Hello good people of Tampa!

Please let me add my grain of salt in this thread since I'm one of the guys behind that little Mirage that somewhat found its way into a Florida forum. The Internet is really something.

Some of you guys seem to have everything pretty well figured out. Our Mirage weights nothing, makes no power and is fast simply because it weights nothing in the first place, right? Then ask youself, if it's so damn easy, why is that we're the fastest FWD DSM powered car in the world? Or why is that we're at the #3 spot for cars using an OEM DSM tranny behind names like Andre Simon from New Zealand or Mister John Shepherd? I mean, any Joe could take a POS tin can, put a gutless motor in it and run 8's, right? But somehow, it's not the case. So maybe it's not as easy as you guys seem to think. I think you guys should give us a little credit.

For the record, our gutless tin can has a race weight of 2290lbs, as weighted last weekend. Removing that luxurious Mirage interior and adding lexans might shed some weight, but a full 10 points cage and a heavy iron DSM block and AT tranny quickly adds it back. Besides, any quick DSM (or EVO) that runs 9s or faster with any kind of reliability weights 2800lbs at the very most. So the the gentleman who claims that we're 1500lbs underweight, I really don't know how you did your math on this one.

I will be the first one to admit it might not be the most powerful 4 banger around, in fact I couldn't care less about meaningless HP figures. To me, a drag car is much more than an engine. But as far as the motor goes, all I know is that using the Moroso rule, the car should make an honest 800HP to the wheels through the AT box. Not earth shattering, but not too shabby either.

Yes we use the DSMLink simply because it does exactly what I want. It's very consistent, it's amazingly reliable and it's easy enough for me to figure out.

IMHO, a motor needs proper fueling and spark to run its best. It couldn't care less about the brand of EMS controlling it. It won't make any more or any less power at a given AF ratio and ignition timing. And what is nice about the plug and play nature of the DSMLink is that I have the car running consistent 8's and I have NEVER EVER tuned the car on a dyno! After all, we're just a couple of guys working in a backyard garage somewhere in the lost land of Quebec, Canada, so we have somewhat limited means. Not having to have to go to a dyno all the time is a big plus.

I could also go on telling you that we made this car to race and to go rounds, be consistent and make it to events, NOT TO BE A ONE PASS WONDER, but I wouldn't want to bore you with my babbling.

Thanks for listening and a special hello to Juan.