About to come full circle Jim?
I love running in the class (if I don't pay attention to who's protesting whom in my region). There are plenty of entrants, and always someone to race with.
When they had both SM and SSM on the track at the same time, we all hit each other more, but this year they split us up (still around 25 entrants per race) and we seem to be hitting each other less. (And poor ITA and the classes they're out there with are having a heck of a time since they have the biggest run group now.)
It's up and coming. There's the option to run both SM and ITA in one weekend, so lots of seat time if you want it. (Does the SE do SSM? I like that one since even less mods are allowed.)
Getting into the class and having fun can be done *relatively* cheaply. I spend maybe $600 a weekend if I don't hit anything hard and if no major parts let go.
If you want to compete for podium, $$$ will need to be spent on a motor (yes, I know it's a spec class), development, set-up, etc. Racing is never *cheap*. SM it's only less-expensive than some other classes.
Don't race a car that you have an emotional attachment to... you will get hit, so don't set yourself up for additional disappointment. (Reason #1 I never would have made my black R pkg a race car.)
Check out the
www.SpecMiata.com forums. Good place to keep up with the latest happenings in the class.
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I do enjoy the track, but need the competition fix.
I guess you have had or heard of guys with much better luck then myself or my dad. We went through 3 rebuilds in 2 seasons, Just kept breaking apex seals even though we were using the upgraded carbon race apex seals. That was only spinning 8k in a 12A motor. Maybe it was just our bad luck. Good luck with the decision Jim, SM seems to be quite popular and there is never a lack of competition.