cool, learn something new every day!

 

well.. thought about things real hard and I finalized my goals for my car. Hopefully everything comes into place

Excited about the radiator coming in this week. Can't wait to turn on the ignition.. It feels like forever.

 

yep, just a little extra capacity and a trans cooler.

I'd still probably go with a cheap generic all aluminum radiator.

 

What are you goals going to be?

 

Well, building it for the 94-97 Miata class of WCMC events so will most likely consist of suspension parts, I/H/E, megasquirt, a jdm intake mani down the road, simple & clean exterior theme. wheels. and then eventually i'll do some hpde.

 

not to harp on the topic, but you really should do atleast 5 or 6 hpde events before you tackle suspension stuff. suspension is really complex and its hard to visualize until you get some experience with it.

For example, with stock suspension you don't have enough camber so you wear the outside of the tire more. but under "normal" circumstances, you want enough camber to wear the insides more.
What rates are you going to go with for the speeds, traction, and aero available to you?
bump stops? shocks (adjustable? or not)?
what about sway bars?

how do you plan to adjust for too much under/over steer? what are possible reasons for too much over/under steer? how do you know when you are being a -----?

Here is a really good example of the situations:
http://www.miataturbo.net/showthread.php?t=62319

sway bars, tire, tire pressure, camber, toe, spring rates, shocks, rake, and weight distribution.

Every one of those terms will change the balance and handling of the car at some point in time (arguable caster also does), and understanding when they take effect will greatly help you in making tuning adjustments and also in buying parts department.

Look at it this way:

your car has a performance limit this high:
---




---
^and your ability to drive (no offense its just an example)

So why add go fast parts now, if you can't "use" them till later? And then when later, you will just want to change them because you may or may not have made a good decision on buying a part (or choosing spring rates, etc. etc.).

just my very long-winded 2c on the topic.

 

I know that basically you're telling me to take it for how it is and just drive it out there (after tackling the maintenance of things of course). Thats exactly what I intend to do. My post above just shows some foreshadowing though I didn't mean that I was going to start buying parts immediately. Thanks for your input. I'm not changing anything until after some events, but I am making sure I have an icehawk alignment to start with. I appreciate the thread link. Bookmark'ed it and will be reading it later. I'll be asking you a ton of questions for sure, Track seeing as how you're one of the more experienced when it comes to high performance driving events. I did however make the decision to keep the rokkors until they blow (being a cheapass college kid) and replacing them with Stance adjustables so I can control the dampening this time around. Really wish you were by the Chicago area so I could invite you for some ride alongs at events and you could tell me whats up.

 

I appreciate it. I am not so sure I am good enough to help you that much, but I certainly don't mind sharing what I have learned and found out, whether its experience or links to threads.

I would just stick with what you got and drive it. if you got money to burn, use it on a track event.

 

Current ride height:



Lol that's an improvement.
Waiting for a friend to get his track tires so he can sell me a set of falken zi-exes (205-50-15) with excellent tread for $150 which I will use to wrap my Slipstreams with.

 

thats about where mine sits, and thats as low as mine will ever be. i would rather have a good ride over just being low