For the $2008 Competition the team decided to bring two cars! The BMW from previous competitions was to make it's last stand as a competition car while the Mazda Miata was supposed to be Wreck Racing's golden child.
The Miata is a true monster! Constructed using parts from auto manufacturers in at least 3 different countries it promised to be a serious contender. The heart of the beast had to be changed. No longer a 1.6L 4-banger, the Miata came to life under the power of a 4.0L Lexus V8. This engine, coupled with the Lexus transmission and a Ford Thunderbird differential put down some serious power. The transmission, which only came with the automatic option for the 1UZ-FE engine would not satisfy our hunger, paddle-shifters had to be made. With the press of a button we now had a shift-system that rivaled cars with a price tag 50 times the competition budget. The night before the long road to Gainesville the Miata was out running strong, ready for competition.
With all of this success, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong. The morning of competition, with spirits high the team tried to wake up the Miata. When our engine did not roar to life, we knew that our luck had began to fade. After spending a good part of the morning, we realized that we had some hard-to-find wiring issues. While the BMW layed down respectable times, enjoying it's last competition, the Miata now had only a fried CPU. The team decided to sacrifice the BMW in order to try to get the Miata running. Shortly before the end of the day the Miata roared to life, turning every head in the lot.
Once at the starting line the Miata got off to a strong start. However, our misfortune had not run out yet. In the middle of the run a CV joint failed, causing us to push the Miata back to camp. We had not come this far to give up though. After calling a few junkyards, we found a replacement and in the hotel bathroom fixed what we hoped was our last problem.
The second day we were ready to lay down some amazing drag times. As luck would have it though our BMW brain transplant failed, and the Miata was down for the count. The second day however featured a concourse judging. The Miata was exactly what the competition stood for. Showing people that creativity, not money is what makes some great cars. Although the Miata seemed a bit premature, we left the competition full of ideas and inspirations on hwo to improve for the next year.
Overall the BMW scored 37th in Autocross and 27th in concourse. The Miata scored 11th in concourse. Although, this past season was filled with failure after failure, it has been a great teaching tool. Our focus has now changed to not only power but reliability. The Miata is revving to compete in the $2009 competition and take down anyone that stands in the way.