2006 MX-5 2.0 Option Pack
Discussion
I had a mild whinge at Hertz - we'll see.
The rest of my week was mostly filled with work. I was a little bemused by the large 5G router in the back of a colleague's Tesla - "...sometimes if I'm on the highway on autopilot I like to get my laptop out and get some work done..."
Another colleague owns this ex-Police Tahoe that he bought for $4k at a Police auction. He uses it to tow a stripped-out Mustang to race meetings. You get some funny reactions driving around in this thing, it had a great ability to move traffic out of its way.
I had no issues getting my springs home, my case wasn't even opened.
The rest of my week was mostly filled with work. I was a little bemused by the large 5G router in the back of a colleague's Tesla - "...sometimes if I'm on the highway on autopilot I like to get my laptop out and get some work done..."
Another colleague owns this ex-Police Tahoe that he bought for $4k at a Police auction. He uses it to tow a stripped-out Mustang to race meetings. You get some funny reactions driving around in this thing, it had a great ability to move traffic out of its way.
I had no issues getting my springs home, my case wasn't even opened.
dapper said:
Intresting what they say about cornering on the bump stops. I have the standard sport bilstein shocks on mine with the H&R springs and boy does it lean. Hoping to get some of the RX8 arbs to reduce it somewhat.
They seem to respond well to a thicker ARB, particularly at the front. The RX8 bars on mine were one of the best value modifications that made a tangible difference.
Back at home, I made a start on the springs. I've covered this job several times on this thread so I won't go into detail. It's quite nice to do a job where every bolt has previously been undone and greased, it meant I could fly through all four corners in a few hours.
I cheated and swapped the rear springs by undoing the nuts on the top of the strut in the boot, then popping the damper off the hub assembly using a jack to roll it out. With lowering springs there's little tension to contend with.
The Progress springs are noticeably taller, with additional coils. The spring thickness is the same.
There is quite a difference in height between the bump stops. The Progress springs came with instructions to chop your existing bump stops in half. It will be interesting to see what the additional suspension travel does for the car.
The fronts came apart easily...
I fitted some cheap Polish polybushes to my upper wishbones a few years ago. I'd never been that happy with the fit - the fit on the first set was so bad they ended up refining their design based on my feedback and sent out a second set, but they still weren't quite right. More recently, the grease had dried out and they'd also become noisy. If I was going to press them apart to regrease I figured I might as well also fit something better.
I went for SuperPro, specifically their offset kit that can add or remove half a degree of camber. I figured I might lose a little camber by raising the car slightly, my front camber alignment bolts are maxed out so adding a way to dial in a bit more camber seemed like a good idea.
They pressed into the wishbones relatively easily. I also treated the RX8 hubs to a set of longer studs to match the rear.
The difference in bump stop height at the front is even more pronounced.
The front springs are closer in height and coil count. The Vogtlands were progressive, moving to linear springs doesn't seem like a bad idea for track days.
My shouty assistant didn't seem too impressed about her car losing a wheel...
And just to prove that I did both sides...
My Volvo ate my last set of spring compressors, so this was my first time trying a new style. They worked well and didn't damage the finish on the new springs. They have a safety bar that can be used to tie both compressors together, but I got lazy as MX5 springs aren't too hard to compress.
Ta-dah!
I intended to replace the dust shields to match the rear, and the rubber dust boots have perished and should have been renewed. I don't have the inclination this week for another round trip to a Mazda dealer so that'll have to be a problem for future-me. The lower wishbone bushes could do with some love soon, so I suspect I'll be back here before long. For now, I just wanted to get the car ready to drive to Germany.
After a short drive, I tightened the bolts up with the car on the ground. The rear is sitting 20mm higher than before, the front is 10mm higher.
I'm happy - as cool as a slammed car looks I can now drive it without spending most of my attention scanning the road ahead for dips or excessive camber. The rear seems a lot less bouncy and I'm pleased the reverse-rake has gone. I don't know if the old rear springs had sagged, or if they were never quite long enough but it's a big improvement. From a brief test drive, the car feels more compliant and less crashy. I guess that's possibly a result of not frequently riding on the tall bump stops.
I was a little worried the ride height would end up back at weirdly-tall-stock-NC1 height, but it's nowhere near that and still looks noticeably lowered, just not quite as extreme as before.
I'll try and put some miles on the car running errands this week to give the springs chance to settle, and then hopefully find time for an alignment before I head to The Ring.
I've decided the car is now known as Cali Springs.
I cheated and swapped the rear springs by undoing the nuts on the top of the strut in the boot, then popping the damper off the hub assembly using a jack to roll it out. With lowering springs there's little tension to contend with.
The Progress springs are noticeably taller, with additional coils. The spring thickness is the same.
There is quite a difference in height between the bump stops. The Progress springs came with instructions to chop your existing bump stops in half. It will be interesting to see what the additional suspension travel does for the car.
The fronts came apart easily...
I fitted some cheap Polish polybushes to my upper wishbones a few years ago. I'd never been that happy with the fit - the fit on the first set was so bad they ended up refining their design based on my feedback and sent out a second set, but they still weren't quite right. More recently, the grease had dried out and they'd also become noisy. If I was going to press them apart to regrease I figured I might as well also fit something better.
I went for SuperPro, specifically their offset kit that can add or remove half a degree of camber. I figured I might lose a little camber by raising the car slightly, my front camber alignment bolts are maxed out so adding a way to dial in a bit more camber seemed like a good idea.
They pressed into the wishbones relatively easily. I also treated the RX8 hubs to a set of longer studs to match the rear.
The difference in bump stop height at the front is even more pronounced.
The front springs are closer in height and coil count. The Vogtlands were progressive, moving to linear springs doesn't seem like a bad idea for track days.
My shouty assistant didn't seem too impressed about her car losing a wheel...
And just to prove that I did both sides...
My Volvo ate my last set of spring compressors, so this was my first time trying a new style. They worked well and didn't damage the finish on the new springs. They have a safety bar that can be used to tie both compressors together, but I got lazy as MX5 springs aren't too hard to compress.
Ta-dah!
I intended to replace the dust shields to match the rear, and the rubber dust boots have perished and should have been renewed. I don't have the inclination this week for another round trip to a Mazda dealer so that'll have to be a problem for future-me. The lower wishbone bushes could do with some love soon, so I suspect I'll be back here before long. For now, I just wanted to get the car ready to drive to Germany.
After a short drive, I tightened the bolts up with the car on the ground. The rear is sitting 20mm higher than before, the front is 10mm higher.
I'm happy - as cool as a slammed car looks I can now drive it without spending most of my attention scanning the road ahead for dips or excessive camber. The rear seems a lot less bouncy and I'm pleased the reverse-rake has gone. I don't know if the old rear springs had sagged, or if they were never quite long enough but it's a big improvement. From a brief test drive, the car feels more compliant and less crashy. I guess that's possibly a result of not frequently riding on the tall bump stops.
I was a little worried the ride height would end up back at weirdly-tall-stock-NC1 height, but it's nowhere near that and still looks noticeably lowered, just not quite as extreme as before.
I'll try and put some miles on the car running errands this week to give the springs chance to settle, and then hopefully find time for an alignment before I head to The Ring.
I've decided the car is now known as Cali Springs.
I ran a few errands in the car yesterday to get some miles on the new springs. It mostly felt good, but over uneven surfaces there was a nervousness to the steering that wasn’t there previously.
I took it over to the Tyre Warehouse in Brackley today for an alignment on their Hunter machine. They did the last one in 2021. It didn’t go entirely to plan today as the alignment bolts in the front lower control arms have apparently completely seized. The toe and caster were both out. The technician said he’d managed to improve them but couldn’t get them dialled in where he wanted to, so abandoned the job without charge. He gave me a printout of the ‘before’ readings but didn’t share what he’d ended up at as the job wasn’t complete.
However, whatever he did manage to adjust has made a huge improvement to the nervousness I previously noticed, it’s as good as gone. This wasn’t a terrible outcome as I was planning to replace all the remaining bushes and fit new alignment bolts this winter, so to end up with a ‘good enough’ alignment for free for next week is fine by me.
Weirdly, the car is now sitting 15mm lower at the front on both sides. The rear is the same. I measured the ride height after putting 60 miles on the car yesterday and it hadn’t changed. I don’t understand how the adjustments he made today could have altered the ride height at all, let alone that significantly, unless he maybe loosened and retightened the upper wishbone bolts. I torqued them on the ground after a short spin around the block with them loose, so even then I wouldn’t expect much of a change. Strange.
I took it over to the Tyre Warehouse in Brackley today for an alignment on their Hunter machine. They did the last one in 2021. It didn’t go entirely to plan today as the alignment bolts in the front lower control arms have apparently completely seized. The toe and caster were both out. The technician said he’d managed to improve them but couldn’t get them dialled in where he wanted to, so abandoned the job without charge. He gave me a printout of the ‘before’ readings but didn’t share what he’d ended up at as the job wasn’t complete.
However, whatever he did manage to adjust has made a huge improvement to the nervousness I previously noticed, it’s as good as gone. This wasn’t a terrible outcome as I was planning to replace all the remaining bushes and fit new alignment bolts this winter, so to end up with a ‘good enough’ alignment for free for next week is fine by me.
Weirdly, the car is now sitting 15mm lower at the front on both sides. The rear is the same. I measured the ride height after putting 60 miles on the car yesterday and it hadn’t changed. I don’t understand how the adjustments he made today could have altered the ride height at all, let alone that significantly, unless he maybe loosened and retightened the upper wishbone bolts. I torqued them on the ground after a short spin around the block with them loose, so even then I wouldn’t expect much of a change. Strange.
daqinggregg said:
In your post 10/10, what is the 3rd car pictured? Looks like a modern interpretation of a Can Am race car.
It was this - https://www.goodwood.com/grr/road/news/2023/7/the-... quite striking in the flesh.This year's Ring trip started in the usual fashion with a painfully early alarm followed by a three-hour drive down to Folkestone where I met up with Alex (Fiesta) and Charlie (Megane) at Eurotunnel.
Despite being close to half-term the tunnel was empty. We chanced our luck and drove through passport control before we'd been called and managed to get onto an earlier train.
We stopped at the Total garage next to the tunnel, there was a group of kids waiting near the entrance waving at us. They charged over to us as we parked up. I briefly assumed we were about to be mugged, but they just wanted to take videos of our cars. I think we're probably now Instagram-famous somewhere in France.
"Errrr... Le MX-Cinq?"
We normally head towards Brussels, but this year Waze suggested a route that kept us in France for a bit longer towards Lille and then along the E42 in a lower bit of Belgium. I'm not sure why this has never been suggested as an option during the last 7yrs of doing this journey, but it was a lot less congested than navigating Brussels and made for a really easy run over to Germany.
It was a glorious day in Belgium, the roads were empty and we made swift progress stopping only once to scoff some lunch. I always find the journey over to the Ring to be a highlight. There's something fun about driving in convoy across Europe with your mates, chatting over radios, full of excitement for what the week ahead might hold.
We got to our destination in Kelberg with plenty of daylight to spare. We stayed in the same house as last year as it worked so well for entertaining a larger group.
Nick the German-American joined us later that day. We first met on last years trip when he was living in Germany and had a Swift Sport. He's subsequently moved to Switzerland, bought an ND MX5, discovered he couldn't fit in it whilst wearing a helmet and has now moved onto an i20N...
Mark then turned up with his ITB-equipped NB. He'd also borrowed a Kona N from the dealership where he works for his Dad to drive over as a support car full of tools.
I took the Kona N for a spin later in the week. It's a curious product, I wasn't too surprised to hear that they don't sell many. Conversely, the i20N is a hilarious little thing that more people in the UK should buy.
Anyone for a pipe-smoking Weckmann? I love German bakeries.
The next morning we popped, banged and 'N Grin Shifted' (yes, that's sadly a thing) our way into Adenau to hire some electric two-wheeled transport.
The plan was to complete the same trail that runs around the circuit as last year. Unfortunately, I picked up a puncture that couldn't be fixed about halfway around and limped my bike back to Adenau early. In true Nurburgring fashion, the bike shop owner totted up an amusingly long list of charges I'd need to pay to fix my deflated bike. After a little gentle persuasion and a lot of pointing at the nearly bald rear tyre that probably didn't help my chances of picking something up, we agreed on an amount that was a little more realistic.
We had a lazy morning the following day before driving the 90mins back to Spa. Earlier in this thread Kev had suggested we might be able to get out on circuit if we turned up in the afternoon with some cash. I'd emailed the TD organiser before we left and he'd said that should be possible if the day was going ok and attendees had thinned out a bit. He used the phrase 'cash for laps', so I pictured maybe popping out for a few laps and then spectating for the rest of the afternoon. One of our German friends had booked onto both days at Spa in his Cayman so I figured there might be some passenger laps available if nothing else.
Jethro Bovingdon was at Spa in his recently rebuilt 996, he appeared to be filming some sort of promo for Lichfield.
We arrived to a track that was closed for lunch, so headed into Spa and found a local restaurant that seemed to specialise in deep-frying everything. Returning to the circuit it became clear that the track time was on, effectively a half-day in exchange for a very reasonable amount of cash. I agreed to share the afternoon/Mazda with Charlie who I knew had been itching to drive Spa for a number of years.
I headed out onto a soggy but surprisingly grippy circuit...
The best experiences are often the ones you go into with low or no expectations and Spa definitely fell into that category. I didn't expect to get so much seat time there, the afternoon ran right up to 6pm and the little Mazda was out lapping almost constantly for that time.
The approach to Eau Rouge is certainly imposing, it took me quite a few laps before I plucked up the courage to chuck it in and hope it stuck. The unsighted exit adds to the experience too.
I had a great time. Despite being a quick circuit it's still technical enough that it was enjoyable in the MX5, I'd happily travel over just for a Spa day in the future. It also took the pressure off for the following day at the Ring, the forecast was looking increasingly rubbish but I felt like I'd already had a good fill of track time. Anything else was just a bonus.
I've always been a bit wary of 'double-header' track events with multiple days on circuit. I think I worried that any mechanical issues on the first day might wipe out the rest of the trip and a relatively large amount money in track day entry fees. But actually, by the time you've spent the time and money on getting over to and staying in Europe it makes sense to not pin all your hopes on one day being dry and running well.
We drove the 90mins back to Kelberg that evening in high spirits and then did our best to apply the massive stickers for the Ring event to our doors in the dark and rain.
The track was meant to open the following morning at 8am, that seemed unlikely...
We popped into town and killed some time over breakfast. Apparently, TD organisers can't open the circuit until the fog lifts, not for the visibility of the drivers but so that the air ambulance can land nearby if needed.
From memory, it was gone 10 by the time sighting laps commenced. I headed out for a single lap under sighting conditions but didn't have a great time. I had so little grip in the R888Rs that it felt more like ice driving. I came in and parked up for a while, hoping the circuit conditions might improve.
After some time, I plucked up some courage and headed back out again. I remembered some of the wet lines (amazing what a difference being off the regular line makes at the ring) and found enough grip to make things work. I was one of the slower cars out there, but I was enjoying myself, and with no need to cool anything down I stayed out for six or so laps at a time on a couple of occasions.
The rain kept coming throughout the day. I don't think I was the only one struggling, everyone was being cautious. So much so that it was the first Circuit Days Ring event I've been to with no circuit closures.
My recent changes to the car felt good. Driving into the karussell for the first time the car felt totally different to every other year. I think I was previously prematurely riding around on the stock height (and probably overly firm with age) bump stops, I've suddenly gained a lot more suspension travel and compliance, and it's no bad thing.
I was a bit jealous of all my friends who had driven over on road tyres and left them on for the day. I think I need to stop being so optimistic with semi-slicks in October and get myself a set of decent road tyres.
Despite sitting quite a bit of the morning out I still somehow managed to get 19 slow laps in. More importantly, all of our group made it to the end of the day without any major incidents.
Keen to escape the limited options of pizza or meat in the area immediately around the Ring we headed to a nearby town for a nice Croatian meal that evening. It's the first year we hadn't opted for the 'traditional' Pistenklause steak on a stone, I can't say that I felt like I missed it.
The following day was mostly dry, sunny, and the track was open all day for TF. We did some spectating in Adenau for a bit...
I resisted the temptation to take my car on TF and opted for some passenger laps in Christian's Cayman instead. It's a nicely spec'd car with KW suspension, some very noisy Endless pads and Cup 2 tyres. He wasn't hanging about either.
That night we cooked a meal of unorthodox spagbol for everyone and had a final evening of beer and car chat. It was good to see the German group again, they're a good bunch.
The following morning we started our journey back to Calais, taking the same route through Belgium that we'd used on the way over. It worked well again. The weather was miserable once again. A nice final reminder that I'd picked the wrong tyres for this trip.
We got the Eurotunnel early, but with half-term looming it was a lot busier than going out. We were assigned an earlier train but it ended leaving later than the train we'd originally booked.
The journey back to Oxfordshire was uneventful. I tucked the car back in my garage after almost 1500 miles. It was another good trip, adding a second circuit to the week certainly made it interesting, and what a circuit Spa is.
Despite being close to half-term the tunnel was empty. We chanced our luck and drove through passport control before we'd been called and managed to get onto an earlier train.
We stopped at the Total garage next to the tunnel, there was a group of kids waiting near the entrance waving at us. They charged over to us as we parked up. I briefly assumed we were about to be mugged, but they just wanted to take videos of our cars. I think we're probably now Instagram-famous somewhere in France.
"Errrr... Le MX-Cinq?"
We normally head towards Brussels, but this year Waze suggested a route that kept us in France for a bit longer towards Lille and then along the E42 in a lower bit of Belgium. I'm not sure why this has never been suggested as an option during the last 7yrs of doing this journey, but it was a lot less congested than navigating Brussels and made for a really easy run over to Germany.
It was a glorious day in Belgium, the roads were empty and we made swift progress stopping only once to scoff some lunch. I always find the journey over to the Ring to be a highlight. There's something fun about driving in convoy across Europe with your mates, chatting over radios, full of excitement for what the week ahead might hold.
We got to our destination in Kelberg with plenty of daylight to spare. We stayed in the same house as last year as it worked so well for entertaining a larger group.
Nick the German-American joined us later that day. We first met on last years trip when he was living in Germany and had a Swift Sport. He's subsequently moved to Switzerland, bought an ND MX5, discovered he couldn't fit in it whilst wearing a helmet and has now moved onto an i20N...
Mark then turned up with his ITB-equipped NB. He'd also borrowed a Kona N from the dealership where he works for his Dad to drive over as a support car full of tools.
I took the Kona N for a spin later in the week. It's a curious product, I wasn't too surprised to hear that they don't sell many. Conversely, the i20N is a hilarious little thing that more people in the UK should buy.
Anyone for a pipe-smoking Weckmann? I love German bakeries.
The next morning we popped, banged and 'N Grin Shifted' (yes, that's sadly a thing) our way into Adenau to hire some electric two-wheeled transport.
The plan was to complete the same trail that runs around the circuit as last year. Unfortunately, I picked up a puncture that couldn't be fixed about halfway around and limped my bike back to Adenau early. In true Nurburgring fashion, the bike shop owner totted up an amusingly long list of charges I'd need to pay to fix my deflated bike. After a little gentle persuasion and a lot of pointing at the nearly bald rear tyre that probably didn't help my chances of picking something up, we agreed on an amount that was a little more realistic.
We had a lazy morning the following day before driving the 90mins back to Spa. Earlier in this thread Kev had suggested we might be able to get out on circuit if we turned up in the afternoon with some cash. I'd emailed the TD organiser before we left and he'd said that should be possible if the day was going ok and attendees had thinned out a bit. He used the phrase 'cash for laps', so I pictured maybe popping out for a few laps and then spectating for the rest of the afternoon. One of our German friends had booked onto both days at Spa in his Cayman so I figured there might be some passenger laps available if nothing else.
Jethro Bovingdon was at Spa in his recently rebuilt 996, he appeared to be filming some sort of promo for Lichfield.
We arrived to a track that was closed for lunch, so headed into Spa and found a local restaurant that seemed to specialise in deep-frying everything. Returning to the circuit it became clear that the track time was on, effectively a half-day in exchange for a very reasonable amount of cash. I agreed to share the afternoon/Mazda with Charlie who I knew had been itching to drive Spa for a number of years.
I headed out onto a soggy but surprisingly grippy circuit...
The best experiences are often the ones you go into with low or no expectations and Spa definitely fell into that category. I didn't expect to get so much seat time there, the afternoon ran right up to 6pm and the little Mazda was out lapping almost constantly for that time.
The approach to Eau Rouge is certainly imposing, it took me quite a few laps before I plucked up the courage to chuck it in and hope it stuck. The unsighted exit adds to the experience too.
I had a great time. Despite being a quick circuit it's still technical enough that it was enjoyable in the MX5, I'd happily travel over just for a Spa day in the future. It also took the pressure off for the following day at the Ring, the forecast was looking increasingly rubbish but I felt like I'd already had a good fill of track time. Anything else was just a bonus.
I've always been a bit wary of 'double-header' track events with multiple days on circuit. I think I worried that any mechanical issues on the first day might wipe out the rest of the trip and a relatively large amount money in track day entry fees. But actually, by the time you've spent the time and money on getting over to and staying in Europe it makes sense to not pin all your hopes on one day being dry and running well.
We drove the 90mins back to Kelberg that evening in high spirits and then did our best to apply the massive stickers for the Ring event to our doors in the dark and rain.
The track was meant to open the following morning at 8am, that seemed unlikely...
We popped into town and killed some time over breakfast. Apparently, TD organisers can't open the circuit until the fog lifts, not for the visibility of the drivers but so that the air ambulance can land nearby if needed.
From memory, it was gone 10 by the time sighting laps commenced. I headed out for a single lap under sighting conditions but didn't have a great time. I had so little grip in the R888Rs that it felt more like ice driving. I came in and parked up for a while, hoping the circuit conditions might improve.
After some time, I plucked up some courage and headed back out again. I remembered some of the wet lines (amazing what a difference being off the regular line makes at the ring) and found enough grip to make things work. I was one of the slower cars out there, but I was enjoying myself, and with no need to cool anything down I stayed out for six or so laps at a time on a couple of occasions.
The rain kept coming throughout the day. I don't think I was the only one struggling, everyone was being cautious. So much so that it was the first Circuit Days Ring event I've been to with no circuit closures.
My recent changes to the car felt good. Driving into the karussell for the first time the car felt totally different to every other year. I think I was previously prematurely riding around on the stock height (and probably overly firm with age) bump stops, I've suddenly gained a lot more suspension travel and compliance, and it's no bad thing.
I was a bit jealous of all my friends who had driven over on road tyres and left them on for the day. I think I need to stop being so optimistic with semi-slicks in October and get myself a set of decent road tyres.
Despite sitting quite a bit of the morning out I still somehow managed to get 19 slow laps in. More importantly, all of our group made it to the end of the day without any major incidents.
Keen to escape the limited options of pizza or meat in the area immediately around the Ring we headed to a nearby town for a nice Croatian meal that evening. It's the first year we hadn't opted for the 'traditional' Pistenklause steak on a stone, I can't say that I felt like I missed it.
The following day was mostly dry, sunny, and the track was open all day for TF. We did some spectating in Adenau for a bit...
I resisted the temptation to take my car on TF and opted for some passenger laps in Christian's Cayman instead. It's a nicely spec'd car with KW suspension, some very noisy Endless pads and Cup 2 tyres. He wasn't hanging about either.
That night we cooked a meal of unorthodox spagbol for everyone and had a final evening of beer and car chat. It was good to see the German group again, they're a good bunch.
The following morning we started our journey back to Calais, taking the same route through Belgium that we'd used on the way over. It worked well again. The weather was miserable once again. A nice final reminder that I'd picked the wrong tyres for this trip.
We got the Eurotunnel early, but with half-term looming it was a lot busier than going out. We were assigned an earlier train but it ended leaving later than the train we'd originally booked.
The journey back to Oxfordshire was uneventful. I tucked the car back in my garage after almost 1500 miles. It was another good trip, adding a second circuit to the week certainly made it interesting, and what a circuit Spa is.
Thanks - in theory, the spring and damper combo I've got now should give around a 30mm drop, but I think the front has ended up being more like 35mm. It sounds a lot but the stock ride height for this era of MX5 is weirdly tall.
The rear is a good height and spring rate now. Even with a boot full of luggage and tools I didn't scrape on anything during the journey. The front sits lower than it used to, there are a couple of little rubber flaps below the front bumper that caught a few things during the trip - no harm done there though. I only realised recently that the tyres that came with my latest set of wheels are 40 profile rather than the OE 45, so with a little more sidewall I think it'll be perfect.
The anti-roll bars from the RX8 made a big difference to cornering composure, arguably one of the best cheap changes you can make to these cars.
The rear is a good height and spring rate now. Even with a boot full of luggage and tools I didn't scrape on anything during the journey. The front sits lower than it used to, there are a couple of little rubber flaps below the front bumper that caught a few things during the trip - no harm done there though. I only realised recently that the tyres that came with my latest set of wheels are 40 profile rather than the OE 45, so with a little more sidewall I think it'll be perfect.
The anti-roll bars from the RX8 made a big difference to cornering composure, arguably one of the best cheap changes you can make to these cars.
Kev_Mk3 said:
Loved the right up.
Sorry for spending your money on Spa
No - thanks again for prompting us to do it. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Sorry for spending your money on Spa
I'm glad I wasn't the only one considering calling it a day early at the Ring. I felt like a rolling roadblock on sighting
. Hopefully, we'll meet at a circuit at some point, I always think we'll have loads of time whilst we're over there but seem to end up filling it and rushing between stuff.TheDoggingFather said:
Well, over the last few days I've been steadily picking my way through this thread, and I've really enjoyed the evolution of your car. It's good to see you've used it, abused it and all in all had a good time.
Now everytime I walk out the front door, past my Fiesta ST idol (due to working from home these days), thinking would it be better just to swap for a NC2 MX5.... Decisions, decisions...
Well done for making it through. I'd try an NC before you commit. They're definitely a different experience to the ST which has a more useful amount of power and torque by modern standards.Now everytime I walk out the front door, past my Fiesta ST idol (due to working from home these days), thinking would it be better just to swap for a NC2 MX5.... Decisions, decisions...
Cambs_Stuart said:
Really enjoyed the trip report, it looked like a huge amount of fun. And it's even better when everyone makes it home in one piece.
Thanks - I'm never quite sure how interesting someone else's trip is to read about, but I quite like documenting them for my own memories if nothing else. Pleased to here a few have enjoyed reading through it.Kaveney said:
I thought you did every year and never miss it .
He's halfway to committing already, and the tickets aren't even on sale yet 
The end of last year seemed particularly busy, but I did manage to fit in a track day at Abingdon at the start of December. It was a freezing cold day, amplified by hanging around on an exposed airfield, but it stayed dry.
I was joined by Alex and his brother and had a good chat with the owners of the black NC.
There was no photographer that day, so the only track action comes courtesy of some phone snaps on Motorsport Events social media...
Westfield were testing an EV 7 they're developing. Looked good, but a lot less appealing when I noticed the £60k+ price tag.
I had a lot of fun, a twisty circuit with nothing to crash into suits my car and ability level. The car was slightly less neutral than usual and would understeer a little if pushed. By the end of the day, the tyre wear confirmed that I am now running far too much negative camber at the front. I wasn't pushing hard enough at Spa or the Ring to notice this.
I had intended for the day to be a send-off for the R888Rs that came with the TD wheels, so I guess I succeeded there!
The car got a good wash to try and clear the winter salt before being parked in the garage for the rest of the month. My original plan was to SORN it and do some work to it over the winter, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do that. The first Scramble of the year this weekend seemed like a good excuse to keep it taxed...
"I got canned by the BBC, so now I have to sell
sunglasses..."
With the car staying on the road I've booked another track day at the end of Feb. I'm hoping this will keep me motivated to address the now rather long list of jobs and expenditures that it needs. In no particular order:
I was joined by Alex and his brother and had a good chat with the owners of the black NC.
There was no photographer that day, so the only track action comes courtesy of some phone snaps on Motorsport Events social media...
Westfield were testing an EV 7 they're developing. Looked good, but a lot less appealing when I noticed the £60k+ price tag.
I had a lot of fun, a twisty circuit with nothing to crash into suits my car and ability level. The car was slightly less neutral than usual and would understeer a little if pushed. By the end of the day, the tyre wear confirmed that I am now running far too much negative camber at the front. I wasn't pushing hard enough at Spa or the Ring to notice this.
I had intended for the day to be a send-off for the R888Rs that came with the TD wheels, so I guess I succeeded there!
The car got a good wash to try and clear the winter salt before being parked in the garage for the rest of the month. My original plan was to SORN it and do some work to it over the winter, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do that. The first Scramble of the year this weekend seemed like a good excuse to keep it taxed...
"I got canned by the BBC, so now I have to sell
sunglasses..."With the car staying on the road I've booked another track day at the end of Feb. I'm hoping this will keep me motivated to address the now rather long list of jobs and expenditures that it needs. In no particular order:
- Oil and filter change.
- All of the brake pads are getting close to the backing plates - I've got plenty of PBS pads 'in stock' and have ordered a new set of discs.
- The 17" wheels need new tyres - I keep saying I need a decent set of road tyres for our Ring trips and winter track days so I've ordered four Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6's.
- The biggest issue is the seized-up alignment bolts in the front lower arms. I dithered about which route to take with these (polybushing, aftermarket arms etc.) before settling on replacement OE bushes. They were relatively reasonably priced when ordered from Amayama in Japan. It'll be quite a lot of work to cut out the old arms and bushes, but it does give me a good excuse to use my new press again.
- Once that's done, it'll need an alignment.
Oulton Park - it'll be my first time there. Looks like it's sold out now 
https://javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackdays/Oulton-Pa...
Several days after placing an order with Asda Tyres I hadn't heard anything regarding a fitting date. I sent them a message and was sent a refund and told they had a stock issue
they still list the same tyres/size in their eBay store.
Luckily the same eBay coupon is still running, so reordered with Black Circles who were quite a bit more expensive per tyre, but only charged £1/tyre for fitting, so the total was only £12 more.
https://javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackdays/Oulton-Pa...Several days after placing an order with Asda Tyres I hadn't heard anything regarding a fitting date. I sent them a message and was sent a refund and told they had a stock issue
they still list the same tyres/size in their eBay store.Luckily the same eBay coupon is still running, so reordered with Black Circles who were quite a bit more expensive per tyre, but only charged £1/tyre for fitting, so the total was only £12 more.
dapper said:
I've got the eagle f1 asy6 on mine. 215/45/17 IIRC. Good all rounder but can definitely feel the softer sidewall coming from a semi-slick tyre. The shoulders can take a beating when really pushing on track.
Going to go back to AD08RS I think next. Tend to not go crazy when it's wet anyway which was the main reason I went to the goodyears.
Interesting. I originally ordered them with a load rating of 87, Blackcircles only had them in a 91/XL, maybe that will lead to a stiffer sidewall?Going to go back to AD08RS I think next. Tend to not go crazy when it's wet anyway which was the main reason I went to the goodyears.
I've still got a couple of sets of semi-slicks on 16" wheels, but I've had two years of tip-toeing around the Ring with little traction whilst my friends with road tyres made decent progress, so it'll be nice to have that option again.
Whilst I wait for the lower arm parts to turn up I've started to progress some of the other jobs on the car. It needs pads all around, I'll probably do the fronts when I have it apart for the arms so I got the rears done.
PBS pads again. I'm trying their lesser ProTrack pad on the rear. The price difference between that and the ProRace is negligible, but the graphs on their website appear to suggest that the ProTrack might have better longevity.
The existing discs weren't lipped on the rear, but a replacement pair was under £30. Juratek are one of the motor factors brands that Parts in Motion stock, I've fitted a few of their hoses and discs on other cars recently and have found them to be decent.
The existing pads were down to about 1mm, I'll have to try harder next time!
I don't think I've ever properly cleaned up the caliper carriers on the rear of this car. I spent a while on them with a file and wire wheel and removed a thin layer of rust on both sides. I applied a thin coating of grease underneath the abutment clips to prevent rust from building up here and squeezing the pad ears.
The Juratek discs had slightly larger stud holes than the Borg and Beck discs I removed. They cleared the thicker shoulder on the Ford studs that I fitted recently without the need to drill the holes out.
And the same again on the other side...
PBS pads again. I'm trying their lesser ProTrack pad on the rear. The price difference between that and the ProRace is negligible, but the graphs on their website appear to suggest that the ProTrack might have better longevity.
The existing discs weren't lipped on the rear, but a replacement pair was under £30. Juratek are one of the motor factors brands that Parts in Motion stock, I've fitted a few of their hoses and discs on other cars recently and have found them to be decent.
The existing pads were down to about 1mm, I'll have to try harder next time!
I don't think I've ever properly cleaned up the caliper carriers on the rear of this car. I spent a while on them with a file and wire wheel and removed a thin layer of rust on both sides. I applied a thin coating of grease underneath the abutment clips to prevent rust from building up here and squeezing the pad ears.
The Juratek discs had slightly larger stud holes than the Borg and Beck discs I removed. They cleared the thicker shoulder on the Ford studs that I fitted recently without the need to drill the holes out.
And the same again on the other side...
Interesting, I’d wondered who was producing those.
Apec are usually cheap parts aimed at mechanics. I can only see one NC pad listed in their webcat so they don’t appear to offer a fancy compound. I’m not saying it wouldn’t happen, but I’m a bit surprised that anyone would get away with selling a lower end pad for £100/set under the guise of a trackday pad with a ‘race compound’.
Maybe Apec produced a different product for Rodders, or supplied the backing plates, or… something?
Apec are usually cheap parts aimed at mechanics. I can only see one NC pad listed in their webcat so they don’t appear to offer a fancy compound. I’m not saying it wouldn’t happen, but I’m a bit surprised that anyone would get away with selling a lower end pad for £100/set under the guise of a trackday pad with a ‘race compound’.
Maybe Apec produced a different product for Rodders, or supplied the backing plates, or… something?
dapper said:
It is quite possible they are just using them for manufacturing.
Either way I've been impressed with the APEC pads for £40.
Had yellow stuff pads in before and they are much better than those for track use. Don't have quite as much cold bite but once warm they are decent enough.
Done a few croft trackdays on them no issues. Never used a proper expensive track pad so they could be way way better.
For how well they do I wouldn't be inclined to go for a different pad now for my use unless I want to start chasing lap times. Cheap and cheerful.
If we ever cross path on a trackday we will have to compare.
Makes sense - I ran cheap Pagid or Brembo road pads for many track days, I never felt like I lacked braking power, but I did wear through them quickly. My main motivation with track pads is longevity, the PBS pads aren't as good in that regard as the now unobtainable Stoptechs I used to use, but they do have more bite.Either way I've been impressed with the APEC pads for £40.
Had yellow stuff pads in before and they are much better than those for track use. Don't have quite as much cold bite but once warm they are decent enough.
Done a few croft trackdays on them no issues. Never used a proper expensive track pad so they could be way way better.
For how well they do I wouldn't be inclined to go for a different pad now for my use unless I want to start chasing lap times. Cheap and cheerful.
If we ever cross path on a trackday we will have to compare.
I've been running 5w40 rather than 5w30 in the NC for a number of years now. It seems to help a little with oil consumption on track days. This time I've gone up to a 5w50 to see if that trend continues. Most 'motorsport' oil is pricey stuff if you like to change oil frequently like me. But this option from Comma was a reasonable £35 for 5L.
A very unimpressive 3101 miles on the old oil that I last changed back in April 2023. But I've done three trackdays since then. I couldn't see any glitter in the old oil so the abused MZR engine continues to plod on.
I've run out of jobs for now. Some of the parts for the lower control arms have arrived from Japan, the second box should hopefully arrive today. Annoyingly, Amayama were retrospectively out of stock for two of the three bushes I need for each arm so I had to order a polybush option for those. I went with Whiteline bushes from Driftworks - frustratingly one of the two bushes in that order is also now on backorder until the end of the month. If that slips further I'll have to place another order elsewhere as we're getting close to my next trackday.
A very unimpressive 3101 miles on the old oil that I last changed back in April 2023. But I've done three trackdays since then. I couldn't see any glitter in the old oil so the abused MZR engine continues to plod on.
I've run out of jobs for now. Some of the parts for the lower control arms have arrived from Japan, the second box should hopefully arrive today. Annoyingly, Amayama were retrospectively out of stock for two of the three bushes I need for each arm so I had to order a polybush option for those. I went with Whiteline bushes from Driftworks - frustratingly one of the two bushes in that order is also now on backorder until the end of the month. If that slips further I'll have to place another order elsewhere as we're getting close to my next trackday.
Whilst I was typing that the second parcel arrived from Osaka...
I kept the value of each parcel under £135, I paid £17 extra to ship it as two parcels but have avoided paying any import duty. I assume that was probably the cheaper way of doing it.
Here's what I've amassed so far...
All of the alignment bolts, nuts, etc. along with the forward control arm bushes. When I fitted the Progress springs I had to glue the existing shock dust covers back together as they've perished so I picked up a replacement pair, along with a new set of rubber bushes for the top mounts. I didn't think I cared about brake dust shields, but replacing the rears has made the car a lot nicer to work on so I've picked up a pair for the front too.
I kept the value of each parcel under £135, I paid £17 extra to ship it as two parcels but have avoided paying any import duty. I assume that was probably the cheaper way of doing it.
Here's what I've amassed so far...
All of the alignment bolts, nuts, etc. along with the forward control arm bushes. When I fitted the Progress springs I had to glue the existing shock dust covers back together as they've perished so I picked up a replacement pair, along with a new set of rubber bushes for the top mounts. I didn't think I cared about brake dust shields, but replacing the rears has made the car a lot nicer to work on so I've picked up a pair for the front too.
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