MX5 for Track Days

[CaptainSlow]

I know the 5 is a popular choice and at the risk of being told:
a) improve your driving with some tuition
b) it's not about the speed it's more the enjoyment (you're not racing)

Can a MX5 n/a cut it on track days? Is it worth spending out of a rollbar/seats/suspension etc when it may be better to start with something else?

[MX-5 Lazza]

I refer you to my comments about our last track day at Silverstone Stowe in our Mk1 1.6 track dog with Lotus on Track at the top of the following thread...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[CaptainSlow]

I knew you'd reply Lazza.

I was at Bedford the other and met your co-owners. Maybe it's just Bedford with the long straights where the power difference shows?

[S Works]

The key thing to remember is that no one *wins* trackdays, it's about having fun. As soon as it starts raining or the track's cold/damp, big power is only as useful as you are at peddling. I use more of my 130ish ponies in the MX5, more of the time, than I ever did with the 240ish I had in my Honda'd Elise.

[A2Z]

I've done several track days in my standard 1.8 and never found it an issue.

a, The vast majority on the day are decent people
b, You need to keep an eye on your mirrors as you will have to wave most cars through
however,
c, you usually catch many ofthem up the the bends so you hardly feel "outclassed"

TBH, it's more fun wringing the neck of a '5, keeping up momentum and watching exit speeds from corners etc than just booting it on the straights.

[MX-5 Lazza]

CaptainSlow said:

I knew you'd reply Lazza.

But did you expect me to be extolling the virtues of a standard car over a boosted one?

I must admit my 245bhp supercharged MX5 is more fun on the bigger circuits; Bedford, Goodwood, Brands etc. but I prefer driving the 1.6 on a tight twisty track like Silverstone Stowe or Abingdon Airfield and all at lower speeds and using less a lot fuel. MX5s are made for a tight & twisty track. Big tracks swamp them, even the faster cars like mine. Accelerating down a straight up to 120+mph is only fun so many times. It's the corners where the fun is.

[rovermorris999]

O/T Lazza but what tyre pressures would you recommend for track use on a standard MK2 1.8 running 15'' Federal 595 RSRs?

[Mark_S_24]

MX5 is a great car for trackdays, you'll learn so much about handling etc.
(And yes, get some tuition, then practise lots, then go back to re-learn the things you missed as it was all too much to take in at one go :-))



And if you get a cheap one you won't worry too much if you ding it.
No matter what you buy, you will go... Hmm, must upgrade this n that, so I'd go with a cheap MX5

As you see I didn't bother with a roll cage/bar (It's a style bar inside the Black S-type) but I've been doing trackdays for 20+ years and I'm pretty confident I wouldn't roll it over.
But it's your head...

HTH
Mark

[MX-5 Lazza]

RM - There isn't really an ideal pressure. It depends on a lot of things. I always start with road pressures and build tyre heat in the 1st session then take a look at how far around the tread the tyres have worn. If it looks like the tyres are rolling a bit too far i.e. you can see a bit of scrubbing beyond the corner of the tread then add 2psi, otherwise l;eave it alone. In our Mk1 we rarely touch the pressures other than to make sure they are all the same before we start though R888s have very stiff sidewalls.

Mark S - why is the top up in 2 of your pictures? I've never been on track with the top up! It takes away 50% of the fun!!!

[mikey P 500]

Depends on your track experience, I enjoyed mine for about 7 or 8 track days but then out grew it, wanting something faster again (maybe if I hadn’t owned faster cars before it would have been less of an issue). They are great fun and speed isn’t everything but it does get to a stage because they are so easy to drive that you reach a point where you feel you have got most of what the car has to give, and want new challenges a faster car can give. Supercharging could have been a good option but for the cost of upgrading it made more sense at the time to sell up buy a boxtser.

[S Works]

Some other tracks perfect for an un-FI MX5 imho:
- Brands Indy
- Cadwell Park
- Bedford West
- Abbeville (France)
- Croix en Ternois (France)
- Ecuyers (France)

Having spent the last year or so investing in new suspension, brakes & a rollbar for my RS Ltd, I'm hoping to get it out on track this year.

Finances depending, I hope to get to a few of the above, plus Snetterton to try the new 300 circuit, Sillystone to try one of the infield circuits, and Clastres in France.

[rovermorris999]

I recommend Blyton Park too.

[Riknos]

Just my 2p, I took my '5 on the track after owning it a couple of months, with it's knackered KYB suspension, and it was a right hoot! The car gripped far better than I thought, and it was only the last couple of laps (round 'Coombe) that I got the arse out.

I wouldn't recommend Castle Coombe for a 5 though; too many long bends. All the turbocharged Jap cars were lapping me.. Being on the same sessions as a bright orange R35 GTR was a bit of a joke too!

Definitely a good car to track, and ace with the top down

[MX-5 Lazza]

Being on track with faster cars never bothers me. They are mostly only faster on the straights and letting them past isn't a problem. having said that, I prefer the tight twisty tracks (Silverstone Stowe really is good fun) as power doesn't help as much and you can mix it with anything in a well sorted MX5.
Anglesey used to be a superb MX5 track. I haven't been there since they rebuilt it though.
Not so keen on brands in an NA MX5. It has 4 straights, one of which is quite long and starts uphill so power gives a big advantage.

[covmutley]

I only did 2 track days before I sold my mx5 (not sure why I did that now!). I found it fine, slower on the straights than most but straights are just the bit before the corner, which was the fun bit.

Even much quicker cars took a fair bit of time to catch up, so plenty of time to move out of the way and by the time they were gone I had a corner to myself usually.

As said above, its not a race. Sometimes i liked backing off away from traffic and practice being smooth and hitting apexes. Others I liked to try and hang on to a quicker car as long as I could.

I watch people forming queues on trackdays and often wonder why they dont just back off on a stright for a few seconds to find some clear road- presumably people feel they have to be 100% on it all the time?

[CaptainSlow]

I'll have to give Stowe a go then. Anyone know who organises day there (apart from LOT)?

[Ab Shocks]

CaptainSlow said:

I'll have to give Stowe a go then. Anyone know who organises day there (apart from LOT)?

Mazda on Track?

[MX-5 Lazza]

Here's some video of Howard driving our 1.6 at Stowe (I don't seem to have any video of me driving there).
http://s97.photobucket.com/albums/l236/hms_012/?ac...

He seems to leave it in 3rd through the bends where I use 2nd at the hairpin and the complex and his lines aren't as aggressive as mine so as a result he is around 2-4 seconds a lap slower than me.

Don't rule out Lotus on track. They are happy to accept MX5 owners and the driving standards & marshalling at their events are the best I've experienced anywhere. You have to pay to join but then the track days are cheaper than most so it quickly pays for itself. Having said that, LoT don't seem to have any Stowe days arranged for the rest of this year. I think Silverstone aren't giving out many track day dates at the moment. I'll let you know if the situation changes.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Ab Shocks said:

Mazda on Track?

They seem to have a lot of days at Blyton and a few others dotted around, none at Stowe.
I wasn't impressed with the day they did at Stowe last year. The marshalling wasn't very good. Our car isn't very powerful but is very quick through the bends. Quite a few times I was stuck behind someone going slowly through the bends then accelerating flat out down the straights so I couldn't pass them anywhere. Very frustrating when I would normally be lapping at least 10 seconds quicker. At LoT events they would have spotted this and blue-flagged the slower cars.

[roddo]

In Mazda-on-Track's defence

Stow last year was set up mainly for the owners club and for that reason there was a lot of novice drivers.

If you had timed your corners right you would have exited with more speed than the slower cars hence being able to overtake.......