Last weekend, a friend was helping out at a ‘test and tune’ event here in the cities.
He invited the young un and myself along, to do some ride alongs with him and see if we could sneak a run in other peoples cars too.
It must be said that my friend is probably the closest I know to the Stig - someone who can really drive.
He was there in his modified MX5. It has a fiesta ST engine in it, that he swapped in, being (to his knowledge) the first person to have completed the swap (though quite a few have tried). It almost bolts right up to the MX5 box, which is one of the reasons, it’s been tried a few times.
There were two courses a twisty and a slightly faster sweeping one. I had a few rides in the twisty side.
An average driver (with passenger) was recording around 42 seconds with a stock engined MX5. A good driver was running 40 second in an MX5 with aftermarket suspension and tires.
My old Atom was there and the new owner was running 36 to 38 seconds but was limited by the slightly older tires. He’s a pretty good driver.
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My friend who is an amazing driver, did a couple of 32 second runs and ended up with a high 30s in this…
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Knowing that you spend most of the time in second gear, it’s not a top speed thing! Talk about an insane ride along!