Okay, I'll stert it off.....I've just opted into SM2 with a modified C5 Corvette that includes, upgraded brakes, adjustable shocks, coil overs and roughly 475 flywheel horsepower. My question is there an optimal car and set up to be dominant in SM2?
Qikfix

Uh Oh!

First, welcome to the forums!

Now, as far as your question. The best SM2 cars are the ones with the most $$s and the best drivers. Good SM2 cars range from the vettes to MCoupes to WRXs to M3s to Rx7s. As you can see there is a large variety. But the ones that rise to the top are based on driver skill and the dollars they spent on preparing their car for autocrossing.

good luck - they are beasts! FYI - 00Torch runs in SM2 also

I will agree with Adam. It depends on how much you want to spend on the car and how good a driver you are. We have in a local club here, a supercharged miata that is always there for FTD. I believe he runs sm2 in the scca. I am competitive in sm2 in my area because of the hp. We roughly have about the same hp. For me to be really competitive for FTD, I need to get on some autocross tires as I am still running street tires. I have been close a few times, but......

Yes - Palmblad with his miata runs SM2 - and he is fast

Roughly the same horsepower? Palmblad's car is 300 whp. +/- 10. I hope your seriously expensive Vette is putting more than that to the ground.


SM2 cars to have: Z06 with everything you can throw under the hood, custom fender flaring for the widest rubber that is available, and infinitely adjustable coilovers.

If I had the $$ I think a 2004 S-2000 could become the best SM2 runner yet seen. You could shed 250 lbs. stroke it to a 2.4 and lower the compression to like 9.0/1 and then throw on a ball bearing turbo with low lag. The body mods would be a pain, but you could probably get 275's under the front and 315's on the rear.

The Toyota MRS driven in CSP by Tim Aro and Rod McGeorge is faster than you can imagine already....they may be going the F/I route. That'll be a seriously sick-fast car and SM2's green jacket is theirs (probably Tim's) if they do go that route.

Randy Noll just got his SM2 2nd gen MR2 running. currently featuring the 1MZFE Camry 3L V6 with the TRD Blower. All finished, it should be: ~2300 lbs, 300+ rwhp, 245 fronts, 285 rears, and mid engined. FWIW, the 2nd gen MR2 has a shorter wheelbase than the spyder.

And I really sorta want to build some ridiculously lightweight SM2 FWD car.... Original Mini Cooper with a Rover K series or something. 1500 lbs just has to be cool.

Porsche 914 with something neato under the hood would be cool... some nice flares, big meaty rubber...

Otherwise, S2000 is a good choice, but I think you'll run into problems with ripping subframes and such. Something that you cannot legally fix in SM/SM2...

I was talking to, and about qikfix's vette.

I knew what you were talking about, as if that counts for anything.

Yes, I forgot 914's. 914-6....$7K for the car in decent condition and $15K in mods. for maybe 375 Hp. on a (?) 1900 lb. car. Very quick and could pull 1.2+ lateral G's.

Keep in mind that Scotty White's SM2 Z06 was completely ASP legal. Ideally though, the best car to have hasn't been built yet. Think small car with a$$loads of torque and big boy rubber. The 914 is on the right track .... if you could shoehorn the Cayenne Turbo engine in there. But, you'd have to add ballast though ... minimum weight for RWD - 2500lbs. For auto-x, it's really hard to overcome trackwidth and wheelbase disadvantages .... although the Z06 does a admirable job of doing just that.

But for current cars out there to emulate, I'm partial to the RX-7 campaign. Andy McKee is now running the formerly ASP Tri-Point RX-7 in SM2. Should be interesting. The Strelnieks have a monster RX-7 built, but won't be running it anymore this season .... for reasons undisclosed. The RX-7 is capable of approaching the 2500lb minimum and a well built motor running 17-18psi will make ~400RWHP. When I had my RX-7, that was the intent .... but the expenses just ate me up. Stock class = cheap.

I'd love to see an S2000 campaigned, but all the results I've seen thus far on F/I'd S2000 motors have been unimpressive.

I don't have the 04 Rule book yet but SM2's weights were 1900 and 2100 for n/a and f/i RWD ohc engines respectively. I hope that didn't change. Rotarys are 2200 lbs. I'd still love to build a Datsun Roadster or 510 with and SR20DET for the class but I might have to learn a bit about hondas looking at the FWD weights. 1600lbs for an under 4.0L forced induction FWD. 1st gen civics can get that weight pretty easily.

Opps - meant to say first gen CRX's.

really? -- or should that be 'cheaper'

Scotty White won, IMO, because it's Scotty White, and because nobody's really built a REAL SM2 car yet.

I'm interested to see how Ian Stewart does in Palmblad's car this year in Topeka. Supposedly it'll be down closer to 2100 lbs by that time. And possibly more power.

Should also be interesting now that Dan Pedroza has his soopa-charged Miata flying right as well. Stewart and Palmblad are registered for the Houston National Tour ... some good racing coming up. Should be some stoopid fast fun.

yeah, apparently Palmblad's car will have revalved konis on the car in Houston. So they'll be learning the car again.

If the weather is dry, I'm going to predict that Ian wins.

A conservative F/I S2K set-up will be in the 320 to 340 whp. area. This is an example of a 2.0L with an off the shelf supercharger, a few bolt on's, and larger injectors. I think it's only in the 7 to 7.5psi range: <<<***>>> I've seen a few others that were pushing the 400Hp mark, although near detonation.

Somebody has GOT to get video of Ian and Palmblad in Bob's car. That is going to be some goooooood stuff!

I agree. I don't think I have ever seen a camera mounted in his miata. Ian had that strap camera thing. Maybe he could mount it to the hood.

I am sure they can figure something out. It would make for some good viewing!

There are unlimited possibilities of what combo would make the best SM-II car.

A lot of it depends on the type of course it will be used to compete on. It is often the case that I can set FTD on one type of course in our region and then find myself further down the list on another course. I know the intent is to design each course to where the classes will fall into order. But it rarely works out that way.

But for now I have discovered that an old high milage Daily driven C5 seems to do the trick.

beautiful color - that is Fairway Green, right?



adamb

Adam,

I am impressed. Very few people know that color. Yes. It is Fairway Green. Supposedly only 311 of them were put out. The collectors hate guys like me.

I was looking for a Fairway Green - but settled on the Dark Bowling Green - I only found one Fairway for sale in my months of searching, and it was an automatic, I was looking for an MN6.

Great color!!!!

If you have more pics - load some up in the Gallery - I would like to see them.

Off topic, but Adam, we are all going to think that you are oversteer now!

after the bolts win the cup - i will change it back to my DBGM vert for my avatar