I was autocrossing this weekend and was offered a drive in a Street Mod S13 240SX. The pictures below are all of the owner driving the car at previous events, as I don't have any pictures of me driving it...
I am used to racing my Miata in stock class, which is a real momentum machine. On the tight courses we run, the Miata is ideal (apart from the lack of power!) and I usually end up finishing pretty close to the front despite running with stock suspension. I have driven a few other more powerful cars (S2000, Sti, etc), but nothing like this 240. It weighs about 1150kg compared to 1100kg for the XR GTR in LFS, and has around 450hp, but it's tuned more for torque and quick spool up. On street tires it would be street legal, but would need to be set up a bit differently and with a cat to pass emissions tests.
Pulling up to the start line, I found the clutch easy to modulate. The owner suggested I launch at about 3,500rpm, so at the start I held it around there and then once the clutch was fully engaged I nailed the throttle. Full power spun up the 295's on the back all the way through first gear, and I was quickly into second, which would be good for the rest of the course. With a few tight slaloms to start, I felt out the balance of the car and realised that it wouldn't change direction quite as quickly as the Miata (as expected) and nudged into understeer at the limit on a neutral throttle. Coming out of a tight left there was a faster sweeping right and a chance to nail the throttle. There was no lag, just a rapid but progressive increase in power. I had to brake hard for the following left-hander (which I didn't even have to lift to take in the Miata), and then another slalom. At the back of the course was a 180 degree sweeper, and I once I was on a good line heading towards the exit gate I applied full throttle. Again, no lag, just acceleration. Coming towards the exit of the corner, I was really getting into the boost and the back stepped out, but with a quick stab of opposite lock I made it out without needing to back off the throttle. The rest of the course was pretty tight offset gates and slaloms, and I just focused on avoiding the cones in a car that's a bit wider and less nimble than mine. I managed to carry good speed through the last slalom and pinned the throttle towards the finish. Again just a little bit of opposite lock and once across the line I was hitting the rediculously good brakes to come to a halt and then move the car back into grid.
Compared to the Miata it is obviously not as nimble, and not as much fun in the tighter sections, but it really moves! With the wide tires it just grips as you accelerate, so you really have to make the most of the power when there's any room to do so, before hitting the brakes for the next section. Things came up very quickly in one or two places, but I was able to keep on top of it and posted a time within a couple of tenths of the owner of the car (although he hit a few cones and my run was clean).
I was surprised to be able to push it as much as I did, as I only had the one run, but it was pretty easy just to hop in and drive. I have had no experience driving cars that really accelerate well in real life (Impreza Sti accelerated quickly on the same course, but did not compare), yet it wasn't too much of a problem. The car was set up well and I'm sure LFS has helped my reactions and knowledge of how quickly things can come up on you in a fast car on a tight course. Incidentally, my time was 0.1 seconds faster in the 240 than my stock Miata. I was using last years tires on my car, which probably cost me about a second compared to brand new rubber, but I'm sure I could have made up a couple of seconds in the 240 with more seat time. On a tight course like this, though, there's not a huge difference in times. On a quicker course like you see in the US, I wouldn't see which way the 240 went.
Here are some pics of the car (driven by the owner in these shots, not me)....one of them was a display of Kumho's new coloured smoke tires last year.
I am used to racing my Miata in stock class, which is a real momentum machine. On the tight courses we run, the Miata is ideal (apart from the lack of power!) and I usually end up finishing pretty close to the front despite running with stock suspension. I have driven a few other more powerful cars (S2000, Sti, etc), but nothing like this 240. It weighs about 1150kg compared to 1100kg for the XR GTR in LFS, and has around 450hp, but it's tuned more for torque and quick spool up. On street tires it would be street legal, but would need to be set up a bit differently and with a cat to pass emissions tests.
Pulling up to the start line, I found the clutch easy to modulate. The owner suggested I launch at about 3,500rpm, so at the start I held it around there and then once the clutch was fully engaged I nailed the throttle. Full power spun up the 295's on the back all the way through first gear, and I was quickly into second, which would be good for the rest of the course. With a few tight slaloms to start, I felt out the balance of the car and realised that it wouldn't change direction quite as quickly as the Miata (as expected) and nudged into understeer at the limit on a neutral throttle. Coming out of a tight left there was a faster sweeping right and a chance to nail the throttle. There was no lag, just a rapid but progressive increase in power. I had to brake hard for the following left-hander (which I didn't even have to lift to take in the Miata), and then another slalom. At the back of the course was a 180 degree sweeper, and I once I was on a good line heading towards the exit gate I applied full throttle. Again, no lag, just acceleration. Coming towards the exit of the corner, I was really getting into the boost and the back stepped out, but with a quick stab of opposite lock I made it out without needing to back off the throttle. The rest of the course was pretty tight offset gates and slaloms, and I just focused on avoiding the cones in a car that's a bit wider and less nimble than mine. I managed to carry good speed through the last slalom and pinned the throttle towards the finish. Again just a little bit of opposite lock and once across the line I was hitting the rediculously good brakes to come to a halt and then move the car back into grid.
Compared to the Miata it is obviously not as nimble, and not as much fun in the tighter sections, but it really moves! With the wide tires it just grips as you accelerate, so you really have to make the most of the power when there's any room to do so, before hitting the brakes for the next section. Things came up very quickly in one or two places, but I was able to keep on top of it and posted a time within a couple of tenths of the owner of the car (although he hit a few cones and my run was clean).
I was surprised to be able to push it as much as I did, as I only had the one run, but it was pretty easy just to hop in and drive. I have had no experience driving cars that really accelerate well in real life (Impreza Sti accelerated quickly on the same course, but did not compare), yet it wasn't too much of a problem. The car was set up well and I'm sure LFS has helped my reactions and knowledge of how quickly things can come up on you in a fast car on a tight course. Incidentally, my time was 0.1 seconds faster in the 240 than my stock Miata. I was using last years tires on my car, which probably cost me about a second compared to brand new rubber, but I'm sure I could have made up a couple of seconds in the 240 with more seat time. On a tight course like this, though, there's not a huge difference in times. On a quicker course like you see in the US, I wouldn't see which way the 240 went.
Here are some pics of the car (driven by the owner in these shots, not me)....one of them was a display of Kumho's new coloured smoke tires last year.
