The shear number of cars at the event was HUGE. It helps to have the gigantic parking lot at COTA. There were probably about three times as many show cars compared to the old C&C in Irvine, CA. This row was Mustang alley. There was a nice GT350 with Procharger putting down over 700whp. The next one over was Camaros and Corvettes and a Caddy CTS-V sporting twin turbos on the V8. The next over was full of Mopar. And the next full of JDM. And the next was EDM. Next of course, there were Ferraris, McLarens, Lambos, etc. Thank you, next. (a little pop culture reference in case you didn’t pick up on it)
The Jeep crew was probably having the most fun. They even set up a sound system blasting music. That little girl was having a ton of fun dancing on the bumper.
The first ever Super Lap Battle USA at COTA is in the books and I think a lot of fun was had by many. Look at the lap times the Unlimited class cars put down compared to full-on pro race cars at COTA…it’s quite impressive. The Texas locals put in a great showing too, using a bit of homefield advantage. Maybe more Evos will show up next year, since they were greatly outnumbered and outrun by Miatas! We have great hopes for this new event and are excited to see it grow. How cool would it be if overseas competitors started making the trip to COTA!?
Super Lap Battle
MCV Imagery – COTA 2019 Gallery (awesome on-track pics!)
6 comments
That NC Miata is what my NC Miata wants to be when it grows up
Honest question? Is there a lack of participation / competition going on at this event? Doesn’t seem very many serious competitors for the top spots.
Looks like a total of 46 cars were entered. In reading comments on various forums, it seems the high cost of entry due to it being at COTA deterred some from participating. That said, I think the notable cars missing were the Professional Awesome Evo, PZtuning Civic which seems was in Japan and just set the Tsukuba FF track record, Chris Boersma Civic, Can-Jam STI. RS Motors Evo. Could any of them have beat the Lyfe GTR? Not so sure…. would have been interesting for sure. Hopefully they all make it out next year.
Great article on a great event. I’m positive that this will become a standout event that draws everyone. SuperLap Battle USA, well done on taking what must’ve been a huge risk and making it happen. Khiem, so glad you were able to get there!
Not too sure that radiatior on the Miata is going to be effective. Even though you have high dynamic pressure at the stagnation point on the front bumper, it the streamline would have to turn something like 80 degrees, into another high pressure zone under an unvented hood. I’m sure it works but it probably adds a ton of drag. I hope he builds a ducted hood vent eventually. Or you could do what Ferrari did recently with the 488 Pista and vent beneath the car. Ferrari claims 10% better cooling and 7%less drag. Another bonus is that the rear gets cool air instead of hot air which is denser, with less turbulence and entropy so the rear wing or spoiler becomes more efficient. The CoG is better too.
I had to know what was going on with the SR3 Radical suspension. Found a pretty fascinating message chain. The original inventor chimes in at the end.
The nik-link uses a bell crank to compress the top of the coil over as well as the coil over compressing from the bottom a-arm. This gives more shock travel to control the spring they say. The ARB is a tubular bar bent downward at one end and is mounted across the chassis connected to the bell cranks on either side. When the suspension moves the bar bends (bows) causing roll resistance.
ubrben (Automotive)
27 Jul 04 17:50
This is what I hate about the whole patenting system. The ‘nik link’ is identical in concept to the front suspension system Andrew Thorby designed for the early 90s Van Diemen Sports 200 car. He subsequently used the design on the Lister Storm LMP
LMP900 (Automotive)
4 Aug 04 13:25
I did indeed use it on the Van Diemen and the Lister. There are a number of benefits, but on the front of the Van Diemen (and presumably the Radical) it allowed the good motion ratio of a pushrod linkage with the chassis simplicity of a simple double A-arm/coilover layout. Didn’t realise it was patentable though….
Andy