Hey, That's MY car! It's still in my garage too. It was a converted showroom stock road race car that was basically an experiment. I didn't know how it would do, so I did not throw a lot of money at it until I discovered if it had potential. For example, I never put a limited slip in it. No lights either. And I ran it on someone else's old rally tires. With a bone stock engine. Even so, it went fast and I won a rallycross championship in it. Came within 5 seconds of a Pstock stage "win" on stage 3 at Treeline.
I was convinced, so I bought another car to do an all-out effort. That was just about the time this article was written. Unfortunately, I think Ole is right. I sat out a season and a half to gather funds. Thinking no one would care, the SCCA effectively pulled it's eligibility (2 years after I had sucessfully lobbied for it) because they fear convertibles. Funny that the Road Race department has no problem with it. Isn't this the same club? Don't they want to promote cross-over participation? That was me: a road race convert to rally. Was.
>Really neat looking for a rally car, but I think it
>was kind of a difficult build ?
>(and not a lot of ground clearance ???)
Not really. But I had to make up all the bits myself. No one sells a rally set-up for one of these. Rear suspension travel was a little weak, but I have a way to rectify that. Ground clearance is an issue too, especially in the rear. But it's not a huge obstacle. The biggest vulnerable component is the steering gearbox. It sits low and in front of the front crossmember. A good skid plate is a must.
>Called the performance rally office at the scca and was told
>that the miata is good to go for performance
>rally....................
Are you sure about this? Tell me tell me tell me!! I have assumed I got screwed. I'm pretty sure it's not true, because I talked to the SCCA rally board chairman and technical steward shortly after they voted in a "prove it" clause (aka the Dan Edmunds rule) in order to throw me a bone. They were going to ban it outright before I called at the 11th hour. Instead they wrote a rule saying anyone can run any convertible IF the manufacturer will certify that the factory hard top is as strong as a permanent steel roof would have been. That is a BIG IF. I work in the auto industry, and there is no way an OE is going to put themselves out on that legal limb, even if it's true. Did they back down??
>So it looks like i may go that route........................
If I can, I will to!
Dan Edmunds
Actual Size Sports