yay its another MX5 thread! Track slag!

[davido140]

Will keep you posted, I've still got some reading to do and I need to make a decision of forced induction, its very very tempting!

I'm probably going to have a look at a few cars in the next couple of weeks when I have a bit more spare time.

Since I've started looking seriously at the turbo/sc options its changed the budget a little and a snotty elise s1 has been thrown into the mix too, little concerned about the K series engine though..

[Chris71]

Only thing I can think of with FI (not that I've been working out a plan or anything...) is that it'd be more difficult to get the car accepted in a suitable class if you wanted to try your hand at the odd bit of club level competition.

[davido140]

Chris71 said:

Only thing I can think of with FI (not that I've been working out a plan or anything...) is that it'd be more difficult to get the car accepted in a suitable class if you wanted to try your hand at the odd bit of club level competition.

Its unlikely I'd be competing at any level in the short to medium term so not a major worry!

[Herman Toothrot]

davido140 said:

Since I've started looking seriously at the turbo/sc options its changed the budget a little and a snotty elise s1 has been thrown into the mix too, little concerned about the K series engine though..

Turbo 5's and basic Elise, my moneys on the 5 being the faster car on track, obviously the Elise can be modifed to up the game again, but then its bigger money again.

[MX-5 Lazza]

You'd be surprised.
When my car had 215bhp I could just about stay with a standard S1 Elise. In it's current state it'll hold onto a 111R.
Of course I'm not the greatest driver and a better driver would be faster in my car but I can only assume the Elise drivers were the same standard as me. This is based on 2 track days at Bedford with Lotus on Track.

[Herman Toothrot]

MX-5 Lazza said:

You'd be surprised.
When my car had 215bhp I could just about stay with a standard S1 Elise. In it's current state it'll hold onto a 111R.
Of course I'm not the greatest driver and a better driver would be faster in my car but I can only assume the Elise drivers were the same standard as me. This is based on 2 track days at Bedford with Lotus on Track.

Should be quicker than that, be more Exige fast now? Only Elise based stuff i've seen on track thats been faster have been Honda Type R Elise's, VX220 Turbos & Supercharged Exiges. Had a good joke about it with an Elise type R owner as I didn't pull over for him when we had a rolling road block pull out of our way. He said straight away when pulling in "I bet you didn't expect to still see me in your mirror", I'd thought he was in a normal Elise and had quite a suprise when, yes he was still all over my bumper. When I pulled out the way after the next bend he drove away from me with out issue. As you say mind a lot depends on how hard the owners pushing the car.

[davido140]

Herman Toothrot said:

MX-5 Lazza said:

You'd be surprised.
When my car had 215bhp I could just about stay with a standard S1 Elise. In it's current state it'll hold onto a 111R.
Of course I'm not the greatest driver and a better driver would be faster in my car but I can only assume the Elise drivers were the same standard as me. This is based on 2 track days at Bedford with Lotus on Track.

Should be quicker than that, be more Exige fast now? Only Elise based stuff i've seen on track thats been faster have been Honda Type R Elise's, VX220 Turbos & Supercharged Exiges. Had a good joke about it with an Elise type R owner as I didn't pull over for him when we had a rolling road block pull out of our way. He said straight away when pulling in "I bet you didn't expect to still see me in your mirror", I'd thought he was in a normal Elise and had quite a suprise when, yes he was still all over my bumper. When I pulled out the way after the next bend he drove away from me with out issue. As you say mind a lot depends on how hard the owners pushing the car.

I think perceptions of speed of the Exige in particular can very as there are so many different models/power outputs.

I know for a fact that an Exige with 240bhp would match my Tuscan every step of the way from 30 all the way to 130 (in a straight line), it was certainly a lot quicker around the bendy bits. They are very very fast cars indeed.

I would expect a 180-200hp MX5 to keep up a standard Elise S1,

Anyone know the weight of an early MX5 ?

[MX-5 Lazza]

I have a mate with a 111R so I know for a fact that the acceleration is about the same as mine. The Elise is lighter though and the handling is great so while I can keep up on the straights I can't keep up around the faster bends where the lower inertia makes a big difference. On tighter bends I don't have any trouble though as the weight at the front seems to help control oversteer and my big torque advantage drags me out of the bend quicker.

[MX-5 Lazza]

An early 1.6 will be about 900kg, possibly lighter if it's a basic model without PS etc.
Mine is likely to be somewhere between 1100-1200kg.

[bluetone]

My 2p = Exige has a useful amount of downforce in high-speed bends (and is an amazing handling bit of kit in my brief tracktime in one). Haven't driven an Elise yet so can't comment on that.