Project 10AE Miata

[ViPER1313]

Race pads on the street = no bueno. Your rotors and wheels will hate you.

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[Goodspeed]

I'm not worried about it. I like hearing all the input, but I *think* there were some changes made to the XP's over the years. Regardless, the 10's are $20 more an axle set, all the vendors recommend the 10/8 combo, and there are dozens of positive reviews of this setup from end users with varied setups, including mine - a full weight, dual purpose NB. Plenty of people had my same goal in mind: a streetable (with minor drawbacks) track-capable set of pads allowing minimal wrench time (which is important to me) and they're more than happy.

I'll get them on the car and report back with my findings.

[V1GiLaNtE]

About damn time Goodspeed.. Nice work buddy!

[Nis01]

Awesome work Goodspeed. Will you come install all that stuff on my miata? Those brakes will work just fine for you, I have the same combo on the miata and it works great on the street/auto-x.

[Goodspeed]

Thanks Cabell and Shea :thumbup: Shea, are you less pwned at the moment by school/are you finished? Hope you can bring the otter out this year. We'll let them touch

[Kaan]

i hope there were changes to them.... i killed a set of wheels driving XP9s on the street... i'd have to leave the house with the intent of warming up the brakes just to get to work

[Jake]

i hope there were changes to them.... i killed a set of wheels driving XP9s on the street... i'd have to leave the house with the intent of warming up the brakes just to get to work

That's how it was this morning... VERY cold Azenis and VERY cold Hawk WhateverIHave's. Need new DD stat.

[Kaan]

i hope there were changes to them.... i killed a set of wheels driving XP9s on the street... i'd have to leave the house with the intent of warming up the brakes just to get to work

That's how it was this morning... VERY cold Azenis and VERY cold Hawk WhateverIHave's. Need new DD stat.

we live in the right area to warm them up :-P all of random hills to put heat in stuff... come on!

[Goodspeed]

Uuuuuupdate!

I spent some quality time with the Miata today, finishing a few odds and ends. On went the sticky rubber and I fixed a little exhaust leak that made itself (fartily) known after the exhaust install. Also, in another one of those little but oh-so worthwhile projects, I replaced the belt-line moldings (under the driver/passenger window glass) with new trim. The crusty, faded eyesore bits are gone and replaced with smooth blackness. Delicious.

When the header and mid-pipe were going on, I noticed my driver-side rear swaybar bushing was torn and coming apart (with only ~2k miles on it). Flyin' Miata, in their unrivaled awesomeness, sent over a new bushing and some grease free of charge. So I pop the new one on, and as I start to tighten down the 2nd of two bracket nuts *POP*, I snapped the lower swaybar mount stud clean in half :x . This is a pretty common occurence on NA/NB's, I guess I'll have to get this bitch drilled out and replaced with a good bolt.



And since I had myself and the camera under there, a shot of the butterfly brace:



Oh yeah, the exhaust. It fit amazingly well and both the RB and FM pieces are super high quality. Thank god for Kroil and universal joints - I got all the stock stuff off without so much as a minor quarrel with anything, including the dreaded converter nuts.



So the real reason I wrote this: reviews. I drove the car this afternoon on a toll road east/66 west loop incorporating some surface streets, stop 'n go, and a twisty backroad.

RB header/FM mid-pipe: Aforementioned gorgeous quality and craftsmanship, everything fit well with no problems. The slip joint in the mid-pipe allowed for lots of adjustability and made the install a breeze. As for tangible benefits, I can feel a bit more pep in the Miata's step. It definitely breathes easier; drivability is improved and it seems willing to reach for redline more hurredly. Plus the header looks tits and the combo sounds pretty good too - nothing ricey, just smooth with some nice noises on decel. I'm sure theres some weight savings in there as well.

FM Butterfly Brace: Holy balls. Its like a new car. Before, it was rattly, squeaky, and buzzy depending on road surface and rpm, but now theres none of that. None. Its quiet and solid as a rock. Seriously, the buzz it seemingly killed that was emanating from the center console somewhere was worth it alone. In my driving experience so far, all the inputs I can feel are measurably better, from cruising along to cornering with gusto. Bravo FM!

Carbotech XP10 (F)/XP8 ® Pads: With Centric rotors and Motul RBF600 Fluid. This was the biggest surprise of all of them. I'm almost hesitant to type this as I feel like I should wake up tomorrow and find my brakes have eaten themselves, but these are downright civilized. They're ceramic carbon kevlar and rated at 250┬░-1650┬░/.mu ~.60 (XP10) and 200┬░-1350┬░/.mu ~.56 (XP8). Break-in procedure was 4 medium stops from 40-5 and 4 hard stops from ~70-5. Previous pads were Porterfield R4S.

Brake feel is awesome - modulation is excellent and they can STOP. Putting around well below their temp range, they actually feel very similar to the R4S's, until you get more into the pedal. That is to say, no scary stops. The old pads had very little in the way of bite, feel or modulation; these are definitely in another league. A few faint squeaks here and there, and the best part - they dusted less than the Porterfield street pads in my street-driving loop. So, street driving is so far very impressive. I'll report back with more thoughts after I get out to an auto-x and some track work.

Until next time :thumbup:

[ScottyB]

i want to rub myself on your car

[kcook]

so did you have to drill all those holes to mount the butterfly brace or were they already there?

[V1GiLaNtE]

Ugh....if you don't start driving that car the way you have built it to be driven.. God help YOU Goodspeed I will come rape you and take that car...Thing looks rock solid and I bet drives suhweet!! Maybe this whole "procrastination/taking my time thing" is paying off for you..


IF you get that thing on the track... :thumbup:
Keep up the good work!

[JPolen01]

That brace looks awesome. Car is coming along nicely!

[Goodspeed]

Thanks guys - definitely looking forward to some upcoming events. I have a lot of right-foot demons that need to be let out :twisted:

I want to rub myself on your car

:lol: Props Mr. B. Succinct and to the point.

so did you have to drill all those holes to mount the butterfly brace or were they already there?

They had to be drilled. I left that up to the guys at Piper who made quick work of it - they're definitely used to drilling holes in cars.

[SlimKlim]

Fixing that stupid ass piece of crap sway bar stud nonsense is actually pretty easy. That was one of the things I had to deal with on mine. A grade 8 bolt and nut 'bout the right size, and a non-wimpy plug-in drill makes it a 10 minute deal. Mark it, drill it out, pop it on, boom. Mine broke in exactly the same fashion. You'd think in 9 years between mine and yours they'd realize permanently welding a weak stud to the frame was a bad idea.

Looks awesome though man, as I've begun chasing the dragon of having a "perfect" E36, I'm liking the cut of your jib more and more.

[Jake]

Funny, I also snapped that bolt off my NA.

And Joey snapped his right as I was saying "now watch how hard you torque that... oh."

[Goodspeed]

Fixing that stupid ass piece of crap sway bar stud nonsense is actually pretty easy. That was one of the things I had to deal with on mine. A grade 8 bolt and nut 'bout the right size, and a non-wimpy plug-in drill makes it a 10 minute deal. Mark it, drill it out, pop it on, boom. Mine broke in exactly the same fashion. You'd think in 9 years between mine and yours they'd realize permanently welding a weak stud to the frame was a bad idea.

Looks awesome though man, as I've begun chasing the dragon of having a "perfect" E36, I'm liking the cut of your jib more and more.

Thanks Joey - I look back at the pics of it when I got it and while they are fetching stock, I'm glad I've gotten all the herp derp out that I can and that its starting to look and drive how I always wanted. I'm excited to just drive it now though, but maybe the final frontier will be FI of some sort...

Funny, I also snapped that bolt off my NA.

And Joey snapped his right as I was saying "now watch how hard you torque that... oh."

Would either of you fine gents be willing to help me drill it out this weekend? I can roll on by and maybe we can knock it out. I went out and got a center punch, some drill bits and a ton of bolts. I think the drill we have at home is a bit on the weak side (its from like...1982. For shame) and my motto is, if I done F something up by myself, I better have someone present who's done what I'm trying to do for the second go-round :lol:

LMK - quality beer would be provided.

[fiveoh2go]

Fixing that stupid ass piece of crap sway bar stud nonsense is actually pretty easy. That was one of the things I had to deal with on mine. A grade 8 bolt and nut 'bout the right size, and a non-wimpy plug-in drill makes it a 10 minute deal. Mark it, drill it out, pop it on, boom. Mine broke in exactly the same fashion. You'd think in 9 years between mine and yours they'd realize permanently welding a weak stud to the frame was a bad idea.

Looks awesome though man, as I've begun chasing the dragon of having a "perfect" E36, I'm liking the cut of your jib more and more.

Thanks Joey - I look back at the pics of it when I got it and while they are fetching stock, I'm glad I've gotten all the herp derp out that I can and that its starting to look and drive how I always wanted. I'm excited to just drive it now though, but maybe the final frontier will be FI of some sort...

Funny, I also snapped that bolt off my NA.

And Joey snapped his right as I was saying "now watch how hard you torque that... oh."

Would either of you fine gents be willing to help me drill it out this weekend? I can roll on by and maybe we can knock it out. I went out and got a center punch, some drill bits and a ton of bolts. I think the drill we have at home is a bit on the weak side (its from like...1982. For shame) and my motto is, if I done F something up by myself, I better have someone present who's done what I'm trying to do for the second go-round :lol:

LMK - quality beer would be provided.

Shit, if it's Dos Equis I'll drive to NOVA and drill that bish out myself!!! :bootyshake: :mrgreen:

[Goodspeed]

Broken stud was replaced this past weekend (sorry Matt, no DE but delicious pizza instead). Big thanks to Jake/Joey and Kaan for lending a hand and tools. It was kind of a bitch, but a 5/16" grade 8 bolt and nylock nut took its place so I'm sure it'll hold up fine.

I also took the time to spruce up and fix a couple of nagging little things, in yet another round of "awesome 'n small" projects. The soft top latches and windshield-frame strikers (that they latch on to) were removed and sprayed with some Krylon Fusion black. They were previously all chipped up and faded...much better.

While I was out there painting, I dusted off the much-improved '01+ center console I had lying around and cleaned off all the 10yr. buildup of Armor All gunk with some rubbing alcohol, and finally painted it black with Duplicolor's prep spray and their interior "Vinyl and Fabric" paint. Came out awesome and looks brand new again. And, you know, its nice having a non-suckass center console that actually works.

[JPolen01]

Picture no work