Really? Another Miata thread....

[rherold9]

Yesterday and today I started installing a few more mods for heat reasons and easy of use.

My car during autox after idling awhile in hot temps would pull timing hard and I'd lose power and feel like I was hitting a brick wall. It was awful and frustrating... Yes the car was hot I could feel it. Everything in that bay was too hot. I could burn myself alone on touching just metal by the strut tower when adjusting the dampers compression... I would even almost burn my hand trying to open the hood it got so hot.

I bought a track dog racing (TDR) silicone intake and added on to it. The TDR intake stopped before even the stock intake would pull in air. The stock air intake was basically a CAI just it is plastic so it absorbs heat easily and doesn't dissipate it much at all. The factory bumper hidden behind the front emblem by the hood release. So what did I do? I added 90 degree elbow and pipe to extend the filter like factor.

What TDR looks like:



Where mine is after extending the intake:



Rest of the intake:



I thought that isn't enough so I decided to pick up the TDR Exhaust Manifold Heatshield Blanket. It is a nice 4 layered blanket for up to 2,000 degrees. It wraps around the header lightly and acts as a heatshield. I was literally able to touch the blanket and not burn my finger after idling in a drive thru for 10 minutes as a test. The blanket was a pain in the ass to install but is totally worth it. So much cooler under the hood now...





And lastly was some hood struts. Already worth it after installing the two previous mods and a simple 15 minute install.

[rherold9]

TL;DR - back out on track this season, maybe racecar in the future?

Well, it's been just over a year with this car. It's sitting at 100,7xx miles. I bought it at 93,5xx miles.

I have done one oil change

Done preventative maintenance earlier than the manual: 

• Diff fluid change
  
• Transmission fluid change
  
• Spark Plugs (That looked in great shape for 90k miles)
  

I threw it through some auto-x's stock. I spent my days somewhat getting a handle and learning the car/RWD. It was exciting at first but got old very quickly. I got sort of bored with the car. I could tell the car was tons more capable even after one two auto-x's stock making the tires scream for their life so the modding bug hit and I went halfway STR spec.

Mods I have done:

• Street Exhaust (high flow cat header + mid and a single muffler)
  
• Wheels/tires
  
• Bigger Front Sway Bar
  
• Removed Rear Bar
  
• Coilovers + spherical front top mounts
  
• Front Strut Bar
  
• Intake
  
• Added heat shield blanket
  

After these mods it transformed the car. Damn this car is quick and fun at the auto-x course. Throwing it in, putting the hammer down, drifting, sliding, etc.. is so much fun. It was for sure interesting learning the cars new capability. I'm still learning but low power rear wheel with lots of grip has mostly the same idea of FWD low power with lots of grip. Just plant the throttle and you are mostly fine. The Miata is also very forgiving and easy to control if it gets out of hand. The chassis on this car is a lot better than the 3. The NC being a downsized RX8 is a good thing as the RX8 chassis was already spectacular. I will admit I drove Ray's S2000 at auto-x and I still prefer the NC (and I thought I loved S2000's).... It just wasn't that exciting as I thought it would be. The steering and inputs just felt sloppy? And the vtec was just like oh a lot of noise but not much else. They are fun cars to ride shotgun in though. Don't get me wrong this car is still slow and a S2000 would be faster at a race track but I find the NC more fun. It may be the most hated Miata but some of those people must have just not driven one yet. 

Once you get a hit of the go fast track crack pipe the bug itches and itches. I honestly planned and thought this car would just be a gateway car until I bought a "race car" but I think my mind is changing to just put this car on track and have fun. My goal was a s2k or e46 race car. With the new TT/ST rules coming the car can fit there and hopefully there will be a field of cars to play in if I do get an itch to actually race. For now, doing DE is my plan for 2018. With that I need to do a few things at minimum.

Things to do:

• Roll bar
  
• Brakes (dtc60 + new rotors + fluid + maybe stainless lines)
  

If I pass broomstick I'll be running the car in DE2 for a shake down. If not I'll be adding seats + harnesses earlier than I hoped. From there the plan is to eventually move back into HPDE3 once I'm ready and I'm fast enough again. I'll add seats, harnesses, and a hard top for HPDE3. Eventually buy a trailer and aero if I decide to get into TT. Then add full safety if I decide to race obviously. I'll be adding small things to refresh the car and make it more reliable like replacing plastic pressurized coolant tank with aluminum, buying a bigger radiator, replacing fluids religiously, and replacing the water pump as a pre-caution (haven't seen a failure with people close to 200k miles though) over time.

Who knows what the future holds and it's just a pipe dream to TT/go racing for now I'm happy I'll just be back out on track just driving soon enough.

*waits for furious typing of alum telling me I'm dumb and should just buy a proper race car instead of "wasting" my time building this car 

[Jake]

I'd go ahead and do seats/harnesses alongside that rollbar as I highly doubt you'll pass the broomstick test.

[Senor_Taylor]

You do you, boo.

[D_Eclipse9916]

 for now I'm happy I'll just be back out on track just driving soon enough.

Building a car is far more expensive, but building a car over a couple seasons helps amortize the cost.

Plus you can do it right (hopefully).  After building 1 race car, and buying 2 other pre built race cars...  I didn't hesitate at building my own this time around again.

[rherold9]

I'd go ahead and do seats/harnesses alongside that rollbar as I highly doubt you'll pass the broomstick test.

It'll be close but if I have to I will. I'll see if OG still had the NASA worker discount or not if needed

Building a car is far more expensive, but building a car over a couple seasons helps amortize the cost.

Plus you can do it right (hopefully).  After building 1 race car, and buying 2 other pre built race cars...  I didn't hesitate at building my own this time around again.

Yeah, it will be built over a bit of time and I will be sure it is done right especially with safety as the forefront if I ever decide to get the car fully prepped.

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[ScottyB]

waits for furious typing of alum telling me I'm dumb and should just buy a proper race car instead of "wasting" my time building this car 

nah, this is a pretty nice place to start.  that's a great chassis and if you're starting out in HPDE again you've got lots of time to spread the hit out.

do these cars need oil coolers?  you mentioned how hot it gets under that hood and it makes me wonder if some additional cooling might be in the writing on the wall.

[rherold9]

do these cars need oil coolers?  you mentioned how hot it gets under that hood and it makes me wonder if some additional cooling might be in the writing on the wall.

They have an oil cooler stock. It should be okay on track at track speeds. If not, bigger radiator that's a triple pass + hood vents asap.

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[JustinG]

If you do seats, and plan on racing down the line, snag the Sparco Ergos.

Remove halos for street/autocross, and you'll have the head restraints for track or race.

Vs going non Halo seat and upgrading to Halo.

It's at least a starting point til you decide to go to something like a PRO ADV or a Circuit

[rherold9]

If you do seats, and plan on racing down the line, snag the Sparco Ergos.

Remove halos for street/autocross, and you'll have the head restraints for track or race.

Vs going non Halo seat and upgrading to Halo.

It's at least a starting point til you decide to go to something like a PRO ADV or a Circuit

That's the plan at minimum Ergo for a driver. If anyone finds them in decent shape used forward them to me! If I can find a circuit used I'd throw that in as a passenger seat. Rather buy used then new if possible

[JustinG]

I wouldn't go Halo for passenger. Just throw an EVO or similar in.

[Jake]

+1 on the Ergos, four bolts per seat will remove the halos.

[rherold9]

I wouldn't go Halo for passenger. Just throw an EVO or similar in.

Don't think I should run equal seat safety for the passenger?

[navin]

I have an Ergo... for sale... use at your own risk lol.

[rherold9]

I have an Ergo... for sale... use at your own risk lol.

I bet this is Gallamore approved for a passenger seat 

Edit: After remembering the video of the impact probably not a good idea

[D_Eclipse9916]

I have an Ergo... for sale... use at your own risk lol.

I wasn't willing to risk Karma selling my circuit that was in the crash.  Its becoming my new seat for my IRacing rig.

[rherold9]

   

   

   

Everyone is posting their winter plans so I thought I'd join. More stuff will be on the way soon enough

[rherold9]

I'll type a full write up later with pictures of what I've done the last few weeks, but in short:

• Blackbird Fabworx RZ Roll Bar
  
• Sparco Ergo Driver's Seat 
  
• Sparco Sprint Passenger's Seat (Surprisingly comfortable for the price)
  
• PCI Brackets/Side Mounts - Allows to retain factory 3 points
  
• Stoptech Sport Brake Pads
  
• Stoptech Stainless Lines
  
• ATE DOT4 Fluid (Motive Power Bleeder is love, Motive Power Bleeder is life)
  
• New rear rotors because a large amount of rust on old ones
  
• Works Bell Hub + NRG 3.0 Quick Release + MOMO Mod 78 Wheel
  
• Moddiction Blue Wide Angle Mirrors
  
• Sliced my finger down into the fat tissue requiring stitches
  

On It's Way:

• 3" shift extender
  
• 3" Tomei Duracon Knob (~same size as stock)
  
• DG Motorsports Hard Top
  
• Racequip 6-point hans style harness
  

Need to Buy:

• Super JDM tow hooks yo from Carbon Miata
  
• Roll Bar Padding
  

Need to do before track/eventual list:

• Install passenger Racequip 6 point harness I have
  
• Inspect shifter turret/add oil to it
  
• Oil change
  
• Inspect nuts/bolts
  
• Probably some other things I'm forgetting
  

Future thoughts:

• Android Headunit - mostly for the Torque app to monitor temps. Not sure all the parameters I can monitor but basically just going to set it to flash red at me for high temps is all, will look into this more.
  
• Cooling mods as necessary
  
• ST5/ST6 racing vs. Flyin' Miata supercharged still street-able DE/TT car vs. probably not making up my mind and doing what I want
  

I think I'm going to end up running a DR Track Attack in Feb as a test-n-tune on the 205 all season tires to break the car in, feel how the car reacts, learn the car, get used to being back on a track, etc. Looking forward to getting back out on track this season!

Huge shoutout to Justin for the help on my car with the roll bar, brakes, etc.

Edit: Forgot to mention how immediately noticeable the roll bar made the rear end feel stiffer. Roll bar plus the seats make the car feel like it's on rails now... I cannot wait to see how the grip is with 245 RE-71R's are on track

[ScottyB]

been busy! looks like a solid list. what kind of all seasons are on it now?

[Goodspeed]

That's a healthy list, congrats on the progress - those BF roll bars are so hawt.   Looking forward to the pics!