Autocross classing.. Help a noob!

[CJ10]

Hey all,

My first event I was placed in SSM with my '94 R because I had a test pipe at the time. Got smoked, like, badly. I installed a high-flow cat and ran in STS for my second event. There was (is) only one other local racer in STS and he has a better prepped car. Not to mention being a faster driver (3 seconds!) with age and practice. STS has only had one racer for the last few events and STR had at least 3 racers for the last few events.

I looked up the times and noticed that I was much more closely matched to the guys running in STR despite the wider tire allowances. Anyway, from what I gather: STS is basically for NA Miatas and STR is for newer models and S2K's also allowing aftermarket differentials and wider tires.

Blah blah blah: without doing STR type upgrades should I stick it out in STS against a better car & driver and focus on improving myself or is my car able to go into STR as-is and be more competitive right away against those same drivers? Sure there can always be less/more participants at any given event and I'll improve regardless as time goes on but I still want to compete and be competitive while I have fun learning and tossing around the MX-5.

Thanks!