BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

And another video of the car. It's a bunch of different clips of the car, but the new stuff from this past weekend starts at 1:57.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Holy ****. Do you need new tires yet? LOL

Get some more performance driving videos, all that tire spinning made me want to see the car actually hook up.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

Those will come in the spring when I have tires lol. Couple weekends ago raced my friend's e36 m3 which is pretty close to stock, not sure if it was the road we were on or just that my tires are complete garbage, but spun through the first 3 gears. Still pulled on him but it was pretty sketchy.

Sticky tires and brakes are at the top of the list right now so I can enjoy the car to its fullest potential, but for now, roasting the tires is the fun I'll have lol

Erat

iTrader: (5)

12.8 on a 5 speed? Wow... lol

I gotta get back to the track.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

yes



seems like a good time to put the car away for the winter to me.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

Well, it's almost time to start working on this thing again since winter will be over in the next couple months and its tax return time. I've been really trying to think about where I want to go with the car this year. And it pretty much comes down to actually being able to enjoy the car for an entire summer, which I have yet to do. Also, cut down my 1/4 mile time and get out to a couple lapping days.

The main things I'm looking to do are swaybars, brakes, bushings, wheels and tires, raise the boost a bit, and maybe play around with meth.

Ideally I'd like to break out of the 12's into 11's this year but it seems like a long way away, especially with the limitation of a stock motor, but if I did I would be pretty ecstatic.

Looking at going with the Goodwin BBK so I can do it once and do it right for my brakes.

Swaybars I'll likely turn to 949. I'd like to do better coils as well but I'm not sure that's in the budget for this year.

For the 1/4 mile I'll be looking to get either a drag radial or slicks and skinnies, and for the street/fun lapping I'll be getting some 15x9's with a 225/45 (undecided of which ones to go with atm).

The rest of it my plan for the spring involves playing around with the megasquirt some more to get the most out of it, and finally get the car on the dyno for some tuning.

A few other things need to be taken care of, like building the exhaust, customizing an aluminum rad to move the water neck over for my reroute, and just a bunch of other little things that were looked over in the fall.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

I'd prioritize suspension over brakes. OEM Mazda brakes are actually pretty darn good -- just use decent fluid + pads + maintenance.

On my '90 Turbo, I run well-maintained 1.8 brakes all around and have never had braking issues. I track, in TX heat, a LOT and run decent times.

My '95 track car had the Goodwin BBK when I bought it. Haven't tracked it yet (still rebuilding/bringing it up to snuff). I'm curious to see what the difference is. I suspect there will be little, if any, difference in braking performance but that pads will last longer.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

For brakes I was either going to do the 949racing 11.75" fronts and either 1.8 rears or the FM rear calipers, but after looking around a bunch it doesn't seem many people are bothering with FM's rears since I'm assuming the 1.8 rears with good pads and rotors are getting the job done.

But then I remembered, I have complete front and rear calipers and brackets from when I parted out my '99. They are non-sport calipers, but they would still be an upgrade over my na6 brakes. And with good pads and rotors they should be plenty for this year since I won't be making a tonne of power and will just be doing a few "fun" lapping days. So I think that'll be a smarter way to go for this year, and will free up a lot of money for other parts, such as new coils, swaybars, and all my bushings.

I'm also starting to look at options for seats and harnesses, as well as stiffening up the chassis with some frame rails and the butterfly brace.

When my tax return comes in I will still have a good chunk of change to play around with, so completely redoing the suspension might be a possibility.

curly

iTrader: (25)

door bars. If you really think about it, frame rails provide not much past a strong jacking point. It's strengthening a beam by putting another beam right up against it. Boxing in the car with a door bar provides a much stronger alternative if you can stand the hassle of ingress/egress.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

I was considering door bars but hadn't gotten around to looking at different options yet so I didn't post about them. Definitely something I would be willing to do. I'm not too worried about climbing over them to get in and out of the car.

Would you do a butterfly brace/rails and door bars or would they not make much of a difference after doing door bars?

curly

iTrader: (25)

I've never installed or experienced any of them. But everything I've read has said that the frame rails can't be felt very much, but the door bars make a huge difference.

I'm just saying if it were me, I'd skip the price, weight, and time spent on the frame rails and butterfly brace, and install just the door bars.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Do both.

I did both except i didn't do it all at once. Rip the seats and the carpet out only one time, it's a lot easier. I hated having to do it twice.

After installing the frame rails butterfly brace i felt it. Felt much quicker on turn in and weight transferring.

After the door bars though, that made a huge difference. The car creaked over uneven driveways and what not. It actually felt much much more solid. Stock miata chassis is pretty limp.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

I do like the idea of having my frame rails reinforced since they have already taken a beating. I'll have to decide if the rails and butterfly brace are really worth the extra weight, since keeping weight down could help me reach my goal for the 1/4 this season, although that isn't he most important thing for the car.

If I get them I'll install everything at the same time and likely put in new seats then too so I'm not constantly pulling the same things apart.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

I'd do the frame rails -- not so much for stiffening as for protection. I'd skip the butterfly. Makes everything under the car one huge PITA. Not light either.

For real stiffening, door bars or cage.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Frame rails are VERY worth it. I could literally feel the difference in chassis flex pulling out of the garage. Also, when jacking up the car you can easily tell there is less droop, etc.

And they really don't weigh much at all.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

The butterfly comes with slots in the center section now for a wrench... Not sure how new of an option that is. But it sure as hell beats the one without the slots.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like it'll be frame rails and door bars. I'll skip out on the butterfly brace for now I think.

I'm constantly changing my list of parts I'm ordering as I do more reading and thinking about what my car actually needs. Currently the list looks like this:

FM:
Swaybars
Swaybar endlinks & heavy duty mounts
Frame rails
Master Cylinder Brace & Shock tower brace (any opinions on this? Worth it?

949:
HardDog Door bars
Stage 1 Brakes (1521 compound for the street)

Fab9 Tuning (local to me):
COP Kit
Energy Suspension complete bushing set

Begi:
Meth kit

I'm also looking at slicks and skinnies for the drag strip, wheel and tire options for the street/road course, and different options for seats and harnesses.

All this stuff adds up pretty quick, but I should have some room in my budget for adding other parts that might seem necessary as I come across them.

I know I don't necessarily need the meth kit for my current setup, but I want to learn how to tune for meth this year since I plan to run it for the next part of this build that might happen next winter, and it has always interested me.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

I'm just going to put this out there.

I've sat in a car with hard dog door bars and even for my short stature the bar was intrusive to my left leg. Especially when it was sitting on the dead pedal.

That's why i made my choice to use the boss frog ones, while they may not be better, they do not interfere with my leg at all.

Also, i can't stand the price of these master cylinder braces. I'm thinking i may be able to just make one myself. I am thinking of sending revshift a PM (local to me) to see if he can hook it up with some poly bump stops. If successful i may do a couple more.

BoostedSmurf

iTrader: (1)

Do the boss frog bars work with a Hard Dog rollbar? Who's car did you sit in with the HD bars? I'd love to try them out.

I've been assuming this entire time that the door bars will not interfere with a racing seat when I go to put one in, and maybe they'll work a bit better with a proper seat? (as in not be pushing against my leg)

If you are actually doing this let me know, I'd be interested.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

It was someone from around here. They actually bought a twin turbo setup off this site i think, i can't remember. I don't think the boss frog ones will work with the HD roll bar. Perhaps your best bet is to just match up products you have and suck it up if it gets in the way of your leg. lol

I'll make one, i just gotta get off my lazy ***.