A little NB Action
08-14-2012, 08:56 AM
#1
A little NB Action
This section has been pretty dead lately and I figured I would spice it up.
A couple weeks ago I dealt my original clutch the final death blow at the track when I made a dumb money shot miss-shift. So, I decided it was finally time to get that new Flying Miata Stage 1 clutch and stop babying it at the track/autox. While I was under the car in 95F+ days cursing life rolling around on the concrete, I noticed my exhaust had more holes in it then it should. I then proceeded to walk in a get a beer to help me think about the situation when my wife heard my grumblings and said "Oh, your miata is due for emissions this month." I being one to see opportunity in most situations felt this was a good time to replace the entire exhaust.
I decided on the Roadster Sport 3 + Resonated midpipe on sale at Good-Win-Racing.com. I know all the cool kids love the enthuse, but I was never considered the cool kid nor one patient enough to wait for him to build and ship it to me. While I was at it, I decided, the bolts on my header to cat were very rusty and my header is ugly, so I should fix that. I ordered a Racing Beat header. Now, if you are going to open the outlet side of the motor, you have to help it's intake, correct? So, I decided to go back to 949 and get a K&N intake. I haven't sent them much money this season, so I felt obligated to buy some stuff from them. I know Emillio missed me.
I bought 25' of 2" DEI heat wrap off of Amazon after doing some quick math in my head. I should have remembered that I can't do quick math in my head as I didn't have enough heat wrap. I ran out right at the main collector. I did some more math and figured, how much heat could come up from that? Cliff notes: A LOT! So, I have more DEI on order and I'll redo it as soon as it arrives. The engine bay looks like this:
I've added heat wrap to the brake lines and plan to remove the power steering when ever I get around to depowering my spare rack. When I finally MS the car, I'll remove the MAF and square off that tube and make a nice little heat shield box. I drove 450 miles in about a week to get it all broken in before this last weekend's 2 day autox. I want to shake as much out of the car before I go to Road America next month.
Here she is sitting pretty waiting to go out on day 1
First impressions on the exhaust/CAI combo. The sound is great. It still doesn't have the sound of those lovely S2k motors, but it sounds 100 times better then my stock exhaust that more sputtered then purred. I removed the damper to see how much louder it would be, and it's not too bad. It's not too ricey sounding. On the highway, I don't mind being heard in this little guy. Loud pipes save lives after all. As for power, I don't have an aftermarket EMS yet to actually take advantage of my full exhaust+intake+MazdaSpeed Cam. But Dyno thinks it feels a little more midrange, but it could have just been gas. It sure sounds better.
Now, I have a friendly little competition going with one of my coworkers. He has a S2k that he bought off the former Marketing Director of AMS Tuning here in Chicago. The car is beautiful and well setup. It's really funny how well known his car and his owner is in the community and neither of us n00bs knew that when we found it on craigslist. It was used to do photo shoots on track with other cars and is a great car. On paper he should smoke me at most events. Saturday, he finally beat me by .3 and I had to buy him dinner.
Sunday, I raised the stakes now that he finally beat me. Session one we drive for our best time in our cars. In session two, we switch rides and attempt to best each other's time. Now, I was already winning by a full 2 seconds in the miata before driving his car. I beat his time first run in his car. I then bested my own time. I think I could have worked out another 2 seconds and been in 2nd place in the Honda class if I could have had a little more time to figure out the understeer. The car had been setup to mildly understeer, but it pushed pretty hard in two of the sharpest corners where my car is a little oversteer happy and I can just fly through. I hadn't changed my style soon enough to account for that. While the times I got were almost identical in both cars, the S2k just felt faster. I had to work harder and it made a ---- ton more noise driving that speed. My heart was racing after each run. Carlos admitted mine turned with effort and while his times were quicker in my miata then he had in his S2k, it felt slower.
Here is a shot right before we went out in each other's cars:
A couple weeks ago I dealt my original clutch the final death blow at the track when I made a dumb money shot miss-shift. So, I decided it was finally time to get that new Flying Miata Stage 1 clutch and stop babying it at the track/autox. While I was under the car in 95F+ days cursing life rolling around on the concrete, I noticed my exhaust had more holes in it then it should. I then proceeded to walk in a get a beer to help me think about the situation when my wife heard my grumblings and said "Oh, your miata is due for emissions this month." I being one to see opportunity in most situations felt this was a good time to replace the entire exhaust.
I decided on the Roadster Sport 3 + Resonated midpipe on sale at Good-Win-Racing.com. I know all the cool kids love the enthuse, but I was never considered the cool kid nor one patient enough to wait for him to build and ship it to me. While I was at it, I decided, the bolts on my header to cat were very rusty and my header is ugly, so I should fix that. I ordered a Racing Beat header. Now, if you are going to open the outlet side of the motor, you have to help it's intake, correct? So, I decided to go back to 949 and get a K&N intake. I haven't sent them much money this season, so I felt obligated to buy some stuff from them. I know Emillio missed me.
I bought 25' of 2" DEI heat wrap off of Amazon after doing some quick math in my head. I should have remembered that I can't do quick math in my head as I didn't have enough heat wrap. I ran out right at the main collector. I did some more math and figured, how much heat could come up from that? Cliff notes: A LOT! So, I have more DEI on order and I'll redo it as soon as it arrives. The engine bay looks like this:
I've added heat wrap to the brake lines and plan to remove the power steering when ever I get around to depowering my spare rack. When I finally MS the car, I'll remove the MAF and square off that tube and make a nice little heat shield box. I drove 450 miles in about a week to get it all broken in before this last weekend's 2 day autox. I want to shake as much out of the car before I go to Road America next month.
Here she is sitting pretty waiting to go out on day 1
First impressions on the exhaust/CAI combo. The sound is great. It still doesn't have the sound of those lovely S2k motors, but it sounds 100 times better then my stock exhaust that more sputtered then purred. I removed the damper to see how much louder it would be, and it's not too bad. It's not too ricey sounding. On the highway, I don't mind being heard in this little guy. Loud pipes save lives after all. As for power, I don't have an aftermarket EMS yet to actually take advantage of my full exhaust+intake+MazdaSpeed Cam. But Dyno thinks it feels a little more midrange, but it could have just been gas. It sure sounds better.
Now, I have a friendly little competition going with one of my coworkers. He has a S2k that he bought off the former Marketing Director of AMS Tuning here in Chicago. The car is beautiful and well setup. It's really funny how well known his car and his owner is in the community and neither of us n00bs knew that when we found it on craigslist. It was used to do photo shoots on track with other cars and is a great car. On paper he should smoke me at most events. Saturday, he finally beat me by .3 and I had to buy him dinner.
Sunday, I raised the stakes now that he finally beat me. Session one we drive for our best time in our cars. In session two, we switch rides and attempt to best each other's time. Now, I was already winning by a full 2 seconds in the miata before driving his car. I beat his time first run in his car. I then bested my own time. I think I could have worked out another 2 seconds and been in 2nd place in the Honda class if I could have had a little more time to figure out the understeer. The car had been setup to mildly understeer, but it pushed pretty hard in two of the sharpest corners where my car is a little oversteer happy and I can just fly through. I hadn't changed my style soon enough to account for that. While the times I got were almost identical in both cars, the S2k just felt faster. I had to work harder and it made a ---- ton more noise driving that speed. My heart was racing after each run. Carlos admitted mine turned with effort and while his times were quicker in my miata then he had in his S2k, it felt slower.
Here is a shot right before we went out in each other's cars:
08-17-2012, 10:39 AM
#5
S2k had a lot left on the table (Albiet better drivers in similar NBs were also pushing about 1.5 seconds faster then me) The understeer, which partially I think could be helped with altering tire pressure and the newness of the car were slowing me down. I definitely know I can go faster in it with a little practice. It is capable of more, it just requires a lot more effort to drive at the edge then the miata.
Now I gotta get the FD better setup and see how she compares. With the FD using the OEM tire size, I was slower then the miatas at the autox. I'm pretty sure with a better suspension and fatter tires like the Miata already has, THAT will be the car to beat.
Now I gotta get the FD better setup and see how she compares. With the FD using the OEM tire size, I was slower then the miatas at the autox. I'm pretty sure with a better suspension and fatter tires like the Miata already has, THAT will be the car to beat.
09-17-2012, 09:06 AM
#6
Alright, updates for the one guy that may read this. I swapped out my sucky open diff finally with an OEM NB1 LSD. I traded the 3.9 I had planned to install when i thought about going boost with another member on miatachurbo.net. While I was at it, I put my energy suspension bushings that I have had for two years into the diff.
First impressions, PUT THESE BUSHINGS IN! Power came on quicker, I actually thought the motor felt like it gained power till I realized it was just less driveline flex. Now, I cannot wait to do the motor mounts.
After I got the Diff in, I did what any self respecting enthusiast would do. I flogged the **** out of it at the track two days later. My buddy and I tried out a new to us track. BlackHawk Farms in Beloit, IL. It was a High Speed Auto Cross event. Also my first.
Impression of the track are, it appears to be a track that some farmer that couldn't make money off of his crops decided to lay out with the help of a friend that had an asphalt company. There is a very narrow section where the barriers are trees wrapped with tires. Pretty much anywhere you leave the track, you are in danger of cracking a tree! Kerbs are in terrible condition and some look like they will roll my car if i hit them too hard. Needless to say, I didn't push it 100% my first time out for fear of wrapping myself around a tree. The tree we pitted in front of on turn 4 is so wide, the only thing you would see if I hit it head on would be my side mirrors.
Impressions of HSAX are this: Save your money and do a day of HPDE unless you HAVE to compete. For about $50 for a day you could get 80 min of track time and 60 laps of experience versus the 14 - 16 you get at the HSAX. We had two practice runs of 4 laps ea. Then it was the timed single cold laps. That's driving ***** to the wall on cold tires. Hence why we witnessed lots of accidents on the tricky bit. I also lost to another 00 Miata which got first and a Jetta TDI Cup Car which got second. Basically, I lost to the two cars I own!
I would do HSAX again, just not on a new to me track.
For those that wish to see my poor camera placement and lack of good lighting, here are two of my runs. The first I forgot to record and during my best run, the camera mount was loose and the go pro swiveled down and missed all the action.
9/16/2012 Blackhawk Farms High Speed Autox Midwestern Council Run 3 - YouTube
9/16/2012 Blackhawk Farms High Speed Autox Midwestern Council Run 4 - YouTube
First impressions, PUT THESE BUSHINGS IN! Power came on quicker, I actually thought the motor felt like it gained power till I realized it was just less driveline flex. Now, I cannot wait to do the motor mounts.
After I got the Diff in, I did what any self respecting enthusiast would do. I flogged the **** out of it at the track two days later. My buddy and I tried out a new to us track. BlackHawk Farms in Beloit, IL. It was a High Speed Auto Cross event. Also my first.
Impression of the track are, it appears to be a track that some farmer that couldn't make money off of his crops decided to lay out with the help of a friend that had an asphalt company. There is a very narrow section where the barriers are trees wrapped with tires. Pretty much anywhere you leave the track, you are in danger of cracking a tree! Kerbs are in terrible condition and some look like they will roll my car if i hit them too hard. Needless to say, I didn't push it 100% my first time out for fear of wrapping myself around a tree. The tree we pitted in front of on turn 4 is so wide, the only thing you would see if I hit it head on would be my side mirrors.
Impressions of HSAX are this: Save your money and do a day of HPDE unless you HAVE to compete. For about $50 for a day you could get 80 min of track time and 60 laps of experience versus the 14 - 16 you get at the HSAX. We had two practice runs of 4 laps ea. Then it was the timed single cold laps. That's driving ***** to the wall on cold tires. Hence why we witnessed lots of accidents on the tricky bit. I also lost to another 00 Miata which got first and a Jetta TDI Cup Car which got second. Basically, I lost to the two cars I own!
I would do HSAX again, just not on a new to me track.For those that wish to see my poor camera placement and lack of good lighting, here are two of my runs. The first I forgot to record and during my best run, the camera mount was loose and the go pro swiveled down and missed all the action.
9/16/2012 Blackhawk Farms High Speed Autox Midwestern Council Run 3 - YouTube
9/16/2012 Blackhawk Farms High Speed Autox Midwestern Council Run 4 - YouTube
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