Backpressure had something to do with it too IIRC

Joe asked in this thread, and the discussion starts two posts below it:

https://www.miataturbo.net/megasquir...99/#post951029

Higher altitude= Less o2

Less o2 means less combustion of fuel

At least thats how I see it in my head

Just drove my Jetta for the first time in 2 weeks. Holy hell it is weird to have power steering again. It feels so fake compared to manual. Also I turn the wheel way too far. I used to think the Jetta was quick, now it feels like I'm accelerating through molasses. Brakes feel 4 times stronger than the miata, but I do have GTI calipers, brass caliper sliders, etc etc. It is amazingly more comfortable and less twitchy on the highway though. Weird to go from the Miata back to German comfort.


Also, I've been contemplating a future wiring harness redo to clean up the (originally)hacked up harness in my car and came across wiring harness porn for the OCD. Granted my massive amounts of wiring to fix the issues helped clean it up quite a bit, but I still have a long way to go in making it perfect.

This redo will be some time in the future as there is no need to do it right now. I'd love to tear out the entire harness and maybe start with an untouched 90-93 harness from the junk yard, take the loom apart, pin it to the wall, and only leave the stuff I need in it. Then use quality motorsport loom, use crimps instead of solder, quality grommets, relays instead of fuses, and then cry or laugh at how nice it is and how much money I just wasted.

Said wiring porn
Pectel SQ6 wiring loom

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408035053

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408035053

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408035053

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408035053

The quoted statement is accurate for wastegate-only operation. The control on a wastegate is basically a spring and diaghragm with one end open to your engine compartment (i.e., the atmosphere).

Things are different with EBC though. If you use EBC, the reference is an absolute pressure sensor inside the ECU. So the turbo outlet pressure is actually being controlled to a constant level in this case.

Jeff I have been reading this biography of this car for the past week. It sucked to see it get stolen and wrecked but in turn you rebuilt it and made it your own car. And by God it's gorgeous. By the way did they ever catch the thief? Don't think it was ever mentioned? And the old cigarette smoking guy would shit if he see what his car has turned into!

He was never caught unfortunately. Nobody knows how he wasn't found since he was 20 miles up the canyon. Maybe he hid out till the morning and hitched a ride back into town I'm not sure. Sure sucks he was never caught since it makes me nervous.

The car is staying in St George until I find a house to rent with a garage for the right price.

Saying that, now that I know my way around the car, there are about 10 different ways I can ensure the car is never stolen unless they have a flat bed trailer to haul it off with.


In all honesty, as weird as it is to say this, I'm glad it was stolen and wrecked. Sure it was a nightmare initially, but I learned so much about working on cars that I no longer am scared of wrenching on anything anymore. As I've said in the past, before I built it I hadn't done any car modification besides changing the suspension on my Jetta. Plus knowing how to do electrical stuff and knowing how to tune the car is priceless(seriously so glad I know how to do stuff like that now).

Glad you enjoyed the build. I occasionally will read it from the beginning and it is sorta surreal that I did all this. I had a fevered mind at the time with how many hours I put into the car. I hope I never add up how many thousands of hours(and money) I put into the car.

If I ever are the old man again I'm gonna slap the hell out of him for some of the stuff I found out about the car(mainly the crank pulley being hand tight and blowing the engine 15 miles from home).

Well that's great to know. It's always better to wrench on your own vehicle then to pay someone to do it, well to an extent. Well good luck with fine tuning the rest of the tune and getting more comfortable driving it and good luck finding a house w/ garage!

I know how you feel.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408239146

such an odd feel between them.

clutch was the worst. ACT xtreme 6 puck unsprung in the miata, and obvious stock in GTI. GTI is quick, miata was WAY faster

Trying to solve all the little problems with the car to get it ready for a track day in the near future. So I ordered a few things.

2 x SEAL,OIL (MA02-27-238A) (rear diff axle seals, mine are weeping slowly)
1 x ADJUST GEAR (BW0H-26-733) (can not for the life of me find where I put the rear caliper adjusters)
1 x VAC HOSE (NA01-43-640) (brake master hose, mine had been cut in half for the boost gauge T and I'm trying to eliminate points of failure)

Also have the C.C. cable and switch on the way, the last 2 pieces of the puzzle after I received the controller, on/off switch, actuator etc. from Joyrider. Excited to have at least that creature comfort back. Sadly I may have to pull the dash for easy access to all the wires I need.

Now the big decision. I'm trying to bomb proof the car for future track days and/or gentle reassurance of mind. Things on the list I am considering...Not sure which order I will purchase them, but in my mind, the proper order should be:

1) Dyno tune to ensure there are no issues
2) Oil Cooler
3) Better Radiator to control temps(possibly SuperMiata 949Racing when available in Oct)
4) Meth/water injection to protect the motor from possible detonation on 91 octane(screw you Utah)
4) Wilwood front calipers/2 piece rotors/Carbotech 1521 pads

Do you have an oil temp gauge? The information you get from one can be surprising and disappointing. High RPM = High Oil Temps = Low Oil Pressures. The oil cooler I put on the Red car works great, it's also the biggest one I could find. LOL.

I think your first 3 (at least your first 2) are mandatory. Water temp gauge will tell the story on the radiator, but with good ducting, reroute and high track speeds what you have may do well.

Problem with meth/WI is running out of water during a session. That cost me a motor (and, yes, I had a warning light . . . but I was having so darn much fun!). So you're better off tuning out detonation. Since our pistons are oil-cooled, keeping oil temperature in check is also important for det.

OEM brakes work well but will require frequent pad replacement due to taper. The BBKs are mainly for durability, not for braking performance unless you're going as fast as some of the track heavy-hitters. I would not take 1521 pads to the track. XP8 minimum, and, yes, they can be driven on the street just fine. Fresh fluid is just about the most important thing to do for your brakes.

The oil temp gauge will be indicative with the oil cooler. I know I should probably get the data from the gauge first, but I'm sure I'll have a problem with temps with the 2860 and keeping the engine above 3500 for spool.

Trying to decide on 949's oil cooler kit or building one myself with some fancy AN connections. Need to do some pricing research on building it myself/time invested vs just buying it from Emilio and slotting it in the car.

I forgot to add that I just bought another 48x96 ABS plastic sheet. Going to completely retool my radiator cowling/undertray and make it more professional and easy to remove with Dzus Fasteners.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408400779

Good points on the possible worst case scenario on water/meth. After a bit of research it looks like there may be a good solution to changing the timing map in an empty tank/failed sprayer/pump scenario. Still in the back of my mind and probably not going to happen unless I research it some more.

Brakes will be down the line for sure. Mostly looking at the points you addressed in regards to purchasing them.

Carbotech specifically says not to use the 1521 on track, so yea I would choose something a bit more stout for a track pad, especially in a turbo car.

After a month of pretty aggressive driving I only pulled a Teaspoon of oil out of the catch can. Pretty damn happy about that. Much much less than I was pulling before...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408639421

Not bad sir. I'm glad to see everything is all rainbows, kittens, and ponies in this thread. (for now.. muahahaha)

that's not bad at all. motor is pretty healthy apparently

Yeah that is what I am hoping as well. Gotta remember that the engine only had 15k on it, after it was built, when I bought it. So it is still pretty fresh.

And fire, yes I'm happy all is well, besides needing new diff seals. After the latest on EO2K and Turbofan's developments we need some happy.

Also we need Vlad to turbo his Miata again.

+1

YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND

:party:

Damn right it is! Plus you owe me because of this statement way way back in the thread...

You obviously need to hit the track to get some oil flowing in that catch can.

:bowrofl:

Slowly but surely I am getting there. Setting up a dyno in a couple weeks(after my new employees get trained enough to not babysit them).

I think I will pick up an oil cooler before I do a track day. Although, the engine was tracked many times without one with no apparent damage so......maybe not absolutely necessary?

I so wish the Supermiata radiator would be coming sooner than the end of October.

Then I need to pick up a decent helmet, some more track appropriate shoes(all mine are not the best) and maybe some gloves too(or just use some long fingered mountain biking gloves). Then build up a little track repair kit in case of teh sad.

For the helmets, the SA2015 will be out relatively soon, so I hear, so you might wait til then if you can.

Otherwise, the racequips from Fab9 are nice. Just got mine in the mail the other day.

With 2015s coming out, that means SA2010s will soon be on G-Force's close-out website. You can find some smoking deals there! G-Force Racing - CLOSEOUT SPECIALS

we need more pictures of awsome shit you've done...come on!

:laugh:

props

Edit: I need to remember to hit refresh before posting... re: 18psi owes you...

F having to explain why i'm laughing... this wouldn't happen in real life.

I owe you?

YOU'RE WELCOME

:party:

So this happened last night...I'm excited as hell.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408694637

Pretty sure I'm going to embarrass myself pretty impressively. Sadly I am the only one so far in the SSM class.

Maybe that is a good thing, since I'm pretty sure this is how I'll look to the other drivers that day....

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408694637

And so starts the long downhill decline from turbo street car to NA track car to "super miata" clone build.

I've seen it a dozen times...

That's awesome. You'll have a blast.

LOLOLOLOLOL. :bowrofl::bowrofl::bowrofl:

Take my advice, don't deturbo the street car . . . take this opportunity to add to the fleet! Everyone needs AT LEAST TWO Miatas.

This is a good thing, it guarantees a top 3 finish in your class ;)

You really think I'd strip down this car to build a Super Miata clone? I couldn't do that to this car, it'd break something inside of me.

Also no boost? Fuck that noise, or lack thereof. After driving the CO Miata back to Utah I felt like the fun had been taken away.
No, nope, uh uh. I refuse to buy another project car(c'mon willpower, "I'm strong enough, good enough, and gosh darn it....I simply can't afford it!")

If anything, if I do an NA car for the track it will be a tube frame Exocet car. No body panels or anything annoying to deal with.

:bowrofl:

But where is the fun without competition? Kidding, I'm not going to go too crazy(wow, yeah, I've said that before).

It'll just be fun to go fast and not break the law to be honest. Every time I drive the Miata on public roads I feel like I'm very close to getting a ticket.

Take your go-pro! It's going to be sick to see this car is action.
Good luck

Picked up a G-Force SA2010 helmet for this weekend. Bought the carbon fiber version due to a couple compressed vertebrae in my neck when I was younger. Read from many a review that states it weighing <3lbs, which is pretty good for the price.

It also has predrilled HANS mounting points, good ventilation, and a pretty good viewing angle.

Don't care too much for the omgflamez, but for $280(Amazon), who cares. Also for those saying you need to try it on first, it is Amazon Prime(painless returns) and my head size memorized from many a bicycle/motorcycle helmet used in my lifetime.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408980617
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408980617
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1408980617

Flames probably peel off.

Oregonmon on here was saying his pre-drilled Bell wasn't drilled correctly for the hans. Slightly too high and rear iirc

dude.

real cf is the business. very naice

$270? That's not bad at all. I'm still using a loaner helmet from a co-worker that I really should return, seeing as I've had it for 6 years now :giggle: Its a HJC carbon fiber motorcycle helmet so every time I've gone out and looked for a regular SA helmet, I'm always annoyed and disappointed with the weight.

Methinks Prime may be a decent way to shop helmets, seeing as I can't find any locally

I have more than paid the Prime membership fee in shipping costs avoided. You simply can't beat their return policy or their 2 day shipping, which has rarely been late.

I buy everything from Amazon if I can.

Curly I hope the HANS location isn't a similar problem with these helmets...

They don't. I have the same helmet. It also isn't much lighter than the standard version. Slightly disappointed, but not enough to worry about it.

So I have a question. Is this event worth the $375 they are asking? Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch(45 miles west of Las Vegas) is having a two day drivers education event in September. First part of the first day is classroom instruction followed by instructors being in the car with you to teach you proper car control, etiquette, etc etc.

Without having looked into it too much as of yet, is this a useful allocation of funds? $375 isn't a lot of money, but it may be compared to other tracks and the cost of their programs. Also, it is also a lot of money that could be put towards the car(id1000s/radiator/oil cooler).

I am leaning towards it, not for the DE permit, but to learn how to drive properly on the track before I form bad habits that I need to unlearn. I don't want to be "that guy" on the track that does something improper and potentially wreck myself and/or someone. I also for the first time feel the need to increase my driving skill because of the car I'm driving. When I'm at full tilt driving this thing, it is a little intimidating due to what the car is capable of.

I'm a fairly competent driver, and have been driving fast motorcycles/cars all my life with a father that was VERY strict when it comes to driving both correctly. I am more aware of things going on around me than the average driver, but I know both those things mean exactly Jack & Shit(and Jack left town) when it comes to racing.

The PCA Las Vegas Goodie Store - Events - Drivers Ed and Open Track Event

sounds just like an HPDE.

high performance driver education.

Autocross event? This is separate from this weekends autocross I have planned.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409140419

HPDE is the common name for an open track day where you are not competitively racing. The price is inline with what I pay for two days at Sebring with an instructor but that is two days out on the track with intermittent classroom sessions to discuss techniques and what you have applied.

Looks like Brain ninja edited hence my autocross confusion response.

Yup, looks like an HPDE event. The class time for the first day is around 3 hours then Skid pad, lead car follow, instructor training in car the rest of the day. Sunday is all track time.

Red Group - Advanced
Green Group - Intermediate
White Group - Novice
Yellow Group- Student
DAY ONE
7:00am Gates Open – Registration and Tech Begin
8:15am Mandatory Drivers Meeting
8:45am Instructors Meeting
9:00am Red Group on Track
9:00am Yellow Group to Classroom
9:30am Green Group on Track
10:00am White Group on Track
10:00am Yellow Group on Skid Pad
10:30am Red Group on Track
11:00am Green Group on Track
11:30am White Group on Track
12:00pm Yellow Group on Track for Lead-Follow
12:30pm Track Closed for Lunch
1:00pm Red Group on Track
1:30pm Green Group on Track
2:00pm White Group on Track
2:30pm Yellow Group on Track
3:00pm Red Group on Track
3:30pm Green Group on Track
4:00pm White Group on Track
4:30pm Yellow Group on Track
5:30pm GATES CLOSE
DAY TWO
7:00am Gates Open - Registration and Tech Begin
8:15am Mandatory Drivers Meeting
8:45am Instructors Meeting
9:00am Red Group on Track
9:30am Green Group on Track
10:00am White and Yellow Group on Track
10:30am Red Group on Track
11:00am Green Group on Track
11:30am White and Yellow Group on Track
12:00pm Track Closed for Lunch
1:00pm Red Group on Track
1:30pm Green Group on Track
2:00pm White and Yellow Group on Track
2:30pm Red Group on Track
3:00pm Green Group on Track
3:30pm White and Yellow Group

Two day events in my area are usually around $315. So, pretty much in line.

You're foolish if you don't actively seek instruction. Sebastian Vettel has a coach too.

Yes, it's worth it. Do it.

I've been to SMMR twice and it's one of my favorite tracks I've ever been to. It's got a mix of high speed high horse power biased sections and autoX sections that are compromise and force you to drive the shortest distance instead of the traditional line. (run on sentence much).

It would be a fantastic track to be coached on. A weekend there with an instructor would be money well spent for sure... in addition the price is right. Track days on tracks as good as SMMR are usually 200ish a day. It's a top notch facility.

That being said Pahrump is miserable. I'd suggest getting one of their condo units. There isn't a single decent damn thing to eat in the entire town. Fortunately you'll be exhausted so you'll just need sustenance and bed.

Vettel needs it too, he's getting sh*t stomped by his teammate on a regular basis!

LOL. I was thinking that when I wrote it. Fun seeing Daniel's beaming face on the top step. Surprised his face doesn't break he's smiling so hard.

Cool, good info. I appreciate the feedback all.

I was never suggesting that I wouldn't get an instructor to help, just wasn't sure if the price was right for it. Good to hear it is such a good track as well. I honestly had never heard of it before I saw the listing. Weird ass place for a track though, never even heard of Pahrump and I've driven past it several times on the way to slot canyons in California.

Just cleaned the shit out of my car after I got caught in a huge desert rain storm last night. Rain mixed with brake dust is a recipe for very strong glue. Best $100 I spent on the car was getting the wheels ceramic coated to protect them and make them easier to clean. Just takes a minor amount of soap/degreaser and a little agitation from a brush to remove it all.

Dark Bronze brake dust color(looks worse irl)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409165513

Shiny Gold

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409165513

Actual work done on the car! Received the diff seals and new brake booster line and threw ehm in last night.

Had to remove the V Band on the midpipe to get at the drivers side but otherwise it went without a hitch. As usual, since it was my first time it took me an hour or two longer than it would take me to do it a second time. I'll be honest, most of the time was spent cleaning the rear/front subframes...

I thought I had a slight vacuum leak for my brakes and rather than trust the vacuum line that came with the car(cut for boost gauge) a new one was cheap and good peace of mind.

old

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409316429

New

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409316429

Stub axle flange removed and cleaned up a little

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409316429

light corrosion on the seal contact area

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409316429

Used 2k grit sandpaper and polished it up.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409316429

used the old seal on top of the new seal and a tapped it in slowly.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409316429

Then simply hammered the flange back in, torqued the nuts to 42 ft/lbs and was ready to go.

I also got the rear brake pad adjuster and finally got my emergency brake working properly. Nice to be able to be in neutral without my foot on the brake anymore.

fwiw there's a check valve in the booster line, did you replace it?

Check valve was in the line already. Just in case I blew into each end to make sure.

Also, the axle flange really hurts like hell when it suddenly pops off and hits you in the head.:facepalm:

need vid. :giggle:

Sweet merciful Cthulhu that was the most fun I have ever had...ever

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409441208

I'll upload some videos later, unfortunately my camera died before my two best runs.

It took me about 9 runs to understand how to drive the car correctly. Luckily everyone was super friendly and unbelievably helpful in teaching me how to drive correctly. I was just too damn heavy on the throttle and too late on the brakes for most the day. Too twitchy on the steering wheel, which gave me wy more dorifto than I wanted.

Too give you an idea, here are my tires after the day was over.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409441208

By the end of the day I was feathering my throttle a lot better through the turns, rolling the car smoothly through the sections, and finding the grip limit of the Rivals. I had to lower my tire pressure to around 25 psi before I stopped getting the feeling of having the tires coated in oil(102º outside). Luckily a kind gentleman let me borrow his pyrometer to give me a more accurate idea of tire pressure needed.

Fastest time of the day was a guy in a crazy Miata with no windshield, 275 Hoosiers, turbo'd, and a shit load of talent. He put down a 65.58.

I started out getting DNF'd the first four times due to missing a gate I was overlooking. I managed not to strike a single cone. My times were 79, 78,78,77,75,75,75,87(almost missed a cone turn in). The on my very last run I put down a 72.11. It was like everything suddenly clicked and I understood how to keep everything in line properly and hit the apex's correctly.

Sadly it didn't count due to the guy before me having a timing board issue. Luckily they let me do a rerun and I put down a 71 flat that was my fastest time of the day.

Really glad I was able to get close to 70 seconds on 225 Rivals. Most the people in the 60's were running Hoosiers, but regardless of that, they were really good drivers.

Was a super fun learning experience. The car performed flawlessly, it never overheated or did anything weird. Just super reliable 25 constant psi and I never once hit my 280kpa boost limit.

It was funny to see everyone crowd around the car and ask a bunch of questions about it. No one could believe me that it put out ~300hp until they saw the car on the track and a couple people did a ride along with me. Crazy how many Miatas there were. I counted around 10, and 2 were turbo'd.

Got a ride in a guys turbo tube frame rotary RX-7 that held traction so well around the corners he scared me at one point.

Anyways. I'll stop rambling like a highschool girl who had her first kiss and just say I am glad there is another day of this tomorrow. We are doing the layout in reverse this time which should prove to be pretty interesting.

I'll get some videos up later once I have the brain power to do so. Standing in the sun for 10 hours wears you out. Especially running out on the track constantly to reset the cones.

Man, just wait until you get on a road course at speed for 30 minutes.

wow, sounds like you just popped your cherry.

in before serious track/auto-x addiction

Cherry is indeed popped

If I had any shred of self respect I wouldn't post the two following videos. They are my first two runs of the day and they make me look comically bad.

Sit back, crack a beer, enjoy.:noob:

Sorry, these are the only two that turned out ok from the day. My mount vibrated the camera into focusing on the passenger seat the rest of the day.

Popped? Nope, sorry, you've been kissed. Like all good Mormon girls, I expect you to sign up for that HPDE and go to Vegas to get popped!

Let me illustrate:

Kissed:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1409441208

Popped:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1409521050

:bowrofl:

For goodness sakes, build yourself one of these:
https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...6/#post1100556

Also, don't you dare show up at a road course with 300RWHP and boosting 21psi. 30 minutes on a road course is a different animal entirely from 70 seconds at an autocross. Detune a bit and give yourself and your car a chance.

:dealwithit:

Point made Rick!:bowrofl:

Next time will be different!