GTA Super Lap Battle Enthusiast RWD/Overall winning lap
 

I was, once again, the lone 86 present at this event. Contesting me were a V8 Mustang, supercharged S2000, and for the overall, a WRX STI RA, and (gasp) a Tesla Model 3!

I would guess approximately 250whp on track (high boost, 91 octane timing, race gas in the tank), on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S (300TW). Remember, I am required to have a catalytic converter (stock front pipe), and am required to use gasoline (ethanol not allowed in class).

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6VTYT0Wsh4[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apiNVg5Fv5c[/ame]

Congratz mike, I was following the stream here and there when I could but I missed seeing you in track live. The onboard video is really nice, really shows the quality of the driver (fast and smooth, still on the very edge even over the bumps and berms).

If you dont mind sharing, what are the tire specs that you were using here? (brand and size basically).

Impressive. Congratulation on the win. The twin continues to impress.


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It's in the video description. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 245/40/17

Great stuff Mike, and congratulations!

The more I track my BRZ, the more I want to swap my e36 TT car for another twin dedicated to TT haha.

245/40/17 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S

Nice! There is rumor of a Super Lap battle event happening at COTA in February. If it does happen, I would love to see you guys there!

Also is the same group where the Telsa got DQ cause someone was a bit butthurt and called on the rules?

Same event but entirely different class. Tesla was in Enthusiast AWD.

You mean the staged protest? Yes.

Staged like they knew it was going to be protested from the get go? Or just knew in advance of the podium and went up there anyway

Both.

Pardon my ignorance of this series, but why does the series allow pretty heavy mods on the cars, yet limit them to 300TW tires?

For the same reason I have to deal with potential V8's in my class.

For example, a Mclaren 570S could also compete in my class, provided they met the tire requirements (and all the others), and I do believe the McLaren is the fastest theoretical car in my class.

Power mods are open, because there are other ways to regulate power artificially, e.g. with tire compound, transmission limitations, fuel, etc.

My car in its current trim would fit into TTD/PTD/TT4/ST4.

I don't think heavy/more mods is the right description. Rather, it's a different prioritization on modification.

Sorry but I'm not following. In my very limited experience reading amateur rule books it seems that equalization of competition happens through weight/power and tire sizes, and then fine tuning from there. There's also the 86 cup, which uses points for different tires for classing, which I also understand. So where I'm confused by your response is what does 300TW tires have to do with V8 competition? Is it simply like the 86 cup where the points are better used on power mods vs. tires?

GTA is a program that encourages modification. Tires limit your speed quite a lot. Instead of using points systems for modifications (which they encourage), they opt to limit the available speed by tire compound.

GTA is not about equalization, whereas most series are.

GTA defines what you can, and cannot do, black and white, and everything else is left open.

Hmm that's interesting. Not sure what to think about classification if a Mclaren and a Miata are in the same class, and the only rule is that both have same sized tires. I know I'm exaggerating b/c it's not only tires, and I have not read the CCR through and through, but you get my point.

You actually wouldn't be exaggerating; I think a 570S would be the fastest possible car for my class!

Yeah Im not a fan of such rules but it seems to be the norm more and more everywhere. Im not all in into equalizing if that means penalizing people who modify (so rather discouraging modifying), but there has to be a point where its not about pockets. Its very easy for a semi-competent driver to win if he has deep pockets.

Tire regulations work for lower classes, where you could say a viper isnt that much faster than a miata, if it cant put the power down because of all of the time it would be loosing in the corners (weight). But in the higher class, where everyone is in hoosiers, there is absolutely no space for low powered (or even mid) cars. Its all about how many ponies you put under the hood, and fit the biggest wing, diffuser, splitter you could find to your car (since power isnt a concern).

Im thrilled that you won, it shows that skill is still a very important part of the equation, but like you said, a Maclaren 570S would probably be so fast that even in the hands of a mediocre driver it would still perform well above the rest.

Sry, rant over, im a bit angry lately because of recent rules changes that have started discouraging mods in our time attack championship. :(

@949 Racing won Unlimited RWD last year with maybe 300-330whp? Not 100% sure on the hp figure, but it certainly wasn't high!

At the pace we're going, you need much more than a "mediocre driver", even in the McLaren! Remember, the class I run restricts us to 220TW or higher tires, which eliminates every EHP tire. The OEM Michelin Primacy is a great example of a tire that qualifies for the class I run. It's not easy to put down power, at all!

Big-time congrats, man! Most impressive, indeed...
:bow:
:cheers:

Did Baer mention Rocky Mountain 86 Cup to you? We're working on it...

Yea, we had lunch a few weeks ago and he just briefly mentioned it (we were working on my e36 TT5 plans). Also heard it from Abe last week after you guys met at Bruz (which I'll try to make more consistently this winter).

Do you have plans to move to the next class up? What would that open up for you mods-wise on this platform (other than tires, I assume).

A much lighter wallet :lol:

The two fastest RWD cars at Super Lap we're Vegas, our 420whp, sequential trans Miata and Ryan Passey's 300whp Miata. We won Unlimited, he won Limited.


Obviously a big dollar Corvette or supercar would probably school us. But the bar in RWD is not quite that high yet.

I don't. Next class up would allow me E85, 200TW tires, 2 way dampers, and more aero, among other things.

There's still more to accomplish in my current class.

As far as I know a mclaren would be automatically bumped to mod/ltd regardless of the tires, just like gtrs and vipers etc.

Anyway, nice lap, that's close to as fast as they get for enthusiast class. Blows my mind street class cars are going sub-1:50 now.