Way way back when I did autoX in the prelude, I found it easy to do okay.... now that I am in the miata and I've competed in 2 events, I have a hard time adjusting..
can anyone who has gone from FWD to RWD give me some pointers for this transition?
Way way back when I did autoX in the prelude, I found it easy to do okay.... now that I am in the miata and I've competed in 2 events, I have a hard time adjusting..
can anyone who has gone from FWD to RWD give me some pointers for this transition?
Play some gt4 with the logitech wheel. they have miata's and 4th/5th gen ludes in that game.
The Prelude and the Miata are two different animals. While the Prelude is heavy and FWD, it still is pretty agile, but when you compare it to a Miata that is both light and has a short wheel base...it is easy to get disoriented. The biggest thing you want to remember is the cars just don't handle the same. In the Prelude, you could dive into a corner (especially if you had an SH) and then brake hard and get hard on the gas through the apex. With the Miata...it has a little less power, but it can break much harder. Because of this, you'll want to carry as much of the cars momentum as you can through the corner. You should be able to brake later...and brake for a shorter period of time than you could in the Prelude. ...and also, the Miata should turn in better, and put the power down better coming out of the turn. So, you should have some light, light oversteer as you are coming out of the turn.
I have to run...but I'll come back and finish/clean up the above.
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Chris @ DeatschWerks (Fuel Nerd)
1991 CRX SiR
1991 Civic Wagon RT4WD
Irene - try taking it out to a big empty parking lot when it's slippery. Spend some time throwing it around, maybe setup a little slalom or temporary course . . .
It should give you an idea of how the car reacts when it reaches it's traction limit, only at a much more relaxed & maneagable speed than in the dry. Since the car has so little traction to work with, driving in the snow forces you to drive smoothly. And will also teach good mid-corner throttle habits - which can be a lot more critical in a rwd car.
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The main difference between FWD and RWD is during mid-corner throttle. I went from Prelude to S2000 in 2003. There was at least 1 spin during the first few events because I wasn't used to RWD. In RWD, you can't just stump on the gas mid-corner. You have to be smooth on the gas or you would spin. Work on your throttle input at corner exits. Don't be afraid to spin the car because this was how I learned the limits.
__________________ 2009 BMW 335i Coupe, Alpine White/Black Dakota, 6MT
2010 Audi S4, Ibis White/Magma Red, 6MT
Irene - does your car have an LSD? If so is it viscous or torsen? I forgot what year your car is.
Having driven Zack's Miata while I was seriously campaining the Lude, I think you drive them completely differently. In the Prelude you want to brake late, trailbrake into the corner to get the car rotating, and then feather in the throttle as much as you can while keeping the car on line/keeping wheelspin to a minimum. On the Miata I found that you have to brake early, set the angle and corner speed very soon and pick up the gas almost immediately. The Miata is so low on power that the car needs you to keep in the gas and it will push pretty badly if you dont get on the gas quickly to get it rotating. This may have had something to do with Zack's setup too, but I found the Miata will push for days in sweepers if you dont give it some gas to start the rotation. I found myself at about 50-75% throttle pretty much all the time in corners on my fast runs.
This is all on a Torsen Equipped NB Miata, but I would assume some of it is applicable to your car.
Irene - does your car have an LSD? If so is it viscous or torsen? I forgot what year your car is.
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In the Prelude you want to brake late, trailbrake into the corner to get the car rotating, and then feather in the throttle as much as you can while keeping the car on line/keeping wheelspin to a minimum.
On the Miata I found that you have to brake early, set the angle and corner speed very soon and pick up the gas almost immediately.
Irene's Miata is open diff.
I autocrossed it once and found the same thing as you Drew. If you broke too late, or in the middle of a turn you will just oversteer or spin the car. It's pretty sensitive to throttle input mid-corner. I also found the best way was to brake early, turn the car in, then get back on the gas as you are going through the corner.
But the sensitivity to throttle mid-corner can be a good thing. I've found that if I am understeering backing off or lifting can cause the Miata to tuck it's nose back in and tighten the line. Also, when going though slolams I was breathing the engine just before or at turn-in just to get it rotating well then jumping back on the gas.
__________________ Paul
2009 Mazdaspeed3 | 1995 Miata | 1999 Crystal Blue Base - bought 6/13/02, sold 3/11/09
^^ I made it 8 months!!!
I'm going to try the miata $5 cowinduction on the miata this spring Paul wants to do some kind of heat shield thinger on it (damn engineers)
My tips, having made the transition from Prelude to Miata:
1) Brake early, brake straight. At first, until you understand what the car can tolerate in trail braking, brake so that you are at the speed to make the turn in. Then roll on to the accelerator as soon as your foot comes off the brake. You want to be on the gas early. Its the text book late apex line through a corner.
Later, once you started trailbraking you'll be able to better maintain momentum through the corner.
2) Slaloms, turn in later then you would with a Prelude, and unlike the FWD car that liked goosing the throttle to get it to push a little wide, try to keep as steady a pressure on the throttle as possible.
3) Steering inputs: I can't say for the early cars, but the NBs to be fast like to be thrown around, smoothly. I'm still not sure how to do this, but basically, they like the fastest possible steering inputs that don't cause them to slide. If you feel the car slip sideways 1-2 inches you are probably right on the edge of adhesion and the car seems to like that.
4) Driving a miata at 90% is easy. Driving it the last 10% is tougher than driving
IIRC A-package is the second desirable car for ES Miatas : all you have to do is add the dif ($1200) and buy R package springs, since shocks are open.
I've had my S2000 for over 2 complete autoX seasons now, and I still can't figure out how to drive it...
I've heard the trick is to leave it in first gear for as much of the course as possible, because S2000's are torqueless wonders. (*cough*Like every other Honda product,*cough* ....what?)
I'm serious, there are some local guys that swear that is the way to be fast. Yet they are 0 for 2 against someone who has had the car for 3 months (?)... Drew. Its a beautiful thing.
I too went from a Prelude SH to a 99 Miata last year. If you want to be fast it's gonna take seat time. I took a Skip Barber driving school right after I got the Miata which helped because they did some wet skidpad driving with throttle oversteer control. Also did a couple of Evo Schools in the Miata and then a full season of autocrossing (a couple of rain events too).
Everyone's advice is pretty much what I do also. The Miata is a momentum car and to get good times you have to keep corner speed up. You pretty much have to throw the car around a little bit to make it fast. I don't brake as hard as I used to compared to the Prelude and also not as long. Just enough to slow the car down for a corner, turn in, and get on the gas as soon as possible. It's such a fun car to autocross and it can really put down some smack down times.
I've heard the trick is to leave it in first gear for as much of the course as possible, because S2000's are torqueless wonders. (*cough*Like every other Honda product,*cough* ....what?)
I'm serious, there are some local guys that swear that is the way to be fast. Yet they are 0 for 2 against someone who has had the car for 3 months (?)... Drew. Its a beautiful thing.
Lack of power is definitely not my problem in driving the S2000. If anything my problem is too much power, and my inability to put it down to the ground without me spinning out of control.
Andrew
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2007 MINI Pooper S
2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX SE
2000 Honda S2000
1992 Nissan Sentra SE-R
Lack of power is definitely not my problem in driving the S2000. If anything my problem is too much power, and my inability to put it down to the ground without me spinning out of control.
Andrew
Get some 275 wide V710's, a comptech front bar on max stiff, and an alignment, trust me, it helps
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I really don't think that will help 
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