Doing doughnuts in R was never a huge appeal to me....

+1.

But,
RA vs MS3 stock in a straight line, I think has been proven that the fwd torque machine is out on top...(and in slalom too if I'm not mistaken?)

 

Something to keep in mind, power does not win autocrosses nor does a trick drivetrain, low weight and a properly set up suspension wins autocrosses. With this in mind, the Ralliart is at a massive disadvantage stock. You'd have to buy new tires for sure, the stockers wouldn't stand a chance in hell. Then you'd need to upgrade the brakes. From here you'd need to strip the weight. Unfortunately much of what makes a Ralliart a Ralliart is heavy. While the TC-SST is fine for driving around town, I wouldn't want to bag on it at the track. If you're autocrossing, you're basically going to be staying in one gear which is stressful. If I was buying a car just to track, I'd buy the SS (if I was buying new and under a certain price). If I was buying used, Miata all the way.

 

I wonder if the tranny would overheat on one heat. Imagine in the summertime too. The Ralliart would be a great base. If you could address the overheating trans.

I would go with a cheap *** honda with k20 swap if its used. And that Cobalt because its the fastest FWD car out there.

 

Check the winners of the SCCA Solo championships, the Cooper is very popular, as is the Solstice, the S2000, the Civic and the Miata. There are some Evos and STis but it doesn't look like they become competitive until you get higher up the classes. In the NASA championships, it seems to be much of the same story.

 

I agree about the reverse donuts.. One of my personal gripes no matter how ridiculous is the thought of the front wheels peeling out. lol

 

+111 except I think I'd go with a rex for the 4wd for bad weather situations. but yea properly set up fwd can hang with the best of them

 

FWD can only go so far before AWD and RWD show their benefit on a track.

 

I went to autox this summer, the runs are way too short to heat up the tranny fluid, I would imagine it over heat on the track though. One thing people did to solve this problem was to take out the fog lights in the Evo, since the SST cooler is located right behind the right fog light.

 

99.9% of people will never go that far. A properly set up car with a good driver makes up for almost any drivetrain handicap. I've watched RSXs, Miatas, Corollas and Rabbits embarrass AWD and RWD drivers, including Corvettes, Porsches and STIs.

 

A properly set-up AWD car will embarass an equally set up FWD vehicle. The nature of a FWD car is not that great for AutoX.

 

But miatas are RWD

I know that most people will never reach the limits of high performance FWD cars. I know they can go fast, but they DO have a limit that AWD and RWD cars can exceed. This is why the top level of tarmac motorsports are dominated by RWD. It's just physics.

 

I think the question is more, which will be the first limiting factor on a track/auto-x as you increase more and more with mods, the Mazdaspeed3's FWD, or the Ralliart's transmission?

From what I'm seeing, you can't have more than 350whp with the RA tranny. Is that amount of power too much for the MS3's FWD, if both of the cars are set up well suspension wise?

 

Sure, at the extreme, but if the Solo and NASA results are any indication, FWD and RWD cars can easily keep up if not exceed AWD cars. People tend to treat AWD like god's gift to motorsports, well I'm sorry but it's not. I've tracked my car and even with upgrades, it has it's own AWD-related issues. Sure it's forgiving as all hell but it understeers if you don't get the corner just right (or toss it like a 5$ prostitute)and its weight eats tires and brakes. For the money, AWD cars are not good track cars. There, I said it. They can be lots of fun but if all you care about is track times, for the money of a Ralliart or a WRX you could build up a Civic or Miata that would devour them any day.
Don't forget the MS3 doesn't weigh what the Ralliart does so 350 WHP in an MS3 would result in a far faster car.

 

Auto x wise, I can't see why you need more than 300 whp, but as for track, ya it SST would be the limiting factor for the ralliart as far as power goes.

 

Agreed.