Project: 1995 Miata

[Jake]

Figured I'd do a DJ-style "post-track-day" update since there are some things I've learned after spending a session on VIR in my car and driving it to/from the track.

With all of the mods, I don't really fit in stock seats anymore. My head is level with the rollbar, which means I need two things: bar padding and a lower seat. Thanks to Carrie and Joe for transporting said lower/newer seat from Scott's place. He sold me the Sparco Sprint Junior that came in his SM car. I need to get a bracket for it before it can go in the car. After seeing what happened to that Civic a few months back (hit a tree, sliders popped open and seat came out) I am not buying sliders. Besides, I need every bit of "less height" that I can find.

Still need to find a second seat that will fit in the car, and then buy some harnesses. I think DJ has a set of pretty-new harnesses so those are sourced. Anybody got a seat?

The car is still buzzy and loud on the highway. Driving 4.5 hours each way in it was pretty miserable. Hopefully the Sparco will increase comfort by adding room. At least I have working AC and cruise control.

OK, so track impressions. After so long, I FINALLY got this car on track. Just did a Hyperdrive as I was wanting to work grid, too. Carrie hopped in as my instructor... she was there more for advice than "teaching" -- I was not driving anywhere near 10/10ths because I needed to feel out the car and didn't trust it yet.

Had some good laps right after the green flag.The suspension -- especially for being Flyin' Miata's "value" package -- does a really great job. I was pleased with cornering ability. Power-wise, well, it's a Miata. It's slow. The fastest I got up to was ~100 right into the braking zones. I can pick up speed once I fix the issues below... thus more confidence, braking later, etc.

Speaking of brakes, hot damn do my NAPA specials suck. After the 3rd/4th lap, we're coming down the front straight around 100 mph and it's time to slow down. Go for the brakes, slow down nicely from 100 to say, 80... and then it's like Paula Deen doused the track in butter, y'all. Things were VERY greasy from 80 down to 55ish and I thought we might be having an off-track excursion. I backed off for the rest of the session and they were okay, but performance is notably reduced. I will be rectifying the brake situation before August. I have to, if I want to track it again.

Tires were good but not great. They have decent grip and will last me through the end of this season. Past that, I'll step back up to Star Specs or something similar. I have the "just below" tire from Dunlop now, the DZ101. They are good for street use (and treadwear) but now that I'm not DDing this car, I can trade tire life for grip and be happy.

In short, the car performed about as expected. I didn't trust/push it much since I was feeling things out, but I did get a few laps in where I gave it the beans and it was a blast. Definitely doing a full weekend in August at Summit.