I have the same problem.

 

Haha I've got no idea what to say to that, I'll just smile and nod. But thanks for watching my vids!

 

TIME TO FIRE IT UP
Suffice to say, this was a strenuous and tense moment. Firing up the 'new' engine for the first time.
It all went about as well as we could've asked. As suggested by my Dad, we pulled the spark plugs and spun the motor over for a while to build oil pressure. Then, with the plugs back in, the car started up almost instantly and ran like a dream.
Literally the most thrilling moment you could ever ask for. It really sounded so smooth, and of course that was on the old tune....

The video of that thrilling first start:

Which neatly takes me onto the next step in the process. Dyno time! But more on that to come soon, for now I'll leave you with this picture:

 

Well kinda good news, have had the car out for one test day at Phillip Island. It was a bit of an adventure but overall I can call it a success.
Still taking the time to go at things slowly and not try not to break anything. So with some help from engine management genius Alex, we added some safetys to the ECU, got the car all setup, and started to put some laps in.

In general, the car drives perfect, it's sitting at nice happy oil/coolant temps, and pulls pretty well with the circa 220rkwk/300rwhp.
We fettled with trying to get the electric water pump to be more efficient and responsive to coolant temps to try achieve target in the mid 80's, said fettling came with some pros and cons but in the end I think it's working pretty well now.
I did hit AFR safety cut a few times which can be concerning. Reviewing logs it may be a result of an alternator cutout setting in the ECU resulting in voltage drop, fixed now, we hope, but it'll need another track day to confirm.
And, I am really not enjoying gear changes at all, this 6spd is fairly fresh, but it felt really difficult to use and hard to find the right gear. I'm going to see if I can try a different trans fluid in the hope it may help.

Somewhere along the way I also managed to find the time to redesign the dash again before the track day, made the dash more usable/functional and with again some Lambo inspiration.


The bad news, only had the car out for the one track day so far :-(
Just been busy / otherwise occupied with things and haven't had a chance to get back out. I really need to find a quiet test day to put in a lot of laps and dial everything in, it's hard to do that on a typical busy sprint day, so I think a Friday at Winton is in order.

Video from the day nonetheless:

 

This thing is beastly. Good work man, I'm always watching your vids on youtube and just saw this thread.

 

On the upside, I do have some good excuses for why I haven't had the NB out and about.

For one, we had a great day of fun in both the BEAVIS NA's at Haunted Hills. The red car has more grip, the white car has more power. Ending in somewhat similar laptimes. Both cars run Hawk HP+ brake pads, which performed perfectly. However the red car desperately needs some real shocks, the original stuff from 20 years ago is not doing the car justice.



Secondly, I foolishly spent a day in ankle deep rain supporting the local MX-5 car club skidpan driver skills day. It was actually really great fun, and I wish I'd brought my car along to have a proper go.... but I instead had a great time just helping others in practicing skills in a safe environment. Hopefully next time we'll have a little less rain pouring down.

A video of the Haunted Hills track day for your interest:

 

Well it has been a while since I've been to Winton.
But, finally got back there over the weekend (well, Friday actually) for a test in the Turbo NB. Despite some pretty soggy weather, I am generally quite happy with where the car got to by the end of the day and how the car performed in terms of consistency and reliability.

It's come a long way, have spent a lot of time on building this little fella, it feels good to drive it again. My utmost thanks to Alex for his assistance on the day and his electrical/ECU/etc expertise, the car is running near flawless and it is largely to his credit.
Still more time to improve as always, some slightly damp spots on track and I need to improve brake cooling.

Nonetheless, got a nice 1:32.3 lap in video:

 

Your car sounds wonderful, the engine note is really pleasing.

 

Yeah it does have a striking tone, I'm not sure what causes it exactly, possibly a symptom of the thicker wall mild steel exhaust and the fact it's heat wrapped up to the diff...

 

I have a kraken kit on mine with a 2860, and it really makes a similar noise. Raspy without being harsh. I love it.

 

Well my local MX-5 Club had the opportunity to visit our interstate friends in New South Wales for some friendly State vs State competition. I went along with no intention of doing anything silly, and no high expectations from myself or the car. My number one priority was to bring the car home safely, and hopefully unbroken.

Firstly, some pics:








So at the end of the day I took the car out for one last session. By that time I'd started to get comfortable with the car again and pushed about as hard as I felt safe into the braking zones. Somehow, I found about another half a second improvement on my previous best that I'd set in the session prior to net a 1:02.9. I believe it is even a new club lap record for the our local MX-5 clubs...

I don't know how the car did it, in the grand scheme of things its putting out a comparatively conservative 300hp. That is perhaps a lot of grunt for an MX-5, but there are MANY MX-5's easily pumping out a lot more to the wheels. And it runs the same A050 Yokohamas as many other vehicles, so again, there's nothing that outrageous or special about the car.

A huge thanks to the MX-5 Club for hosting the event, and putting on a wonderfully efficient day. And thanks also to my fellow MX-5 Southerners for helping bring home a club victory.
Finally, and most importantly, utmost thanks to Beavis senior for acting as crew chief for the weekend.

As is the norm, here is a video of a lap around Wakefield Park. This was my best lap of the day with a 1.02.9 in the Turbo NB.

 

So I punched some numbers into excel to see how much this car has cost me...

 

Why would you do this to yourself! Some things are better left unknown

 

I was expecting it to be more in all honesty lol

 

As far as track cars go your car punches well above its weight! I'd be surprised if anything in that price range could hang, other than another well built car, like an s2000 or something.

I love your videos, and you have a similar turbo to me with the same kit, and my car sounds very similar. I love the raspy howl that the kraken kit puts out. Almost rotex'y.

 

Thanks dudes.

Yeah, can confirm, don't show your wives/girlfriends/boyfriends how much you spend on your car!

 

I did. Still married, but she took away my credit/debit cards, but not my PayPal.

 

 

Took my MX-5 out to Winton Raceway last weekend for some fun.
The car is really starting to get settled, and I'm slowly seeing fewer and fewer issues.
And, as such, I'm able to focus more on just driving the thing.

It has quite a bit of pace now, so there is a fair demand on the brain to keep up and be able to focus on where to position the car.

I did have a couple of small issues, firstly I swapped to a 4-port MAC valve, which was plumbed backwards resulting in hitting boost cut, so swapped the hoses on that for an easy fix. And, I am cooking brake fluid after about 4 or so hot laps, so more time needs to be invested in brake cooling, and perhaps better fluid.

In the end the car achieved a 1:28.9 laptime, which I'm fairly confident is the fastest an MX-5 has ever been around the track.

Nonetheless, here's some in-car video.

 

Hey so I've made some changes to the car recently and I haven't had a chance to mention them in detail here, so time for a little update.



BRAKES

Firstly, I've swapped out the front brake calipers and rotors for a new AP Racing based setup sourced from V-Sport in Sydney.

It's an interesting kit, it's chunky... really chunky, but still fits under some 15" wheels.
This AP kit runs a Commodore spec rotor that is available over the counter at almost any parts shop and while it is almost exactly the same diameter as the Wilwood at 296mm, it is critically 28mm thick. The caliper is an AP Racing CP9200, which offers increases in pad area and thickness of roughly 30% over the Wilwood Dynapro4 pad.

I believe I have good reasons for why this is the right move for my car. The larger caliper and rotor make for more thermal mass, as I really felt I was working the old Wilwoods harder than they could cope with. The pad depth is great too, so much more life to a set of pads compared to the little pads of the old Wilwoods.
It's a pricey kit, but if I want to be able to actually drive the car then it is kinda necessary.








That said, this doesn't mean this AP kit is for everyone and it doesn't mean that the Wilwood kits are no good. Do your own research and find the right solution for your application.