Could someone shed some light on what i need to fit to my mx5 for it to be competitive in hill climbs?, as ive got my speed licence & hsa membership but, the blue book gives me A HEADACHE reading it… Please help me 
Cheers
Grez x
Depends on what you mean by competitive.
As standard you don’t actually need to do anything to compete in sprints & hillclimbs apart from fitting a timing strut to the nose, but things might change if you start stripping out interiors, modifying suspension and engine, using slicks etc, but even then that will only make you change classes.
Technically you don’t even need a roll hoop although its always advisable.
If you genuinely mean competitive - ie what do you need to win - then hopefully you may get a more detailed answer from someone who is already there, but they may not wish to give away their secrets!
What sort of car specification were you thinking of?
Seems this thread has died but I have the same question - or to put it another way, what can’t be done to the cars to ensure they stay in the “normal” class? I was thinking of things like skimmed head, standalone ECU, stripped interiors etc.
What i mean by competitive, i mean. My car has adjustable shocks, brace bars, half cage, little interior. No engine mods. Will that be competitive enough?
The class rules vary from competition to competition; for some, “standard” might allow some exhaust, suspension and intake mods (ie. the mods that really make no difference). Some might require a reasonably complete interior (door cards, two seats etc). There might be tyre restrictions.
Is a road-going MX5 “competitive” in hillclimbs? Not in my experience; 3rd gear is wrong, you end up bouncing off the revlimiter, and you lose too much momentum going 2nd to 3rd. And then its all over. As soon as you start mucking around with gearing, or wheel sizing, you will get shunted into a modified production class. The cars that are going to be competitive in a mixed make road going class tend to be the likes of modified Novas and Minis. Midgets can be nippy as well. A 1.8 in a sense is even less “competitive”, as many competitions have an engine size cut-off at 1700cc; 1800s find themselves in a class that includes cars up to 2.5l.
Your adjustible suspension is a pretty basic setup; all you can do is adjust compression/rebound simultaneously; you will stick it on firm, and leave it there. You’re never going to use any of the soft-settings while hillclimbing… Whats probably more important is what is on your “random white wheels”; consult the bluebook for allowable tyre brands (which for roadgoing, pretty much covers any tyre out there, some competitions will have restrictions on “road legal” track tyres.
You should by now know which competition you will be entering; get a hold of the rules for that (in addition to bluebook), and look up last season’s results. Then sell the MX5…
Sell the mx5?
So your saying, adjustable shocks & lowering springs, with poly bushes. Will be classed as non modified road going?
Im sorry i appear stupid but, the blue books language doesnt clear my confusion up. Im finding what your saying of more clarity than the official jargon in the book.
As for tires im using Toyo t1r’s
MX5s aren’t the best sort of car for a hillclimb; depends what you want out of hilclimbing. If you want to win, get something you’re not afraid of tipping over once in a while. There’s no way you can properly race in a car that you driven to an event in. It also seems that cars with a good low rpm torque hump do well. You can tweak the timing a bit to address this, advancing it to 16 or 18 BTDC.
Depends on the competition you are entering; you need to get the local rules, which will point out which bits of the Blue Book apply, and any additional rules. It will also define the classes. I doubt any scrutineer will give polybushes a second look. And your shocks/springs; depending on the local rules, many scrutineers will not look at these as modification (but there are exceptions), because, really, AGXs and Eibachs are a pretty minor modification, which I doubt will give any sort of advantage. I failed scruitneering once because the scrutineer didn’t like the look of the factory battery bracket. I can’t tell you what your car will be classified as, because I don’t know what you are entering.
Which I believe are in the Blue Book.
I’ve been asked to enter my MX5 in a local sprint for the last 3 years. My car doesn’t seem to fit in to any of the classes, in fact it seems excluded from all the classes.
The MSA isn’t really helping it’s self with it’s regulations. I know how frustrating it can be to miss out on a win because the chap who won had an “unfair” enhancement on his car, but it’s even more frustrating to be offered a track and discounted entry when your car wouldn’t be allowed to run.
The MSA need a “Sprint What You Brung” class for those who just want to drive the course and get a time, rather than beat other people. Not everyone wants to win, some people just want to set the best time they can in the car they have - something you just can’t do on a track day.
I take your point about some of the class anomalies, but if your car is only ineligible for minor reasons (ie non-performance altering) it shouldn’t be hard to enter the sprint, be put into the nearest relevant class and then not be featured in the final results.
Certainly its something that I would allow at North Weald, but if you are talking about a British Championship level event then it might be a bit more tricky.
Unfortunately my car has too much turbo for standard class, and not enough roll cage for the modified class.
I could enter and hope for a reasonable scrutineer, but it’s a bit of a risk.
How do you mean too much turbo? Turbo is allowed as it was standard - or have you got a larger capacity engine too?
Unfortunately, the current sprint rules are generally regarded as a mess (again) and I sympathise.
Fully agree with a “Run what you brung” class for sensible cars as a way around the stupid rollcage regs.
I assumed that as my car was made without a turbo, and then I fitted one, that it would be a modified engine thingy. It has other issues as well (body modifiction above the wheel centre-line being the most annoyingly pointless reg) so there is no way of it passing for standard.
It’s still significantly slower than a standard Elise, and yet needs a full cage when an Elise doesn’t. I’d do it in the Elise, but that sort of negates the point of having one track prepped stripped out race car and one sensible mid-engined commuter Lotus.
With a turbo, then surely the 1.4 multiplication rule applies, meaning you go to a 2.5l class.
But I thought the MSA doesn’t set the class specifications; its the clubs that are associated with the MSA.
As said, nothing to stop you entering any class you like. You might end up being disqualified afterwards, but if you are just looking to drive the course, so what?
As for your above centre line body mod; I assume its because of a rear wing. Take it off, its pointless on a sprint anyhow,just dead weight.
If you compete in a “general” unmodified road-going class, then “no” - MX5s don’t have enough power and too much weight.
However, there is a specific MX5 series run by the HSA and I don’t see why you wouldn’t be competitive in that - it’s more down to ability as the cars are “largely the same” and I am assuming that this is what you were really asking about. I’d be interested in entering this series next year but I’m struggling to find out what “mods” are classed as acceptable and which aren’t - eg after-market cone filter, Megasquirt instead of standard ECU, no AFM etc. Not that I have any of those, just trying to understand the competition…
I was assuming that if the scrutineers don’t pass the car I wouldn’t get to drive. Is this not the case for sprints? Great news.
Urgh, no. It’s the carbon fibre front wing replacements and my comedy front bumper.
My experience with Scrutineers before a sprint/hillclimb is that they are more concerned about safety; the state of your lid for instance. I never once, for instance, see any of them get a tape measure out.
Agreed. They aren’t usually interested in what class a car is in - safety is their only mandate. Its normally down to the organisers or maybe an eligibility scrutineer as to what class a car should be in or if it is eligible. If its an ordinary, local championship only, sprint then don’t worry about it - the clubs are there to enable motorsport, not find ways of chucking you out…
Cheers guys, I’m all enthusisatic about doing the sprint now.
ive been looking at getting into sprinting and hill climbs with the 5 but am also a bit baffled by all the regs. From initial glance i beleive my 1.8 would fit within the 2 litre catagory for my local club, so no chance of winning but i would like to share my car with a friend and have our own challenge beating each other and our pb’s.
Even confused by the regs behind helmets and suits. I am intending to pop along to an event soon and ask lots of questions!
Someone above mentions an MX5 only sprint?
Matt