Sick shot! You got me fair and square! I was hoping to best my time from last year but my transmission had other ideas..

I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings time wise, interested to see what comes out of the woodwork..

 

Good stuff guys! Way to represent!

Always love seeing collab posts on here

Also, definitely not jealous of those of you who made it out to summer camp. Maybe next year.

 

This is like a Marvel vs. DC crossover movie. I never thought I'd see two legends in such close proximity!

 

Hell yeah. Great work, both of you!

Bahaha. Dude, your comment made our most stoic friend laugh out loud last night. Thank you for that.

 

Fast lap:

 

Moar pics from Summer Camp:



MT.net crew...


Cool NC K swap



Super cool NA K swap



Super dooper cool NB Coupe



FM lot on Saturday

 

Congratulations on the win and great driving! It was awesome hanging out with you, and thank you for the pictures.

I see what you mean about the 6 speed being busy with a K. You made 10 shifts per lap in that little track!

 

It was seriously great hanging out with you and your wife, thanks again for the hospitality! The car is a work of art in person. Between yours and Tim's NA's, I'm a bit annoyed that the fastback NA won the car show aspect. And good driving out there, you earned it, your 102.32 beat out my 102.38 from last year as well! I really would like to hook up with you at HPR one of these days, maybe I could follow you and you could show me the track. I've been dying to get out there and it's not too bad of a trip for me. I think some of the other NM guys were interested in coming up as well.

 

Getting your money's worth out of those curbs! I swear I'm gonna make it out to Summer Camp one day. Sounds like you guys had a blast.

 

I'm a little tired of the 6 speed transmission... I thought it was a necessary upgrade when I was considering turbocharging the BP, and I do think it helped lap times with the BP at 135whp. With the K swap, I don't think it's necessary anymore. After looking at other drivers' results with similar cars and 5 speeds, looking at data and modeling it on the sim, I decided I wanted to try going back to a 5 speed. Should lower the driver workload, and any performance decrease from gearing should be offset by shifting less. As I noted in a previous post, a very similar local car, running similar lap times with a 5 speed was shifting 4 times per lap compared to my 12 times per lap with the 6 speed.

I found an NB 5 speed out of a 120k mile car in Tucson, so on our monthly Sam's Club run today I swung by and picked it up. Moves through the gears and turns fine, we'll see how it does when it's installed. NA won't be back on track until it cools off in late September, so I've got plenty of time to go through it and do the swap.

 

Cool! I'd prefer a 5 speed too, if I didn't need the extra strength. What rear end are you gonna run with it?

And if you decide to part with it.. bring it to summer camp next year and maybe we can make a deal. I've found one for now but I'm going to be looking for a spare.

 

Currently running a 4.1 diff. With the shorter 245/40-15 it's like running a 4.3 with a 225/45-15. Should be a good combo.

I was definitely thinking of you for the 6 speed... It will be a while until I'm sure one way or another.

 

5 speed + 4.1 was excellent, it's what I was running in my car. Giving 6 speed + 3.9 a shot this time around. We'll see, I don't like the idea of the same top end with the extra shift, but if it holds the power reliably I'll be happy!

 

I think you'll like the 5 speed a lot more. I'm at stock power with a 5 speed and can't think of any of our local tracks where I'm shifting anywhere near 12 times a lap. I get wanting to stay near peak power but I'd assume all that shifting has to add up to quite a big hit to "total time on power" or whatever you'd call it. I know at AMP specifically (rip) I was something like half a second faster not shifting at a turn or two where it sounded like the right thing to do, but wasn't worth the extra time spent off the gas shifting.

 

AMP wasn't bad with the 6 speed, nor is INDE, though there were a couple corners there I took in a higher gear at the expense of some rpm. Podium, especially CCW, is terrible. The combination of slower speed corners and short straights in the back section make for a lot of shifting.

 

I know everyone in this conversation probably already knows this, but if the number of shifts with the 6 speed is the complaint, a 3.63 final drive is the answer. Shift points from gears 1-4 are basically identical with a 6sp/3.63 and a 5sp/4.3. Or you can go for the aftermarket 3.3 FDR if that's still too much shifting. I've no experience with on track 6 speed shift quality, but it seems to be fine on my garage floor...

I'm late here, but regarding the exhaust hanger isolators - those seem to be meant as compression mounts for machinery, with the studs pointing up and down. Shear loading probably doesn't suit them, and I would guess they don't fare much better in tension. A few years ago I grabbed some exhaust hangers off of a Fiat Abarth out of a dumpster that totally wasn't on company property. They're silicone rubber with a wrap of nylon string around them to limit maximum travel. I've tried them on the Miata, but in the end I just wound up using a hose clamp on my stock rubber mounts to mimic the same function.

 

I do have a 3.63 diff sitting around, and had considered that path. It's a Fuji, though, and would have needed a diff upgrade. 5 speed was a cheaper experiment. Also, the 6 speed does not shift as well as the 5 speed, and I have had a few missed shifts on track with it.

You are correct that the mounts I'm using for exhaust are not really intended for that purpose. They're still the best solution so far... Thanks for reminding me I need to order more of them.

 

I'm running the 6 speed/3.63 and was running a 5spd/4.3. The 6/3.63 combo results in *slightly* shorter 3-5 gears. That's interesting regarding a 3.3, I didn't know that FD was available. Depending on what you want, a 3.3 FD would give you a 5 spd/4.3 w/ slightly taller gears, and a much taller 6th for cruising. The 5 spd definitely shifts better but I think the 6 spd is still good. I had a couple mishifts this past weekend but it was when I wasn't consciously thinking about selecting a gear and was sort of automatically going for a gear. Personally, I'll take the slightly worse shift quality if that means the gearbox will stay together.

 

Here are the breakdowns with a 245 tire (22.6 diameter) -

5 speed/ 4.1


6 speed / 3.63

With the 5 speed I would be in 3-4 for almost all of the tracks I regularly visit, with the occasional 2nd gear for really slow corners. There, the extra 4mph of headroom with the 5 speed is pretty useful. I'm not sure the increased drive in 3-4 is worth the upshift to 5th that would be needed a lot more with the 6 speed. And 4-5-4 is where I usually had shifting issues with the 6 speed.

 

I find that my 10ae downshifting 6-5, or like you mentioned the 4-5-4 shifts to be interesting. Like, if I forget about it, I'll be unable to find 5th in that downshift, or the upshift to it. Or if I think about it too hard, I might miss it too. It's not a bad feeling shift when you nail it, to me it just seems the location of that gate, and my brain being hard wired for a 5 speed, makes it tricky.

With a 5 speed every single gear is a no brainer, autopilot style. I've never had an issue on any of my 5 speeds.

Not to say I think the 6 speed is bad, and that's with a stock shifter. I bought a miataroadster shifter to give that a shot on my new 6 speed in hopes it helps. Also I figure once I get some 6 speed seat time on track I might hammer it into my brain better. I do believe that 6 speed ratio spread is technically optimal over the 5 speed, I.E. using 4/5/6 instead of 3/4/5 has a better (closer) spread for ultimate lap time. But that's older data from some of the CA track guys I read on here years ago, not sure if that logic is still the prominent thought now days.