MX-5 Road/Track Car Build - Help required! (Bristol)
Discussion
Hi, I own an MX-5 Mk1 and I'd like to spend a bit of cash souping it up. That means beefing up the engine, fitting new suspension, wheels, roll bar, etc, etc. I was basically wondering whether anyone in the Somerset area had already done this and could suggest garages or specialists who could help me achieve my goal? Castle Combe is beckoning!!!
Depends what you're planning on spending your cash on. I got a Haynes manual and with a little trial and error have now done a few bits myself. Leave the engine - treat it to some new plugs, HT leads and a panel filter if you have to. Spend the money where it counts - brakes and suspension. We've just come back from a trackday at snetterton, yellowstuff pads on the car, worked like a dream, outlasted the tyres anyway.
To answer your question directly though, no idea about any garages in sommerset im afraid.
To answer your question directly though, no idea about any garages in sommerset im afraid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_FGrHzHE8E
welcome to ownership, had mine since December and have not got out of it since!Bought as is with Koni's, braces, lsd, lightweight splits with Toyo T1r's and an all important roll over bar. Put it on Castle Combe a week later and had a great time with no engine mods at all. Since added a de-cat stainless and a K&N panel, no real advantage apart from noise
Done Abingdon and CC again recently. CC (in the vid)with a group of us including M3's and race prepped 328's. most had a rag in the MX and voted it car of the day!! its not all about the speed.
Be careful though, it is addictive and you could end up spending more on it than you did for the car
most of all ......enjoy
Darren
welcome to ownership, had mine since December and have not got out of it since!Bought as is with Koni's, braces, lsd, lightweight splits with Toyo T1r's and an all important roll over bar. Put it on Castle Combe a week later and had a great time with no engine mods at all. Since added a de-cat stainless and a K&N panel, no real advantage apart from noise
Done Abingdon and CC again recently. CC (in the vid)with a group of us including M3's and race prepped 328's. most had a rag in the MX and voted it car of the day!! its not all about the speed.
Be careful though, it is addictive and you could end up spending more on it than you did for the car
most of all ......enjoyDarren
If I was you I'd take it to the track as it is first the decide what you need to do to it. You might be surprised how good even a standard car is on track.
You'll probably find that the first thing you'll want to change is the seats, then the suspension. Roll cage is nice to have but not essential. Removing weight will help but to be honest it's only chasing tenths of seconds and unless you can completely strip it out will make very little difference on a track day.
As for the engine, there isn't a lot you can do to beef it up. its strong enough as it is but adding power is difficult and relatively expensive without forced induction.
You'll probably find that the first thing you'll want to change is the seats, then the suspension. Roll cage is nice to have but not essential. Removing weight will help but to be honest it's only chasing tenths of seconds and unless you can completely strip it out will make very little difference on a track day.
As for the engine, there isn't a lot you can do to beef it up. its strong enough as it is but adding power is difficult and relatively expensive without forced induction.
...I'm no expert but have done half a dozen track days in my mk1 so far..IMO, Firstly, I think you need to make a decision on how you are going to use the car. strip and lower it and soon it will become a far worse road car. My plan was always to drive approx 5000 road miles with 3 track days a year, so my mods were always going to be on the less severe side.
For your first event, just making sure she is fit and healthy with a full service with some quality oil (mobile 1 0-40w), I changed gearbox and diff oil and did the Cam belt. Just go out and give it a go without spending too much cash to start with, keep it simple and do small bursts of 3-4 laps so not to stress the car too much. This first trackday will expose any weakness in the car but also see if you enjoy the whole thing, assuming you have never done one before.
My first change was tyres and pads, going for 14inch Toyo T1R's and green stuff pads and new discs all around. In year 2 I ditched the Toyos when they had worn out, a word of warning about T1Rs, IMO, they are a cheap tyre and very soon melt on trackdays, I was finding 3-4 laps of brans hatch and they just started to melt. In 14inch they are expensive just because it is an odd size, not because they are a quality tyre, in 15inch size they are £30 a corner which shows they are really a budget option. 15 inch Yokohama AD08's are expensive (£80 per corner), but quite simply brilliant, I did 100 miles on track at Cadwell park on them with very little wear and they grip, and then grip some more. The rest of year 2's budget has gone on safety with a TR Lane roll bar and harness bar, Sparco sprint 5 bucket and 5 point Sparco harness. The seat and harness are a great mod, they keep you firmly in place so you can concentrate on the driving without sliding about your seat. I swap the bucket with the standard seat when I get to the event and actually remove the passenger seat all together, retuning it all to normal when I drive home again.
For me, that's it, she now stops and corners well and I'm safe and secure. In going to enjoy her, keep her fit and healthy and stay onto of the rust! IMO, I find the standard suspension fine, she whallows abit but that's just how the car handles, drive around it rather than spending a fortune on aftermarket coil overs which are poorer quality than the OEM shocks and rattle your teeth out on the road. The engine is the engine, without spending big money that's what you've got, induction kits, big exhaust etc give you very little...
But before all of the above maybe do your sums, if you are going to go down the serious modification route, see how much cars are selling for which have had the work done, you might actually be better off selling a standard car and buying a modified one as most of these mods add very little to the value of a car, and turbo/ supercharged cars can be had for £2-3k odd and full blown MX-5 race cars for £4-5k.
For your first event, just making sure she is fit and healthy with a full service with some quality oil (mobile 1 0-40w), I changed gearbox and diff oil and did the Cam belt. Just go out and give it a go without spending too much cash to start with, keep it simple and do small bursts of 3-4 laps so not to stress the car too much. This first trackday will expose any weakness in the car but also see if you enjoy the whole thing, assuming you have never done one before.
My first change was tyres and pads, going for 14inch Toyo T1R's and green stuff pads and new discs all around. In year 2 I ditched the Toyos when they had worn out, a word of warning about T1Rs, IMO, they are a cheap tyre and very soon melt on trackdays, I was finding 3-4 laps of brans hatch and they just started to melt. In 14inch they are expensive just because it is an odd size, not because they are a quality tyre, in 15inch size they are £30 a corner which shows they are really a budget option. 15 inch Yokohama AD08's are expensive (£80 per corner), but quite simply brilliant, I did 100 miles on track at Cadwell park on them with very little wear and they grip, and then grip some more. The rest of year 2's budget has gone on safety with a TR Lane roll bar and harness bar, Sparco sprint 5 bucket and 5 point Sparco harness. The seat and harness are a great mod, they keep you firmly in place so you can concentrate on the driving without sliding about your seat. I swap the bucket with the standard seat when I get to the event and actually remove the passenger seat all together, retuning it all to normal when I drive home again.
For me, that's it, she now stops and corners well and I'm safe and secure. In going to enjoy her, keep her fit and healthy and stay onto of the rust! IMO, I find the standard suspension fine, she whallows abit but that's just how the car handles, drive around it rather than spending a fortune on aftermarket coil overs which are poorer quality than the OEM shocks and rattle your teeth out on the road. The engine is the engine, without spending big money that's what you've got, induction kits, big exhaust etc give you very little...
But before all of the above maybe do your sums, if you are going to go down the serious modification route, see how much cars are selling for which have had the work done, you might actually be better off selling a standard car and buying a modified one as most of these mods add very little to the value of a car, and turbo/ supercharged cars can be had for £2-3k odd and full blown MX-5 race cars for £4-5k.
I agree with almost everything Itsallicanafford has said except I'd never use EBC Greenstuff on my car and disagree that aftermarket coilovers are poorer quality than OEM shocks. Of course, if you spend £150 for a set of ebay specials then you will get what you pay for but spend good money on a quality setup and they are much better than OEM. My GAZ Gold Pro are superb on track yet ride really well on the road, IMO the ride is better than OEM.
MX5 is a fairly light car and well balanced so doesn't wear tyres or brakes excessively. I'd say tyres only need to be half worn (indeed worn tyres are probably better on track than new) as long as they are evenly worn. You probably won't wear more than a couple of mm unless you plan on a bit of drifting (which most track operators don't like). Similar for pads. You will wear the fronts more than the rears so is say to make sure you have 50% on the front and 25% rear. That said, on my last track day at Abingdon I fitted some old pads that had only about 10% material on the front and they didn't wear much. They were Axxis ULT track pads though.
Also check that the discs are ok. If they are badly worn i.e. you can feel a ridge then they should be replaced. Cheap plain disc are fine, no need for expensive grooveed/drilled stuff.
Lastly, make sure the brakes are working properly and not binding (a common problem) and that the pads are wearing the discs evenly.
Also check that the discs are ok. If they are badly worn i.e. you can feel a ridge then they should be replaced. Cheap plain disc are fine, no need for expensive grooveed/drilled stuff.
Lastly, make sure the brakes are working properly and not binding (a common problem) and that the pads are wearing the discs evenly.
OEM pads would probably be plenty good enough on a standard car.
I have just finished off a set of Yellowstuff and they were decent. No fade and felt pretty good.
Axxis ULT are way better in every way (except they create a lot of dust) if you can find them.
I'm currently trying some Stoptech from 5Speed but not done enough miles or used it on track to have an opinion on them yet.
I have just finished off a set of Yellowstuff and they were decent. No fade and felt pretty good.
Axxis ULT are way better in every way (except they create a lot of dust) if you can find them.
I'm currently trying some Stoptech from 5Speed but not done enough miles or used it on track to have an opinion on them yet.
Another vote for the yellowstuffs here. I've done 3 trackdays on mine and they're about 60% worn and still working great.
928.org240513 853.jpg by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr
928.org240513 853.jpg by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr
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