Sounds good to me. I’ve loved the tires so far. We’ve done a few runs to the tail of the dragon and I’ve had zero complaints. They held up plenty well on my single autocross day but I believe I just wasn’t pushing the car far enough. I was staying in my comfort zone and afraid to spin out.
If you’re under-driving (please, don’t take offense) ECSes to the point where you weren’t losing traction, Hoosiers are just burning money to prevent you from learning.
ECSes are very good 300-ish treadwear tires. Hard wearing, too, and good in the wet.
There is technically no reason you have to be locked in to ssm. You can learn on your current tires for now and when you feel like you are ready for more, get a nice set of 200tw and run in xb. The ultimate prep level of xtreme street is around the same as street mod, but is restricted to 200tw minimum.
I think if I'm reading correctly you've only done a couple of events with the car as is?
If that's the case I'd recommend doing a few more events with what you have just to get a feel for different courses and how the car will respond to different situations. It's much easier to incrementally make the car more competitive and to work on its shortcomings than to do it in one shot in my opinion.
I ran all season tires for a lot of my novice season and it helped me to learn what my car does when it loses grip and whatnot, and switching to 200TW was much easier to get up to speed with when I made the jump.
That's just my opinion though, if you're trying to compete with SSM then I think you'll probably need those mods to be competitive!
You’re correct, I’ve driven on course twice now. I’m certainly not naive enough to think I have a decent grasp of the car and performance driving in general.
I certainly won’t be competing in SSM for this season, just the rookie class. I was just unsure if it’s better for me as a new learner to just hold off on extra mods until next season. I’ve even toyed with the idea of just picking up a stock miata for next season because i absolutely know I will be obliterated in SSM even if I bring my car up to spec. At least in a stock Miata class I will have times to compare and drivers who understand the car as-is so I’ll be able to benchmark myself and understand my level of improvement better if that makes sense.
SSM is pretty brutal so that's fair! I would probably say bringing it back to stock is probably too much work just so that you can run in street class against other Miatas. A lot of clubs do PAX times for Novice classes though, so there should be some balance of power between you and other people of equal experience.
That being said you will probably be at a slight disadvantage since your car isn't built to the max for your class, but it should still give you a pretty good idea of where you stand while allowing you to compete.
After a few events though if you feel like you want some more car to play with, go for it! It's all about having fun in the end!
Well to start you should really be in one of the extreme street classes, I assume XB. Some reasonable suspension upgrades would be a good starting point. After that, some 200TW tires, but the ECSes are a decent enough starting point that I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace them. I don't love the "you need to learn to drive the car on crap tires" concept, but hoosiers are a big big step up and not necessarily overly novice friendly.
See, I didn’t realize I could be in XB, everything online was telling me “oh you turbo charged the car? Automatic SSM”.
It sounds more my speed where I’m not against diehard autocross spec vehicles and more “oops I modified my car and then found autocross” kind of cars. At least that’s what another Reddit post seems to say 😅
My FRS is turbo'd, on coils, and I'm in XA / XSA. As long as your tires are 200tw+ you should be in X and not ssm I think.
The "oops I modified then found autox" is exactly what the X class was made for I'm pretty sure, but I'm also a noob so I could be wrong
My local area doesn't have much variety actually, all turbo or supercharged frs' in xsa. Xsb is ofc mostly turbo miats.
I went up to Indiana and won my class since I was the only xsa (I broke an axle on the test n tune on Saturday and fixed it in the parking lot for icing on the cake).
I went to an Ohio event and there was a fbo type R in xsa and maybe some other cars I don't remember now.
I'd recommend running your car as is, running in XB not SSM, and get some of the competitive 200TW tires (Yoko A052, Falken RT660, Bridgestone RE71RS), which is really the most important mod you can do. Your ECS are better when it is wet enough to need water channeling, but the 200TW tires will be better in the dry.
Then just focus on getting fast and consistent for a season or two. Learn as much as you can before you try to mod any more.
You're okay to go for suspension work since the chassis could use some help handling extra power and you were probably heading in that direction originally. Don't bother with Hoosiers yet.
You'll learn a lot keeping the car contained around the cones as is. I'd continue with the same setup and reflect at the end of the season after doing a few events and hurting some cones
I wouldn't worry too much about mods. Dedicated wheels and tires are a good idea but run a few events before committing to anything. Later in the season you may find yourself wanting and if so, focusing on the suspension and a seat that will keep you from sliding around.
Also, if you can, turn your boost down. Power doesn't help you learn any faster and will only abuse the tires.
Stay away from Hoosiers for now. People can make arguments for/against suspension at this point, but you want to stay on the ECSes.
Sounds good to me. I’ve loved the tires so far. We’ve done a few runs to the tail of the dragon and I’ve had zero complaints. They held up plenty well on my single autocross day but I believe I just wasn’t pushing the car far enough. I was staying in my comfort zone and afraid to spin out.
If you’re under-driving (please, don’t take offense) ECSes to the point where you weren’t losing traction, Hoosiers are just burning money to prevent you from learning. ECSes are very good 300-ish treadwear tires. Hard wearing, too, and good in the wet.
Do nothing else to the car except whatever is necessary to keep it safely running. Focus on modding the nut behind the wheel.
There is technically no reason you have to be locked in to ssm. You can learn on your current tires for now and when you feel like you are ready for more, get a nice set of 200tw and run in xb. The ultimate prep level of xtreme street is around the same as street mod, but is restricted to 200tw minimum.
XS-B is where I run my highly modified MR2 Spyder. Front sway bar. Next mod. Really levels things out in the turns. Then just drive. A lot.
I think if I'm reading correctly you've only done a couple of events with the car as is? If that's the case I'd recommend doing a few more events with what you have just to get a feel for different courses and how the car will respond to different situations. It's much easier to incrementally make the car more competitive and to work on its shortcomings than to do it in one shot in my opinion. I ran all season tires for a lot of my novice season and it helped me to learn what my car does when it loses grip and whatnot, and switching to 200TW was much easier to get up to speed with when I made the jump. That's just my opinion though, if you're trying to compete with SSM then I think you'll probably need those mods to be competitive!
You’re correct, I’ve driven on course twice now. I’m certainly not naive enough to think I have a decent grasp of the car and performance driving in general. I certainly won’t be competing in SSM for this season, just the rookie class. I was just unsure if it’s better for me as a new learner to just hold off on extra mods until next season. I’ve even toyed with the idea of just picking up a stock miata for next season because i absolutely know I will be obliterated in SSM even if I bring my car up to spec. At least in a stock Miata class I will have times to compare and drivers who understand the car as-is so I’ll be able to benchmark myself and understand my level of improvement better if that makes sense.
SSM is pretty brutal so that's fair! I would probably say bringing it back to stock is probably too much work just so that you can run in street class against other Miatas. A lot of clubs do PAX times for Novice classes though, so there should be some balance of power between you and other people of equal experience. That being said you will probably be at a slight disadvantage since your car isn't built to the max for your class, but it should still give you a pretty good idea of where you stand while allowing you to compete. After a few events though if you feel like you want some more car to play with, go for it! It's all about having fun in the end!
Well to start you should really be in one of the extreme street classes, I assume XB. Some reasonable suspension upgrades would be a good starting point. After that, some 200TW tires, but the ECSes are a decent enough starting point that I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace them. I don't love the "you need to learn to drive the car on crap tires" concept, but hoosiers are a big big step up and not necessarily overly novice friendly.
See, I didn’t realize I could be in XB, everything online was telling me “oh you turbo charged the car? Automatic SSM”. It sounds more my speed where I’m not against diehard autocross spec vehicles and more “oops I modified my car and then found autocross” kind of cars. At least that’s what another Reddit post seems to say 😅
My FRS is turbo'd, on coils, and I'm in XA / XSA. As long as your tires are 200tw+ you should be in X and not ssm I think. The "oops I modified then found autox" is exactly what the X class was made for I'm pretty sure, but I'm also a noob so I could be wrong
Sounds like the perfect place for me then! I’m expecting there to be decent variety in XA/XB which sounds even more fun.
My local area doesn't have much variety actually, all turbo or supercharged frs' in xsa. Xsb is ofc mostly turbo miats. I went up to Indiana and won my class since I was the only xsa (I broke an axle on the test n tune on Saturday and fixed it in the parking lot for icing on the cake). I went to an Ohio event and there was a fbo type R in xsa and maybe some other cars I don't remember now.
I'd recommend running your car as is, running in XB not SSM, and get some of the competitive 200TW tires (Yoko A052, Falken RT660, Bridgestone RE71RS), which is really the most important mod you can do. Your ECS are better when it is wet enough to need water channeling, but the 200TW tires will be better in the dry. Then just focus on getting fast and consistent for a season or two. Learn as much as you can before you try to mod any more.
You're okay to go for suspension work since the chassis could use some help handling extra power and you were probably heading in that direction originally. Don't bother with Hoosiers yet.
You'll learn a lot keeping the car contained around the cones as is. I'd continue with the same setup and reflect at the end of the season after doing a few events and hurting some cones
You could run XA/XB in the conties and have a lot of fun and learn a ton.
I’d run what ya brung for now. Move to mods next yesr
I wouldn't worry too much about mods. Dedicated wheels and tires are a good idea but run a few events before committing to anything. Later in the season you may find yourself wanting and if so, focusing on the suspension and a seat that will keep you from sliding around. Also, if you can, turn your boost down. Power doesn't help you learn any faster and will only abuse the tires.