Yahoo Autos Watch a Spec Miata Embarrass a Porsche 911 Turbo S on Track
The Porsche 911 Turbo S is an extremely fast car. It makes a mighty 580 horsepower, and gets from zero to sixty in a scant 2.8 seconds. The car has massive capability in the right hands, and can leave just about anything else on the road in the dust. But the driver of this Turbo S had to learn the hard way that a car's performance numbers aren't everything.
This on-board video comes courtesy of Matthew Jackson, who's driving a Spec Miata at Atlanta Motorsports Park during a Porsche Club HPDE (High Performance Driver Education) track day. Spec Miata is a fantastic one-make racing series that pits race-prepped NA and NB Miatas against each other. The engines are left stock, so these cars typically make around 120-130 horsepower-around four times less than the 911 Turbo S. Evening the odds a bit, your typical Spec Miata weighs around 2300 lbs, more than 1000 lbs lighter than the turbo Porsche.
While the Miata is a purpose-built machine meant for the circuit, it should be no match for the mighty 911. However, with a skilled driver at the wheel, the Miata can do magical things on track. Sure, Jackson loses the Turbo S on the straights, but in braking zones and through corners, he's right on that Porsche's bumper. He finds the better line, and really pushes the Miata's brakes to their limits.
Take a few minutes and watch as this poor, unsuspecting Porsche has its mirrors filled by the tiny track car that could.
via r/cars
