Track prepping a MK 2 MX-5 1.8i S?

[youngsyr]

Just wondering what would be needed for a weekend trip (with the aim of fun, rather than competition or getting the fastest time) to the 'Ring in a 1.8i S (UKDM)?

Consumables that I can think of so far are:

- tyres (T1-Rs?)
- brake pads (red stuff/mintex?)
- brake discs (stock?)
- brake fluid (ATE Super blue/Motul RBF?)
- oil (fully synthetic? What grade 5W-40?)
- oil filter
- diff oil?
- coolant


Other parts that arent necessarily required, but I think i would want:

- Roll bar
- Spare wheels with spare tyres
- Spare consumables of the above

Is there anything else that I've missed off - additional cooling, brake upgrades, safety upgrades, etc?

And is a ten year old '5 (in generally good condition) up to a few days at the 'Ring if not ragged to death the entire time?

[J-Tuner]

Beefier anti roll bars, and some eibachs if you are feeling flush

[skinny]

i'd always choose mintex M1144 or M1155 over red stuff, paired with the motul RBF you'll be fine (leave stock discs in)

oil i'd go for silky pro-s 10W-50, or if you're going in the summer even castrol edge 10W-60 (mainly because it's cheaper but still a decent oil).

other stuff like coolant, box and diff oil, change if you want to, not strictly necessary unless you don't know the cars history and when they were last done.

[youngsyr]

Thanks chaps, what about safety features?

And do MX-5s tend to stand up to track work reasonably well, in terms of brake usage, tyre wear and the engine?

[dylan0451]

skinny said:

oil i'd go for silky pro-s 10W-50, or if you're going in the summer even castrol edge 10W-60 (mainly because it's cheaper but still a decent oil).

really? i'd go with a fully syn 0w-40, maybe consider a 50 grade if the car was turbo'd and a lot of track days in summer

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/10w-60.doc

skinny said:

i'd always choose mintex M1144 or M1155 over red stuff, paired with the motul RBF you'll be fine (leave stock discs in)

have never run redstuff so can't comment, although from past cars heard from others that they need to really get up to temp to work - one chap went through a set pretty fast with poor stopping results - ebc concured that the car was too light and wasn't getting the pads hot enough to work properly
compared to greenstuff i'm loving the M1144's i have at the mo. sure every wet morning they've seized to the disc and make a little clonk when you move off, but for a such a good biting pad that (apparently) never fades on track i'd say they're worth it

Edited by dylan0451 on Tuesday 2nd February 10:17

[OnlyMX5ives]

A std MX5 that is well serviced would be fine, that's all many use but it depends what you are doing I found that with no insurance cover I drove like a fairy on the Ring compared to a circuit in the UK.

You could walk away with a 100k+ bill should you crash or spill fluids and someone else crash.

If you want to 'upgrade' then:

Oil - well I always run a decent oil anyway.

Brake fluid and pads would be first.

Tyres second - many including myself have melted T1R's on track try RS2's or similar.

A decent seat and harness will make a big difference a rollbar is pretty low down my list but if you've done the above then I guess it could come now.

Obviously suspension / ARB's but where are you drawing the line, FI is good too !

Its a slippy slope.

[skinny]

dylan0451 said:

skinny said:

oil i'd go for silky pro-s 10W-50, or if you're going in the summer even castrol edge 10W-60 (mainly because it's cheaper but still a decent oil).

really? i'd go with a fully syn 0w-40, maybe consider a 50 grade if the car was turbo'd and a lot of track days in summer

i've spoken to guy at opie a few times in the past
There's always going to be some debate about using a 10W-60, and there is not a definitive answer. however, the facts are that ok, at 100 deg c, an sae 60 is more viscous than an sae 50 as required by their respective specs (50 is between 16 and 22 cSt, 60 is between 22 and 26 cSt). but there's a a few things to consider here.

Firstly, the specs define that the difference between an SAE 50 and SAE 60 can be as little as 1 cSt, which in the real world is not even worth a mention.
Secondly, oils become less viscous with temperature, so that a 10W-60 at 100 deg is less viscous than a 10W-40 at say 85 deg.

for a car that is going to be tracked, especially on a demanding track with a lot of high speed, then for me i'd choose an oil with the extra headroom of being able to deal with higher temperatures without going too thin - especially like i said if it was to be used on track primarily in the summer. if that were the case, i'd then also recommend a 0W-40 or 5W-40 for the winter. similarly on a car with an oil-cooled turbo, it makes sense to use a slightly more viscous oil.

the reason there isn't a definitive answer is that bearings will 'choose' their own viscosity - put a thick oil through them, higher shearing force creates more heat, oil thins down. put a thin oil through, low shearing force doesn't create so much heat, oil thickens up. it follows that a thicker oil, through higher shearing forces, does create a little more drag. but unless racing competitively, imo i'd rather have the extra protection of the thicker oil film than a reduction in windage losses and a little more power.