MX5 Turbo - Modified
Discussion
PGD5 said:
Thanks for that deviant, it made for an interesting read 
No worries chap. I looked at the Quaife kit a while back...Hugely expensive and they will only make them in a run these days and not in singles. I believe that they no longer do a complete gear set either so you would not really fix anything going down that route.
The 6 speed box in the race car had held up for 5 years of racing and is still going strong with its new owner. The shift quality was bloody terrible but the the 6 speed box of the same year in my road car is as sweet as can be.
What clutch are you using? No need to go to mad and get a button clutch or paddle clutch or anything like that, the car is so light that an organic clutch with uprated springs is good for your sort of power outputs...Look at Flyin Miata. The more heavy duty your clutch the more load you put on the transmission.
Sensible to do as you have and wind the tune back a touch, a car is no fun when it is permanently on the edge of bursting.
Love the hot rod picture! I will get in one...one day...
Cheers Deviant. Have you any more info or links to your Race car build, specs or pictures? And what race series do you compete in?
Reminding us of sunnier times
MX5 - Sunlight strobist by PGDesigns.co.uk, on Flickr
Reminding us of sunnier times
MX5 - Sunlight strobist by PGDesigns.co.uk, on Flickr
Hi mate. I dont have much online really. My first NA turbo was pretty well in the same spec as yours, I traded it with a friend who owned the race car...essentially the same spec again but a bit lighter, with a hard top, full welded in cage and the 6 speed box.
I have only really run in local sprints, hillclimbs and time attack type events with both cars. I ran the race car a few times but then the engine let go. I chucked a few thousand in to putting it back together and couldnt get it going properly so I stepped back to take stock of my spending habits and the amount of time I was putting in to playing cars and decided it was not to be at this point and that I fancied a break.
I sold the race car to another chap I competed against that has a supercharged MK1 (200 wheel BHP) as he was about to start a race car build of his own, he snatched my hand off as it was substantially cheaper getting my car over starting from scratch with a road car. My old race car is now having an LS1 V8 fitted to it using the Flyin Miata kit.
Anyway...I did the only sensible thing one could do after years of playing cars.....I went out and bought a 2001 NB8B (MK2.5 I think you call it) and straight away fitted an anti roll bar, thick ally radiator, induction kit and trackday spec brakes and took it to an open test day to be monstered byy race cars and slide around on old and skinny road tyres
Sorry, waffled on a bit. Here is my youtube channel with a few videos from a sprint and a test day. The videos of the 'RAC driving centre' are in my first MK1 turbo and the others are from the racer. Ignore the times and speeds as Harrys lap timer on the iphone are not very accurate.
http://www.youtube.com/user/papahet82/videos
I have only really run in local sprints, hillclimbs and time attack type events with both cars. I ran the race car a few times but then the engine let go. I chucked a few thousand in to putting it back together and couldnt get it going properly so I stepped back to take stock of my spending habits and the amount of time I was putting in to playing cars and decided it was not to be at this point and that I fancied a break.
I sold the race car to another chap I competed against that has a supercharged MK1 (200 wheel BHP) as he was about to start a race car build of his own, he snatched my hand off as it was substantially cheaper getting my car over starting from scratch with a road car. My old race car is now having an LS1 V8 fitted to it using the Flyin Miata kit.
Anyway...I did the only sensible thing one could do after years of playing cars.....I went out and bought a 2001 NB8B (MK2.5 I think you call it) and straight away fitted an anti roll bar, thick ally radiator, induction kit and trackday spec brakes and took it to an open test day to be monstered byy race cars and slide around on old and skinny road tyres
Sorry, waffled on a bit. Here is my youtube channel with a few videos from a sprint and a test day. The videos of the 'RAC driving centre' are in my first MK1 turbo and the others are from the racer. Ignore the times and speeds as Harrys lap timer on the iphone are not very accurate.
http://www.youtube.com/user/papahet82/videos
deviant said:
having an LS1 V8 fitted to it
Drools! I'd love that soundtrack in, well, anything tbh 
It must be a real hoot in something as light as the MX5! I'd certainly like a go in one, see what its like with enough torque to pull a house round with you but we just dont have many of them over here 
Rear end shot, shot at the same time as the one on the first post. Same technique, just didnt turn out quite right in my view. It doesn't show the lights of the their full either, must try harder
MX5 Turbo lightpainted rear end by PGDesigns.co.uk, on Flickr
It shows the rear bumper cut though, which I did myself very slowly with an angle grinder! The bumber had a cutout for a twin exit exhaust (which I removed as I didnt like the look or noise of) and a cutout for a central foglight. That lok looked cluttered imo, so it was chopped off
deviant said:
Stretched tyres, slammed suspension and then a diffuser that is set WAAAY too high, i suppose it 'looks good' in a car park.
On my turbo mx5 track car, you would be shocked how high it has to ride in order to achieve the ideal geo settings.
ignore the messy garage, but this is technically as low as you can go on a 5 with 15" wheels before you start affecting the handling
Greg_D said:
Hmm, silly stretch is silly!!! i don't think i will ever understand why people do that
Stretched tyres, slammed suspension and then a diffuser that is set WAAAY too high, i suppose it 'looks good' in a car park.
On my turbo mx5 track car, you would be shocked how high it has to ride in order to achieve the ideal geo settings.
ignore the messy garage, but this is technically as low as you can go on a 5 with 15" wheels before you start affecting the handling
Yeah that white car is not a good set up, diffuser is in the wrong spot and I'm with you on stretched tyres. That car would handle very badly compared to a properly set up car.Stretched tyres, slammed suspension and then a diffuser that is set WAAAY too high, i suppose it 'looks good' in a car park.
On my turbo mx5 track car, you would be shocked how high it has to ride in order to achieve the ideal geo settings.
ignore the messy garage, but this is technically as low as you can go on a 5 with 15" wheels before you start affecting the handling
The race car I had would lap about as quick as a GT3 cup car (not in my hands mind
) but was not far off a road MX5 in the suspension department. We ran some funky alignment specs but the Tein coilovers were very close to what would be comfortable on the road. 9KG front springs, 6kg rears. Front shocks set to about 9 clicks from soft and the rears on full soft. Front anti roll bar was a whiteline 24mm set to soft and the rear one was removed all together. Lots of people go massively the wrong way with MX5's, they handle terribly when they are set up stiff or with a stiff rear end.
deviant said:
Greg_D said:
Hmm, silly stretch is silly!!! i don't think i will ever understand why people do that
Stretched tyres, slammed suspension and then a diffuser that is set WAAAY too high, i suppose it 'looks good' in a car park.
On my turbo mx5 track car, you would be shocked how high it has to ride in order to achieve the ideal geo settings.
ignore the messy garage, but this is technically as low as you can go on a 5 with 15" wheels before you start affecting the handling
Yeah that white car is not a good set up, diffuser is in the wrong spot and I'm with you on stretched tyres. That car would handle very badly compared to a properly set up car.Stretched tyres, slammed suspension and then a diffuser that is set WAAAY too high, i suppose it 'looks good' in a car park.
On my turbo mx5 track car, you would be shocked how high it has to ride in order to achieve the ideal geo settings.
ignore the messy garage, but this is technically as low as you can go on a 5 with 15" wheels before you start affecting the handling
The race car I had would lap about as quick as a GT3 cup car (not in my hands mind
) but was not far off a road MX5 in the suspension department. We ran some funky alignment specs but the Tein coilovers were very close to what would be comfortable on the road. 9KG front springs, 6kg rears. Front shocks set to about 9 clicks from soft and the rears on full soft. Front anti roll bar was a whiteline 24mm set to soft and the rear one was removed all together. Lots of people go massively the wrong way with MX5's, they handle terribly when they are set up stiff or with a stiff rear end.
if you meant on an otherwise standard chassis then you may well have a point.
My old car had a full welded in cage to I guess what works for some doesnt for others and varies from circuit to circuit and tyre to tyre.
My first turbo MX5 had similar spring rates to yours and a stock rear anti roll bar, I suspect that those coilovers were not valved correctly for a car that light though. Its power down was useless but it was good fun backing it in to a corner.
The race car was a dream to drive, perhaps a touch of understeer on turn in but you can just get on the power and be at full throttle mid corner...just keep pointing it at the exit! Miss that car
I guess what works for some doesnt for others and varies from circuit to circuit and tyre to tyre.My first turbo MX5 had similar spring rates to yours and a stock rear anti roll bar, I suspect that those coilovers were not valved correctly for a car that light though. Its power down was useless but it was good fun backing it in to a corner.
The race car was a dream to drive, perhaps a touch of understeer on turn in but you can just get on the power and be at full throttle mid corner...just keep pointing it at the exit! Miss that car
PGD5 said:
Greg_D said:
god no, anyone that does is a maniac with a penchant for brain injuries
i don't really use it much, it is predominantly for the wife to use on track, you can see my single seater behind the mazda, that is better fun.
Greg_D said:
god no, anyone that does is a maniac with a penchant for brain injuries
Thats what I was wondering too Greg, as much as I'd love a cage in there to see both the stiffness and safety benefits, without a helmet on it could make things much worse. Single seater! Wow *goes green with envy*
Are you a Nutz user too Greg?
Here's something else I've done while owning the car..
A full wet-sand! Sounds horrific, but bear with me..
From a distance the paintwork looked fine, its was white.. But look closer and things were not so good, but considering it was painted in a garage, it wasn't bad. But with a bit of 'elbow grease' its looking much better..
The beginning
The mucky line on the bonnet seen here was purely from water running down the bonnet, and hitting a bit of polish or wax I'd put on the lower section a couple of weeks before.
I knew there was plenty of paint on the car, so I had no worries about cutting it back a little to make it smooth. So I did just that! The car has been completely wet sanded with 2000 grit paper with a flat firm sponge as a sanding block. I've never done anything like this before either!
The rear bumper mid sand, I went all nerdy and run a mask line down to see the difference sanding had on the colour..
Front wheel arch, notice the brown staining pre sanding..
Same with the bonnet
Once the sanding was done I started with the polishing. This was done with a rotary buffer and G3, and OMG, what a result!
Good old before and after shots
I was a happy chappy when this lot was done!
A full wet-sand! Sounds horrific, but bear with me..
From a distance the paintwork looked fine, its was white.. But look closer and things were not so good, but considering it was painted in a garage, it wasn't bad. But with a bit of 'elbow grease' its looking much better..
The beginning
The mucky line on the bonnet seen here was purely from water running down the bonnet, and hitting a bit of polish or wax I'd put on the lower section a couple of weeks before.
I knew there was plenty of paint on the car, so I had no worries about cutting it back a little to make it smooth. So I did just that! The car has been completely wet sanded with 2000 grit paper with a flat firm sponge as a sanding block. I've never done anything like this before either!
The rear bumper mid sand, I went all nerdy and run a mask line down to see the difference sanding had on the colour..
Front wheel arch, notice the brown staining pre sanding..
Same with the bonnet
Once the sanding was done I started with the polishing. This was done with a rotary buffer and G3, and OMG, what a result!
Good old before and after shots
I was a happy chappy when this lot was done!
i am on nutz, but don't post much, i haven't really got 'into the flow' of the place. It all seems a bit too cliquey for my liking. It may have changed.
Your paintwork has come up stunning, how long did it take you to achieve that finish? No wonder your pictures come out so well, you have stunning material to work with. your car is lovely and a credit to you
Your paintwork has come up stunning, how long did it take you to achieve that finish? No wonder your pictures come out so well, you have stunning material to work with. your car is lovely and a credit to you
Greg_D said:
i am on nutz
your car is lovely and a credit to you
Are you part of the Pheonix fives bunch/area? I recognise the car pictured in your profile, did we meet briefly when you sorted an indoor karting event out, when we travelled down from Yorkshire?your car is lovely and a credit to you
Thanks for the paintwork compliments guys
As said I knew there was a lot of paint on there, so I had little worries of going through it.PGD5 said:
Greg_D said:
i am on nutz
your car is lovely and a credit to you
Are you part of the Pheonix fives bunch/area? I recognise the car pictured in your profile, did we meet briefly when you sorted an indoor karting event out, when we travelled down from Yorkshire?your car is lovely and a credit to you
Thanks for the paintwork compliments guys
As said I knew there was a lot of paint on there, so I had little worries of going through it.i have only had the car for about 6 months, but it was a local car for a few years before, so maybe you saw one of the previous owners.
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