take the $8k (roughly) to Exocate a Miata and apply it to a Miata, what do we get? That's pretty straightforward, we've got a couple of cars here with appropriate drivetrains. But since our cars are all turbocharged, that makes the comparison tough - now we have $8k on top of the modifications on the Miata, and that takes it out of the "somewhat" range. I could probably rattle expected lap times for each off the top of my head based on our testing.
We have all three of those cars here (of course), but the Westfield just lost its turbo and gained a high compression stroker instead. The Catfish and the Exocet have almost identical powerplants and suspension setups. The Westfield is quite a bit different, so you can only go so far in making it "the same". Heck, it needed a custom turbo kit due to packaging, you couldn't just drop an FM II in it.
Would that still be acceptable?
Here's a video along the same lines. There's an accompanying print article with more detail, but it's not available online. For the amount of effort Mazda puts into this magazine, they don't do a good job of getting it out there.
Could you add that TVR looking kit into the mix too?
I know it's probably more of a show than go kit, but some of us don't like the open top experience. If there is a better hard top Miata kit that could be done instead.
Are there any complete "TVR" kits in the US? I doubt it.
Love the video.
Personal take aways; The catfish's appearance really does remind me of the ND. I can't help but wonder if that's not a coincidence. I really wish it was semi-reasonable to insure an exocet where I live.
In reply to Keith Tanner:
Exactly the sort of thing I was suggesting! I guess I should go find a copy of that magazine if I want numbers, but I guess what I was saying I'd like to see in an article was "do these kits make a faster car than you could build for the money?" I'd assume not, since you're paying the premium for a chassis and body that haven't already depreciated like an NA/NB, but then again the kits are lighter...
Any Catfish/ND resemblance is coincidence. Call it parallel evolution if you will.
The Zoom Zoom test did not include instrumented testing. The numbers were provided by us. Remember, ZZ is an in-house Mazda promotional magazine so everything is awesome 
Around our track, the turbo Exocet can outrun most of the V8 Miatas if not all. Light weight trumps power in that arena. At Laguna Seca, the V8 cars get their revenge on the Exocet as power/weight takes a back seat to power/drag. The Catfish has the slippery body, so it should be a pretty quick thing in both arenas. So it really depends on where you're testing.
Bare bones versus Exocet:
Keith Tanner wrote: Around our track, the turbo Exocet can outrun most of the V8 Miatas if not all. Light weight trumps power in that arena. At Laguna Seca, the V8 cars get their revenge on the Exocet as power/weight takes a back seat to power/drag. The Catfish has the slippery body, so it should be a pretty quick thing in both arenas. So it really depends on where you're testing.
How much of that is due to the track length and how much to the V8s losing power due to altitude compared to the turbo?
Keith Tanner wrote: Are there any complete "TVR" kits in the US? I doubt it.
Kieth, I'm talking about the Widow SPR1. We've had a couple of threads about it.
Looks a lot like a TVR to me.
HappyAndy wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: Are there any complete "TVR" kits in the US? I doubt it.Kieth, I'm talking about the Widow SPR1. We've had a couple of threads about it.
I think he knows that, he's questioning (rightly in my mind) if there are any finished, running, driving vehicles in the US.
While I like the look of the Widow SPR1, it's not really a kit car, it's an extensive body kit for the Miata. You shouldn't expect any meaningful performance differences from installing it.
Edit: I think including the "ghettocet" is a good idea though.
I'd offer up my stock engine Exocet for this comparo. I'm even in CO if GRM wanted to come meet in Grand Junction.
I think it's clear that there are so many possible variations on these cars that there'll never be a perfect apples n' apples comparo.
That's OK. Do the best you can
GameboyRMH wrote: While I like the look of the Widow SPR1, it's not really a kit car, it's an extensive body kit for the Miata. You shouldn't expect any meaningful performance differences from installing it. Edit: I think including the "ghettocet" is a good idea though.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Widow decreases performance. Not sure if it adds weight or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.
codrus wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: Around our track, the turbo Exocet can outrun most of the V8 Miatas if not all. Light weight trumps power in that arena. At Laguna Seca, the V8 cars get their revenge on the Exocet as power/weight takes a back seat to power/drag. The Catfish has the slippery body, so it should be a pretty quick thing in both arenas. So it really depends on where you're testing.How much of that is due to the track length and how much to the V8s losing power due to altitude compared to the turbo?
It's in the corners. We've tried to shoot video of a poorly set up turbo Exocet using a street V8 Miata, and we had to get the Exocet driver to back off a bit for the corners. The V8 cars don't get much time at WOT on our track, most of it is balancing throttle and grip. Our local track is what, 13 turns in 0.9 miles? It definitely rewards light weight over massive power.
That ghettocet roll bar scares me. Please, some rear bracing.
And yes, I know of the Widow. I'm not sure there's more than one complete car worldwide at this point. And I agree that it's unlikely to show much performance gain, depending on how slippery that body is. I dig the look of the exterior, I think the interior needs some attention and I think it's as much of a performance increase as an Italia is.
Watching this thread, I kinda wish I Ghettocetted my donor for a while before Exocetting it, sorta ..... !!
What I'd like to see.
Stock Miata stock exocet, catfish, westfield Miata with whatever $8000 keith would spend to make a better track car.
speaking of which, keith, if you were starting with a stock Miata, and were working towards a great all around track/autocross/weekend driver, what would you spend the money on? and what order would you upgrade stuff?
I really like the idea for this article too. Could we possibly include the GBS Zero Mazda?
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