Can anyone give me an idea which radical product might be competitive with pro formula mazda. My club races have moslly FM but I really like the Radical platform.
@klp110, unfortunately I can’t give you a good answer as I haven’t driven the different Formula Mazda’s. But I have talked with several Formula Mazda owners and they told me that the 1500 SR3 is a faster car with more downforce. You specifically asked about the Pro Mazda which I think is a step up from the Formula Mazda, so I don’t know how those would stack up against the Radical. I do know that the Radicals are easier to live with and that you can operate the a radical as a single man team while you need some support for the Mazda’s. Hopefully someone else that is familiar with the Mazda’s will speak up.
Charley
I've raced several weekends this year with FM's, FC's and FA's in our run group. Not sure how much difference there is between FM and Pro FM but I can tell you the FM's were never close. Some of the time I can beat the Formula Atlantics. Seems like my SR3 has just as much or more cornering and braking ability while loosing out in the straights to an FA.
These were regional SCCA events with low car counts so take that with a grain of salt. I raced against a Gen3 SR3 at BIR and even after taking almost all my aero off the car still watched him walk away on the straights. If I'd have had his acceleration it wouldn't have been too difficult to beat any of the FA's.
My car is a 1500 Gen 2. Only had the car for a year so we're still figuring it out and working out the bugs. I have too much brake drag right now which I still need to sort. Can't go wrong with the Radical, easiest and best engineered car I've owned. It's a dream to work on. Having Radical dealers located all over the country is a big plus too.
I've raced with all of the various different types of cars in SR3s over the years. Give equal drivers and equal prep (e.g. good tires, properly setup) the pecking order in terms of lap time is basically:
Formula Atlantic
Pro FM (carbon tub, Renesis engine)
Radical SR8/SR10
Radical SR3
Formula Mazda (tube frame, older rotary)
The top 3 can easily swap places given relatively similar levels of driver skill.
-Matt
