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+--- Thread: Really? Another Miata thread.... (/showthread.php?tid=11329)
Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 04-14-2019
Man, for once I can say I pushed the car as much as I could without going overboard this weekend. I unfortunately don't have video due to go pro trade up program, but oh well.
![[Image: 686fdf0ef390f2ef10feb46189ca1394.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190415/686fdf0ef390f2ef10feb46189ca1394.jpg)
I bested my time 3 separate times this weekend (1 tenth each time). I think the car still has a few tenths left with the way the car sits. Probably low 1:25's with ideal weather conditions I think is achievable going balls out. I think it would be very difficult to get this thing into 1:24's as it sits. I'm about 90% confident in that because I was braking as late as I felt comfortable (marker 3.25). I was full tilt on these tires in every single turn (they were screaming for dear fucking life).
On the exact 40th session/heat cycle these RC-1's I managed to hit a 1:25.5 which was 0.6 seconds faster than November when it was cold. And that 1:25.5 was on the last session of the day. If I count the lap I got a draft last November then it would only be 0.4 seconds faster
I also stayed super consistent and kept up my pace throughout the TT sessions as DJ recommended and ran several 1:25's through the weekend. I'll gladly take the 1:25's with happiness from the way the car sits. I think it's actually quite impressive in comparison to others. 155whp peak (147 average). Stock aero. Stock brakes. Only 235 wide RC-1's that are sort of worn out. 2460lbs for weight. Yeah.... Not bad at all.
Progression below as you can see I picked up consistentcy and was burning off a tenth at a time. Definitely nearing the limits without going off track lol
Saturday session 2:
![[Image: 112b62fb1acb298dafbcc9191901cccb.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190415/112b62fb1acb298dafbcc9191901cccb.jpg)
Saturday session 3:
![[Image: 37b9dabd058656fff4cb470a97740362.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190415/37b9dabd058656fff4cb470a97740362.jpg)
Sunday session 2:
![[Image: f9d54a791ffc66e0ab24e8a8db558908.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190415/f9d54a791ffc66e0ab24e8a8db558908.jpg)
Sunday session 3:
![[Image: 2ead7235fbf8dbdca23a41b6dfcca123.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190415/2ead7235fbf8dbdca23a41b6dfcca123.jpg)
It was supposed to rain this weekend, but of course I decided to bring my rain tires and get them mounted, so it didn't rain at all for racers and TT. You're welcome guys!
On to CMP if I get brake pads in time or Hydrofest next!!
Oh, and I had a blast with Maeng in DE4! So much fun playing cat/mouse
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 05-20-2019
TL;DR - New PB, new tires are awesome, and new brakes are awesome. Still some disappointment on the PB. Pics/vids to come later.
Since I was a Patriot course instructor on Saturday I was allowed to run Open Practice on Friday for two sessions. That of course was a complete shit show lol. The first session I bed in pads and got a light heat cycle on the tires. The 2nd session I ran and it was just unbelievable what I was seeing. Cars in turns at like 40mph. Almost stopping at the exit of oak tree... I don't even know what people were doing out there. Still snagged a 2:17 with all the traffic so I knew the car had plenty left. I also started catching on to the nuances of race tires. They make a small noise on the front, but the rear will just slip, but will also grip. There were several times where I felt the car wanting to slide in the rear on exit, but it stayed gripped up. Weird feeling that street tires usually wouldn't do. Race tires also do really need sometime to warm up. On street tires I could just go. On the race tires they needed a 2 or so laps of pushing to get up to temp. Never experienced almost ice like slide understeer, all in the name of the tires just not being warm. Where several turns later or a lap later it gripped up like all heck.
Patriot course instructing was for sure a workout. Basically every hour we had a new student, different car, etc. Had an amazing first student in a C6 GS. Next guy in a GTI was very ambitious/excited, but was also the "I want to race, how fast will we go type". Then last ones were just fine. I think my favorite one was a stock, beat to shit, Tiburon. That car really had 0 power, but the way the car handled, rotated, and the way the chassis felt was excellent for a stock, fwd car... Really changed my mind about that car from just being an instructor in it.
I was able to run only one TT session on Saturday which was the final one. My goal was to just get a time down so I didn't start in the back in the morning. I didn't know the track conditions nor did I know how the car would react to really pushing on the new tires. Had to fight through about 6 different slow cars, but still managed a 2:17. I also had my first, decently full, drift on the Conti's in T1 from just past the apex until the exit... It was actually a pretty easy save for some reason. The race tires require quicker corrections which I think I was doing on street tires. Street tires I think I was actually being too quick which cause for some few spins. So, I had got on the throttle as normal in T1 turning the wheel so my left hand was at 12 and right at 6. No noise happened, but I just felt the car start to slide. I naturally without thinking just started to correct a little and lifted slightly then my brain caught up so I started to add back throttle and I kept correcting until my left hand was at 6 and my right hand was at 12. The car started to grip back up as I the front end pointed to the middle track and I slowly unwound the wheel to straighten as the car regained traction. My GoPro literally died going into Oak Tree before this happened so I didn't get it on video. No big internet points for me... I do however have a few other smaller slides I will post later from the weekend.
Sunday morning I thought to myself I just wanted to get the same time as I did on my only session on Saturday. I thought if I did even a 2:16 I'd be greatly happy. I somehow end up running a 2:14.5... and left speed some in T3, T4, South Bend, Oak Tree, back straight braking zone, and hogpen. Easy 2:13's were achievable I just couldn't put it together.
The rest of Sunday I struggled to put a better lap together than a 2:16. Not sure what happened. I need to look at data. I thought I was pushing ok, but I guess I wasn't. I'm thinking a little was the heat and the car not wanting to make the same power and other half was for some reason I was literally thinking to myself before each session about just getting home with my car drive-able. Overall, good weekend and a new PB even if it wasn't the fastest I know the car could do.
The G-Loc's are great. They have actual pedal feel, they have actual modulation, I just don't lock up the brakes to ABS all the time anymore, they stop well, the wear looks great so far, and they had no problems with the abuse. Cars feels super stable on braking as well and over curbing. The Hawk's on braking would make the car feels super un-stable especially braking over the curbing into hogpen...
On the tire part, I know I haven't the exact limit on them, but I wish I went on them sooner. They have tons of grip and I wasn't using them to their full potential. The braking ability in the car now is amazing. The tires are super stiff. I can see why they will slide due to that. Braking without lifting until the 3 marker on the front straight with ease and still can brake even later. Back straight I was starting to brake between 1 and the arrow. I think I could easily do the arrow, but I'm still getting used the car. I'm basically having to relearn the entire track and turns now. It will be a process/long time before I'm at where I want to be/should be time wise.
On to the next event at NJMP in June!
Edit: A final note, I think a big positive from this weekend is I believe I have the car setup where I like it. I think from here it will only need small tweaks, but for now it's working well. It was an understeer pig on apex to exit at Summit. With lowering front rebound 2 clicks, increasing rear rebound 3 clicks, and lowering rear tire pressure 2 psi it felt just right at VIR. We shall see how it is at Summit later this year.
Really? Another Miata thread.... - Senor_Taylor - 05-20-2019
Maybe we'll finally make the transition from you thinking you're a bad driver to knowing you are but not being cocky
Car looks good out there! Glad to see you're steadily picking up time.
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 05-20-2019
I never said I was a bad driver. I just don't think I'm that 'fast'. I guess in comparison to some I'm faster, but at the top they are much much faster. Like I said I'm a good driver without a doubt, but in mind that's just better than average which really isn't 'fast' to me and really isn't 'fast' in general lol. High expectations and pushing myself to want to be at the top I guess will do that. Especially with the competition level that there is in TT5 with full built cars and drivers that have been driving for years.
A few photos I was sent a little ago:
![[Image: 3e4af0da4bfb708d55df586d1abb61e9.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190520/3e4af0da4bfb708d55df586d1abb61e9.jpg)
![[Image: 57c3fd8639f4b2f5be3a226e4e95355a.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190520/57c3fd8639f4b2f5be3a226e4e95355a.jpg)
![[Image: 56462cabd13e711833490cef6c466d53.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190520/56462cabd13e711833490cef6c466d53.jpg)
Quick pic I took with the Conti's on:
![[Image: d85db92aa3b6a1477cc358cfa6250d0c.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190520/d85db92aa3b6a1477cc358cfa6250d0c.jpg)
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Jake - 05-20-2019
Hey, you're running 2:14s, that is plenty fast for the moment. Always room to improve but you are properly quick now. Congrats on a great weekend and on surviving the heat (you and the car alike). Additional grip is pretty fun so I'm glad you found it
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Kaan - 05-21-2019
you are picking up speed every event, at every track. you are doing something right.
the theory is you shouldn't have been as fast in this heat as you were in the "cool" march event... but you were faster. keep up the good work man!
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 05-21-2019
(05-20-2019, 10:12 PM)Jake Wrote: Hey, you're running 2:14s, that is plenty fast for the moment. Always room to improve but you are properly quick now. Congrats on a great weekend and on surviving the heat (you and the car alike). Additional grip is pretty fun so I'm glad you found it
Thank you, glad I found some as well. Still plenty more, but at least I know I have room for improvement!
(05-21-2019, 10:00 AM)Kaan Wrote: you are picking up speed every event, at every track. you are doing something right.
the theory is you shouldn't have been as fast in this heat as you were in the "cool" march event... but you were faster. keep up the good work man!
Thank you, I can agree, but I didn't have ABS in March and I had stickier tires, but overall improvement is improvement!
Here is a peek at data from the two different laps. Red is Hyperfest and blue is in March. As you can see it's pretty obvious ABS and having brake pads that don't fucking lock up (whether that's the grippier tires or better pads or both) helped significantly with braking later. Increase of 2mph in T1, increase of 3mph in T4/T5, increase of 3mph uphill esses, increase in 2mph for T14 and increase of 2mph for hogpen. Not bad at all. Back straight and front straight speeds have reduced. Heat + stickier tires I assume came into play there at higher speeds. I knew I was losing obvious time in South Bend to back straight braking zone. The data shows a half second alone there. I think I need another event to rewire my brain after locking up in March through oak tree and only being like a car length away from the wall I think never subconsciously got that out of my brain. T3 I can lose some obvious time as well. Overall though, red curve is much better. I drove better even while learning on new equipment!
At last, here are the two videos 1st is fast lap and the 2nd is some highlights. The 1st video isn't as good quality as the 2nd as I was learning the settings on rendering from the new GoPro. I will be turning off the video stabilization that makes it look like it's on a gimbal as well.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 06-11-2019
TL;DR trailer picked up Friday, arrive hotel at 3am, proceed to do a 1:36 2nd session at NJMP, and push the time down to a 1:34. 1:33’s are achievable. This will kinda be overall car, truck, and trailer review.
Let’s just start out and say the things we do for this sport are the things people just never see or will understand. After an agonizing two weeks, I finally told the seller of the trailer I was interested in to get his shit together and get the title. Later that day he says he has the title. Good. I proceed to meet the guy around 9:30am in Durham. The trailer looks about 90% of what is described in the ad. The difference being there are a couple bumps and bruises, but nothing major. Interior is damn nice as described. I then start to look at the tires. Two rear tires are bald on the outside. I then notice a nail in one of the rear tires…..
![[Image: giphy.gif]](https://media0.giphy.com/media/l3V0H7bYv5Ml5TOfu/giphy.gif)
I get the tire pressure gauge and of course it’s literally at 13 psi. I have no idea how this tire was not blown out…. Rest of the tires are good psi wise. Just one was 5psi off. I blow up the nail tire to 45 psi. I call a local Walmart and they have the tire size needed with two left. So, I was like I’ll take both and replace both rear tires. I check the bearings and the grease is light and a little thin. Good enough to get home. I offer the cost to replace the tires and he is fine with it. I send it to the Walmart. Thankfully I brought all my tools so I get the wheels off and they replace them in 30 minutes. I take a lunch break and start to head home.
The drive home was interesting to say the least. Never have towed with an enclosed before. This is a 24’ total length trailer. Full height interior is 6.5’ and overall height is 8.25’ so it’s a bit of a sail to say the least. With a normal hitch I’ve never felt so worried towing something. No matter 60 or 65mph it was the same amount of terror. So I just set the cruise to 60mph and just fought the truck every time anyone passed. Basically, any time a vehicle (SUV or Truck sized) initially passed, the whole truck and trailer sucked towards the vehicle a solid foot initially and as they got by the front of the truck the whole truck and trailer would push out a solid foot. Speed differential made it worse. People passing at 80mph were worse than slower. When semi’s passed I about poo’d a little. Without vehicles passing it was mostly straight. A little correction here and there every several seconds, but overall not terrible. I said no way am I towing this thing loaded 4 hours to NJMP. Made it home around 3:30pm and started working on the trailer.
![[Image: 0WprS31.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/0WprS31.jpg)
I started with re-greasing the bearings on all four corners. Pretty simple since they are EZ bearings. They for sure needed a lot of grease… Several pumps and tire spins finally old grease started coming out. Yeah those bearings will probably need a replace when the trailer gets inspected. Anyway, I asked Cabell to help installing the tire racks on the rear of the trailer while I started installing the weight distro/sway control hitch. After a couple of tries/measurements and picking up smaller lag bolts the racks were installed. I took my time being sure the hitch was installed properly. Then proceeded to pack all the tools into the trailer, packed my bag, ate dinner, and loaded car into the trailer. Headed out around 10pm.
The drive up was fun not in the same sense as the initial voyage, but in the sense of a lot of people who shouldn’t have been on the road. Once I got to the DC-Baltimore area and as the time got later into the night, there were a lot of drunk or very tired people behind the wheel. Weaving, driving super under the speed limit in the left lane. Finally, drove by a major crash that was on the opposite side of the road and kind of made me super aware. It’s a lot different driving at night vs the day. Other than other drivers on the road the truck had 0 issues with the weight distro/sway hitch. It just pulled at 70mph with tons of stability. There was no getting blown around by people passing. I finally arrived around 2:30am to the hotel.
After not really being able to sleep I woke up at 6am to head to the track. Nice facility they have at NJMP! First time here and the impressions are it’s nice. I head to the instructor meeting and find out I don’t have a student for the weekend. Weird. Never seen that before. I get some track tips from the instructors which turned out to be very helpful. My fist time out I run a 1:40 in the instructor group. Slowly easing up speed. I’m one of the blessed people who pick up on things very fast, but take a little longer to master so, my first TT warmup session I push it a bit more and hit a 1:36. A 1:36 is pretty much flying for my 2nd session ever at the track as the rest of the field is only 1:31’s. (I’m normally 3-6 seconds slower on track’s that I am familiar with). I do a 1:37 and 1:38 the next two sessions. Think I lost focus. I took a power nap and the last session I hit a 1:35. Not bad at all. Sunday morning I push to a 1:34 and some consistent 1:35’s. After reviewing video I think 1:33’s are about the limit with my driving ability with the way the car sits. To put that into perspective the normal top TT guys hit 1:30 with one in the 1:31’s and and another in the 1:32’s that are usually at the top.
![[Image: AmilzA3.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/AmilzA3.jpg)
![[Image: FxEwts3.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/FxEwts3.jpg)
The car again felt great from a handling perspective. Neutral on turn in and just the right amount of slip/oversteer on exit. I'm starting really dig the changes I've made to this cars handling. I think the race tires have helped with the handling characteristics a lot as well. The tires now have 19 heat cycles after this weekend. They are pretty steady and consistent on the grip level since like 8-9 heat cycles. Tons of tread left. I can tell they have a bit more slip and a bit less heat tolerance than when new. Overall, the tires are great for the price. I will probably continue to buy these until they are out of stock as I can't fork up $1200 on new Hoosier/BFG's when I'm not winning. I'm not close enough time wise that that extra half second to a second on the initial few heat cycles is justifiable.
![[Image: LUYqokl.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/LUYqokl.jpg)
Overall, I’d go back to NJMP for sure. Facilities are nice. People are nice. Drive on 95 is so damn terrible though. On the way back it turned from the standard 4 hour drive to a 6 hour drive. Classic. That’s the one thing that makes me question not coming back. The fun part on the way home was the initial drive. There were 19mph consistent winds with larger gusts for the first hour or so of the drive. The sway bars were putting in work. You could feel them really kick in when the trailer tried to push. There were times I was literally holding the steering wheel right or left from center for several miles to keep the truck/trailer straight in the lane, but it wasn’t frightening in the bottom feeling like the first tow home was. It just kinda went and didn’t jerk around like before. Watching the tractor trailers though and seeing the cab of the truck straight, but the trailer being pushed over into the lane next to it was interesting to say the least….
I think the one thing I noticed the most about the enclosed was the truck did finally show it’s weakness. Power and mpg. It could pull the trailer no problem and has the power to do it as well as get up and go if needed, but I can tell it was straining to do it. Most hills (US-301) is needed to shift down to 4th and 50%+ throttle to keep speed constant. There were a few times it needed 3rd, but it had so much power in 3rd there wasn’t an issue. I could actually accelerate and pass people up very steep hills no problem in 3rd. The thing I’m worried about the most is wear and tear on motor/transmission. I started pre-selecting gears before uphills to make it easier on the transmission. I think I will want to upgrade to a 2500 eventually as I’m not sure how much transmission abuse these F150’s take? I think other than that the truck will pull it no problem. Obviously not as well as a 2500, but it is extremely capable for a 1500. The MPG’s were pretty amusing too. I averaged around 9mpg to and from NJMP. I would get 13-14 with the open. Then again total weight of everything is probably now between 11-12k pounds where before was only probably 9k pounds and the trailer is mostly a giant wall.
![[Image: cs9TF06.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/cs9TF06.jpg)
The nicest thing about having the enclosed is coming home and just only having to unload the car out of the trailer. Can just keep all my tools and shit inside of it. Pull out the tools at my convienence if I need them in my garage which the trailer is backed up next to. Plans for the trailer are add electric jack, winch, and A/C (it’s wired and braced for it). Should be a good long term investment! Looking forward to it as I get used to it more and more.
Lastly, the car will have full fluid changes before the long haul to PittRace in July. Re-mark bolts with paint pen. Other than that it’s holding up well to the abuse I’m giving it on track so far (knocks on wood). For now I’m going to relax and take a little break from things. Get the trailer inspected and add some of things I want to get done on it vs tracking the car the next few events I had planned. Onward!
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Senor_Taylor - 06-11-2019
I'm very glad you got everything sorted out, man! Trailer looks great! After towing my/your/scott's trailer, I can't imagine towing that thing.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - ScottyB - 06-11-2019
whats the rear gear on your F150?
i wouldn't sweat the reliability...Ford knew full well that going to a turbo V6, they'd have to vet the hell out of the powertrain to keep their reputation after generations of customers sold on the idea of V8's. the one thing i'd recommend, given the loads you're pulling in the summer heat, is keep running good quality synth oil and changing it conservatively. its been shown the ecoboosts really shear down their oil like most DI turbo engines, to the point of it being deep in the 20wt range by the time the oil minder shows its time to change it out.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 01:51 PM)ScottyB Wrote: whats the rear gear on your F150?
i wouldn't sweat the reliability...Ford knew full well that going to a turbo V6, they'd have to vet the hell out of the powertrain to keep their reputation after generations of customers sold on the idea of V8's. the one thing i'd recommend, given the loads you're pulling in the summer heat, is keep running good quality synth oil and changing it conservatively. its been shown the ecoboosts really shear down their oil like most DI turbo engines, to the point of it being deep in the 20wt range by the time the oil minder shows its time to change it out.
The standard 3.55. The heavy duty tow package has 3.73, but don't have that so, oh well.
I always drop the truck off for synthetic oil at the 20% mark (~7500 miles). 0% would probably be 10-11k miles. Too much.... Lariat's come standard with the regular tow package which has bigger radiator and transmission cooler. Fluid doesn't get hot. Just worried about convertors or gears wearing out over time? Too paranoid?
(06-11-2019, 12:34 PM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: I'm very glad you got everything sorted out, man! Trailer looks great! After towing my/your/scott's trailer, I can't imagine towing that thing.
Me too and uhh, the open wasn't bad.... The open freely will wiggle, but doesn't move the entire truck and need big steering inputs. It's literally like nothing is there, especially once you get use to it. This is for sure a different ball game, but the distro/sway hitch is key and it felt fine with that on.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - .RJ - 06-11-2019
Thanks for reminding me that I hate towing and never want to do it again
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 02:31 PM).RJ Wrote: Thanks for reminding me that I hate towing and never want to do it again
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Evan - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 02:31 PM).RJ Wrote: Thanks for reminding me that I hate towing and never want to do it again
so much this.
And I still don't get the allure of an enclosed. *shrug*
But congrats on the weekend. Ive never driven NJMP and it looks fun. Bummer about the traffic though, that was always my fear about driving there.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 06-11-2019
You sleep in it to save money. Everything is in your enclosed with cabinets you don't have to unpack and pack. Good place to stay out of the elements without worrying about a pop up.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Kaan - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 03:12 PM)rherold9 Wrote: You sleep in it to save money. Everything is in your enclosed with cabinets you don't have to unpack and pack. Good place to stay out of the elements without worrying about a pop up.
THIS!
Al Gore made the weather so crappy that the last 2-ish years we have had some crazy weird weather IMHO. Sylvia and I hobo camp for VIR and its a pain in the butt. we have broken a crap ton of 10x10s and none of them took flight. camping in the rain sucks because there is no place to really be dry. My truck is still loaded (mostly because my car wouldn't drive into the garage on its own)... but if I didn't have to load and unload my spares, tools, etc I'd be much happier.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Evan - 06-11-2019
Camping??!! And give up an opportunity to stay in the Danville Best Western???
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Apoc - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 03:12 PM)rherold9 Wrote: Everything is in your enclosed with cabinets you don't have to unpack and pack.
Ask me about the time most of our tools disappeared from an enclosed trailer.
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - rherold9 - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 03:41 PM)Apoc Wrote:(06-11-2019, 03:12 PM)rherold9 Wrote: Everything is in your enclosed with cabinets you don't have to unpack and pack.
Ask me about the time most of our tools disappeared from an enclosed trailer.
What was the time when most of your tools disappeared from an enclosed trailer?
RE: Really? Another Miata thread.... - Apoc - 06-11-2019
(06-11-2019, 03:42 PM)rherold9 Wrote:(06-11-2019, 03:41 PM)Apoc Wrote:(06-11-2019, 03:12 PM)rherold9 Wrote: Everything is in your enclosed with cabinets you don't have to unpack and pack.
Ask me about the time most of our tools disappeared from an enclosed trailer.
What was the time when most of your tools disappeared from an enclosed trailer?
It was probably like 10 years ago. They all disappeared, including most of my long-dead grandfather's tools.