The Class:

D-Prepared

The Guru:

Ron Bauer- though a newcomer to the Prepared Classes, Ron has built on of the most exciting and recognizable cars in the D-Prepared grid. This car and the class is the next step for Ron who has two decades of Solo experience in Stock, Street Touring and Street Prepared. In DP, he has finished on the podium at Nationals all three times that he has competed, adding to his reputation as a championship level driver and builder.

The Pitch:

D-Prepared is all about eking out top-time-of-day performance from a low power car through insane levels of grip and amazing handling. It is a driver’s class, the next step in a progression for those who like to work on cars enough to want to build their own racecar. There is a proven formula, but you get to build it. But that is not the coolest thing; the coolest thing about DP is that the competitors are all a lot of fun, and like-minded. It’s often said that a major part of autocross is the people, and that’s very much the case in this class.

The Scoop:

There are several ways to get started in D-Prepared, the simplest is to throw some slicks on a Miata and go play. This may be your best option as there are traditionally not a lot of turnkey D-Prepared prepared cars on the market. Not that many have been built, and those who do build them tend to keep them. The good news is, you can take a Miata with basic suspension updates and throw some slicks on it and have a good starting point. Many cars in the class have been project racers, competed in while being built over years. Others cars have recent Solo history Street Touring or Street Prepared cars. The key is, D-Prepared is the easy way to start into race tires. You can take pretty much any year of Miata and make it competitive. Currently there are 1.6l, 1.8l, and 2.0l engines all running competitively against each other thanks to the weight formula. The only generation not currently represented is the NB chassis, but there’s no reason that they couldn’t be competitive too.

There are other cars to choose from in D-Prepared, but the Miata is the proven formula, it is well supported by aftermarket performance companies and it is a blast to drive. That makes it a pretty compelling package to bring to the class.

The Price Tag:

For D-Prepared the cost is completely dependent on how drastic you want to be. You can start with a Miata of pretty much any year, so the entry point can be pretty cheap. Once you have the car, a basic build will include a roll bar, good shocks and coilovers, an exhaust, a set of wheels and some tires. Figure about $500 for a roll bar, probably $1000 for basic coilovers, $1000 - $1500 for a header and exhaust, $500 - $1000 for wheels, and $1200 for tires. On a budget minded build you should be able to get a really fun car on course for $6000-$8000. If you are looking to build a National Championship car, there really isn’t a limit but expect to at least double that number in the early years.

Quality matters at every step of the build, but there is an even bigger pay of when it comes to shocks. If you intend to build a Nationally competitive car, it is a good idea to make the investment to get the good stuff as soon as you can. While you can start with something basic, you’ll eventually want to upgrade. Top competitors tend to run products from AST, Penske and Moton. These shocks come with a price, expect to spend $4500 to $6000 for new set, $2500-$3500 for used.

For Miatas, you’ll probably want to cut the windshield header off which will then require a full cage. Expect to spend $1000 to $2500 on your cage depending on who does the work and how built you want the cage. Obviously doing this at the beginning is good so that you don’t have to sell the roll bar you previously put in.

When you are ready to take the car to the next level, you are going to want to build an engine. Building an engine to the limits of the rules can probably be done for as little as $2500 if you are comfortable with doing everything yourself, but can easily run $10000 to have it professionally done. In the end it comes down to how far you want to take the car.

Moving up to a higher level of competitiveness also requires some kind of engine management. The NA (1990-1998) and NB (1999-2006) Miatas pretty much require a standalone type of setup, while the NC (2007-2013) can have the stock ECU retuned. This is a big advantage for the NC as the cost is much less. If you are planning to run one of the older cars, plan to spend about $1000 including the flashing equipment.

While you can start running in DP while your car is still a streetable car, to build it up to the top level, a trailer will be required. Since most of the cars in the class are convertibles, most opt for an enclosed trailer. Of course with the need for a trailer comes the need for a tow vehicle. DP cars range in weight from around 1600 pounds to almost 2100 depending on which engine your car uses. This allows you a lot of options when choosing a tow vehicle. Proven set ups range from a open trailers pulled by small SUVs and Minivans to 20+ foot enclosed trailers and dualie trucks.

The Honest Truth:

The biggest pain point is weather. Obviously with an open car, you are out in the elements, so if it’s cold, you’ll be cold. If it’s raining, you’ll get wet. Additionally, slicks tend to require heat more than street tires and R compound tires, so living in a cooler climate can be a little more challenging, especially for first runs. Co-drivers can be good in this case.

The Top Tips:

Pick the Right Start: Start with what you can afford and build from there. One of the cool things about Prepared is that there is always more that can be done. Be sure to start with something that will get you where you want to be, but don’t feel like you need to built it to 10/10ths in the first season.

Plan Your Attack:

At first, It is a good idea to focus on having a good suspension and gutting the car to get it down to the minimum weight requirement. From there, you can install coilovers, a front swaybar, a full exhaust, cold air intake, wheels, and some used tires to get the car out and running. Don’t feel like you need to build an engine right off, getting the other things sorted out and then adding power is a proven formula.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: A lot of the work needed to run in DP is stripping the car down. As always, read the rules to see what you can and can’t do, but for the most part, you can strip the interior down to nothing. This is a really fun part of the build because it is one of the things that really defines your car as a racecar. Don’t get too excited and just pitch all those interior goodies away. Items like tops, windows, seats and dashboard can be sold to help fund your build.