Kaiko - Supermiata NC track toy
 

After so many street and track miles racked up in Kaiko while developing NC Xidas, we have decided to flesh it out into a fully sorted track toy. Up to now, our NC2 has been run bone stock with just Xidas and a range of different wheel/tire combos. Nothing done to it just yet. Dropping off to get flares installed and car painted in a few weeks. We chose the 30AE orange with some fine metallic flakes sprinkled in. It's almost identical to our semi-famous 949 Racing orange so kind of a no brainer.

We'll update this thread as we go

Our project goals:
-Streetable HPDE track toy
-Almost fully bolt on. Minimal or no fabrication.
-Bone stock long block, minimal mods underhood
-Utterly reliable so none of usual radical experimentation. Our definition of reliable is endurance race-like: 3 drivers running 5 sessions a day for a full weekend in 90° heat = 5-6 hrs per weekend with nothing more than bolt and fluid checks. Our FRS project car "Blub" pulls this feat off without fuss.
-Balanced handling vs power. We think around 280whp should work nicely with the other mods we have planned.

We want to run our new 18x10 6UL design that's in the prototyping stages. No ETA on wheels but we have two new designs, gravity cast, forged CNC options in addition to our classic low pressure cast-flow formed in development :). With the bump travel Xidas allow, that means flares. Carbon Miata FRP flares in this case. To push those meats we'll need a bit more power. We have settled on a BBR stage 2 turbo kit. That's the basic outline and dictates most of the other mods.

We're looking into a shorter 6th gear for the transmission. Our calcs show the stock 4.1 diff ratio will pair nicely with our power level but 6th kinda useless. We installed a lower 6th gear in Blub and it's perfect. Guessing around 2380lbs w/o driver or fuel.

Our plan/ parts list so far. We have a bunch of stuff on order already. We hope to have it build and sorted by January 2022. Long shot is getting it at least partially finished so we can take it to Miata Reunion in October at NJMP.
Everything on this list is subject to change as we go. We'll see how things mesh and make changes if and when they're needed. This is gonna be fun!

Drivetrain
- Blueprinted 6 spd from Walter Motorsports
- Custom tuned OS Giken diff
- Sprung plate , twin disc OS Giken clutch
- Setrab diff and trans coolers under back of car

Suspension
- NC Xida single adjustable, 600/400
- Protoype Supermiata end links
- Prototype Supermiata sintered oilite 863/urethane control arm bushing set
- Racing Beat front, Whiteline rear sway bars
- Prototype BX13 Boxmount Wilwood Superlite BBK. This kit should be available around the end of the year.
- Wilwood prop valve plumbed in
- Endless 650 brake fluid
- Supermiata brake hoses
- RX8 hubs
- ARP wheel studs
- 949 Racing 18x10 forged CNC 6UL
- 949 Racing forged lugs
- 949 Racing high temp alloy valves

Engine bay
-BBR stage 2 GT2860R intercooled turbo kit
- Delicious tuning flexfuel kit
- Tuning by Delicious Tuning
- CSF radiator
- Setrab 100 series oil cooler, -10 hoses. This might become a Supermiata kit.
- GWR exhaust, not sure which one yet

Aero/ body

- paint: 30AE orange with fine metallic flakes
- DG Motorsport carbon hard top, color matched
- APR GT-250 high mount wing
- DIY alumalite (10mm) 5" splitter
- ETX14 powersports AGN battery
- Supermiata 50mm steering wheel spacer
- Delete soft top
- Hard Dog Hard Core single diagonal, color matched
- OMP HTE-R400 driver seat
- OMP HTE-R passenger seat, which is a bit wider than the 400
- PCI adjustable seat brackets
- Element fire suppression stick
- Aim Solo 2 logger
- Racequip 6 pt FIA pull down camlock harnesses
- Trackspec hood vents

For anyone interested in wheels, shoot us an email and ask to be put on the wheel & NC mailing lists; info@949racing.com. We'll have an offline sneak peek in a month or so.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1fe89d750f.jpg

I am looking forward to some NC 6UL's and Xidas.

You planning on doing a 2.5 swap or sticking with the 2.0?

Stock NC2 motor. Only need around 275whp to make it work like we want. Easily hit with a 2860 and around 10psi

Only need a Rotrex to blow up an NC2 motor (and was tuned by Delicious so no problem there).

Y'all are really gonna make me stop doing anything with my NB and just play with the NC.

That is not a bad idea. I am slowly moving firmly into the NC camp.

NCs are becoming a great value, crazy covid spike aside. After finally messing with a NC, I won't ever prep a NA/NB for the street again. Track prep is still up in the air for me..... as I finally finished the kswap.

Also, let it be noted on 6/28/21 this build is set for the following. Bets on when it'll progress to "So we decided to head to SLB and then we added......." :rofl:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9a5b93cfdd.jpg

I'm curious if there will be any oil starvation issues in the 2.0 MZR like some of the 2.5 GLTC guys have been struggling with.

Good luck with the build!

Also E, why are you not just planning on doing your own tuning with ROMDROP? After seeing what you can do with the stock ECU with just a tactrix cable, I can't ever imagine paying for a closed tune.

Frankly, I just don't want to be bothered. Bill knows what he's doing. I worked with him on Blub's tune, providing some input and suggestions. But he did all the work remotely.The resulting tune is money. For Kaiko he'll tune it live on the dyno. He has base maps to start with and does MZR's so for me, its the Easy Button. We are also not going for kill mode type of power. A 400 horsepower NC would need a different transmission, different gearing, much bigger brakes, and start to be too fast for HPDE level safety equipment. If I were on a tighter budget and had more time to spend on it, yes I would do it myself.

Big picture, I want to get the car done as quickly as possible and have it be stone reliable like Blub.

Marcus,
lol, I guess I earned that. We have had our fair share of wacky moonshot projects over the years. But the last 3-4 years have forced us to really focus on being efficient and making sure we have good ROI on project cars. We have also fallen in love with Blub. That car is so fast, fun to drive, comfortable and reliable. It's like the perfect HPDE Beast. We want more of that. The beauty of this project is that it parallels what many NC or owners want to do with their cars too. Having a clear idea of what the car is going to be when it's done and sticking to that pays dividends.

On a personal note, I have lost some of the fire for competition that I once had. Pretty much won everything I set out to win. Most of my competitive spirit is focused on bike racing these days. Now I just want to win HPDE :p

A few updates

Probably switching to a different wing. Talking to John Nguyen of Trackspec/ G Stream about a custom built 800 foil, 71" span x 12" chord. Custom mounts attaching to tub then poking out through bumper skin. https://www.g-stream.com/

We tried the Carbon Miata flares. Beautiful shape, good fit and the right size but they are designed to be glassed or bonded in. No provision for riveting. So we're switching to the large DG motorsport flares pictured below (not Super20). We'll rivet them on, cut away the fenders underneath and paint match everything. Lotsa room for the beefy 265/35 Goodyear SC3R's on forged 18x10 6UL's it'll run. If anyone wants that set of Carbon Miata NC flares, $299 with free shipping, contact us. Pics are DG flares we found on the web.

Decided not to run the BBR GT2860 based kit. Neil McKay of BBR let us know that their high mount kit isn't intended for hard track use. Fine for the occasional trackday or autox but not the kind of extended hours we'll put on it with a two pro drivers. Instead we're doing a Glease Manufacturing low mount manifold and DP with an EFR6258 instead.

PCI seat brackets arrived. Slider on the drivers side, fixed on the pax side.

Work progressing on the BX13 Boxmount BBK. Yesterday we scanned the knuckle and hub so we can model it inside the 18" 6UL with the brake ducts and all.

We're doing things a bit backwards as we'll do the bodywork and paint first, then start bolting go fast bits afterwards. Really anxious to see that metallic Racing Orange.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...939adefe9a.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d77108b637.jpg

Oh, well now that (EFR) makes this even more interesting to me. This will be great.

I'm finishing my top mount fab9 GT2860RS kit install right now and really wish I'd done bottom mount EFR. I primarily went top mount for easier maintenance access, but turns out access to all the turbo bits is terrible with top mount because it's all packed so tight between the bundle of brake lines and ABS pump and the valve cover. Bottom mount would have better heat management and equal or better maintenance access, especially with relocated mazda3 alternator.

Yup, that's part of what Neil spoke of with the BBR too. Less cooling, and troubled packaging. Great street kit but not the ideal config for a near race set up.

Playing around with our gearing calculator. You can download and input any ratios, tire diameters you like. The calc uses OD which tends to be larger than static loaded radius. So all the speed in gears will be slightly higher than actual due to the tire being effectively shorter once it's loaded.

http://supermiata.com/server/949Raci..._chart_web.xls

6th is a bit too tall for track use. In Blub, our project 86, we dropped the 6th gear ratio from OEM .767 to .861 with an aftermarket 6th gear (Mfactory). That makes 6th useable on track. Ideally, we could find an .88 or .89 6th gear for Kaiko but it doesn't seem to exist. So we'll have a big jump to 6th. I'd also like taller 1st and 2nd but nothing available there either. Gen 1 RX8 is bit better but not enough improvement to be worth the hassle.

Since we're using the stock NC2 longblock, we'll stick with the OEM 7500rpm redline. I don't think we'll ever need ~163 of top end. Realistically, we might hit 145 or so at Willow Springs. Going shorter final drive gets us there but then makes 1st, 2nd even more useless. This strategy is what we do on the NA/NB. 6spd with low final drive so 1-2 are for loading on trailer, leaving you with a very close ratio four speed (3-4-5-6) for road course.

Most here are looking for the opposite, lowering highway revs and the expense of staying in the powerband on track.

Anyway, this is a screen shot of the worksheet I was playing with this morning.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...65d91fef66.jpg

Chrome refused to download the file - silently - when I followed your link. I was able to get it by right-click save-as, and then when it told me it couldn't download the file securely, right clicking and doing "keep".

YMMV

Make sure you account for the differing 6th gear ratios between nc1 and nc2/3 transmissions if you are bolting in unopened stock units. Nc1 6th is .832 and nc2/3 is .787.

Yup. Lee is using an NC1 .832 6th in ours, per our request.

Drop in a shifter and row that walter box through the gears before putting it in the car. I know of multiple Walter NC 6sp boxes (including mine) that wouldn't shift when they arrived. One of the internal shift rods can get bumped out of position during shipping and you just have to pull the top access plate off and move the rod back into the correct position. It's a super easy fix if you catch it before installing the box but can't be done in the car.

Also, pro-tip: Any time you remove the top access plate, make sure the box is laying flat and leaned toward the left/driver side. There's a brass bushing that will fall into the box if it's leaning over to the right, and it's not fun to fish out.

Thanks for NC knowledge!
(keep it coming)

Built 6 spd with NC1 6th gear from Walter Motorsports arrived. We're developing a Sport Clutch for both 5spd/6spd NC. Like our NA/NB clutches, we'll offer the sprung puck and sprung hybrid/organic disc. We have a Supermiata light aluminum flywheel ready to go.
Custom tuned OS Giken arrived.
Hard Dog single diagonal roll bar arrived. Getting it paint matched with the body. 30AE Racing Orange (same as 949/Supermiata orange) with a bit of metalflake in it.
Carbon DG Motorsports hard top and big flares here in a few days. All will be painted body color.
PCI seat brackets arrived.

Trying to get the flares, roll bar and all paintwork done first.

Flares and hard top arrived from DG today. Fit on top appears to be good. Finish, I'd give a 7/10. Not show, or even OEM quality finish but it's a track rat and we're painting it anyway. Minor shipping damage too. Harumph.
My expectations were low, and they were met. Top is 26.8 lbs with acrylic rear window and all seals.
Eager to get the paint and body work done. Gonna be hot.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ab0a23812a.jpg

Last bits arrived so we can finally go to paint:
G-Stream Comp800 wing in 68"

Trackspec Motorsports bits
Hood vents are from their C5 kit. https://trackspecmotorsports.com/c5-...ide-louver-set
3D molded wicker for vents https://trackspecmotorsports.com/sho...-wicker-gurney
Fender vents are their universal 4x12 https://trackspecmotorsports.com/uni...l-hood-louvers

The foil in particular, is beautiful. Has a wickerbill integrated into the design.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4707a53dcf.jpg

No going back. First self tapping sheet metal screw to locate the flares. After paint, we'll re-attach with nutserts and stainless button head fasteners.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...679a42fb25.jpg

Hood vents from Trackspec Motorsports https://trackspecmotorsports.com/
These are C5 hood vents. The fenders and liner will be cut away under the fender vents so they'll be functional.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1a7253c1cc.jpg

Cut here..

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cb566ac5b6.jpg

For big meats

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4769de3787.jpg

Daaamn, those flares are huge :)

Pictured are 17x8 +45, 215/45
18x10 +35 with 265/35 going on. Hoping the flares are big enough.

This is going to be fun

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...edd8609eec.jpg

Work in progress. Basic shaping done. Now to seal everything. The sharpie mark on the fender is where the DG flare will sit so the rough bits will be covered. Goal was to get max bump travel and tire clearance.
No paint samples yet. We're starting with a formula I came up with:
Mazda Racing Orange A8X
Add 1 part silver .004 hex metal flake
Add 1 part gold .004 hex metal flake

Just how much flake, remains to be seen. Vegas was our 949 Racing/ Supermiata Orange (based on a Fiat color) with fat orange bass boat flakes. I want a bit more pearly effect for Kaiko.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...46750c949e.jpg

So anxious to see the final paint color. I miss my Spicy Orange Mica Miata - that metallic pearl shine was amazing.

I dig that color. That's essentially the effect that I'm going for.

Just realized its the 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege color

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b1d2570d22.jpg

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod...s-original.jpg

Flatout Orange
 

oh my

You can see both the silver and gold flakes. A bit pearly from 5' away when the light hits it so. Pure orange straight on. Exactly what I visualized when I planned the formula. So happy it turned out.
My formula:
Mazda Racing Orange A8X
Add 1 part silver .004 hex metal flake
Add 1 part gold .004 hex metal flake


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e8761866d7.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b8dbe6ee6f.jpg

I hope y’all have fun.

I try.. but in my heart… the NC will never be a real Miata. I just can’t like it. Took me like 10 years to accept the nb.


***Keep up the negcats... NA miata is still best

I get it, I was in the same boat (pun intended). I drove a few stock ones, one with crap lowered suspension and a 1st gen MX5 cup cars with Sachs race shocks. The HPDE cars all were boring, dull and had crap balance. The cup car was fast and handled well but I still didn't like it dynamically.
Then our team spent a year dialing in Xidas on Kaiko. We all fell in love with it. Shocks transform the car. A well maintained NA6 on stock shocks is still fun, has perfect balance, just slow. A well maintained but stock NC1 is dull as a butter knife. They really come alive with the right shocks.

My favorite bone stock Miatas, in order

1. NA6 C package
2. ND2 Club
3. NB1 Sport Package
4. NC3 club
5. NA8 R package
6. The rest don't matter

My favorite Miatas after a few mods, in order

1. ND2
2. NC2/3
3. NB2
4. NA6
5. ND1
6. NA8

My daily is a 30AE with Xida ACE, 17x9 with 245 Conti ECS, seat lowering kit and steering wheel spacer. The rest is untouched and I love it.

I must admit that I Googled "seal lowering kit" before I figured out you meant "seat". Yup, the ND2 will (knock on wood) likely be my last street Miata.

We have a lot of stuff to do when Kaiko gets back here. Painter is wrapping up. Lookin' hawt.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dc6f6653d4.jpg

DG carbon top and flares in Flatout Orange
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8fbdcb8b16.jpg

Man I really wanna try an NC.

Pre-pandemic, NC1 values were in the toilet. You could pick up a healthy, straight <100k mile donor for a project build in most cities for less than 7k. Now though, like all used cars that same craigslist beater is 9k+. Still a great value though. If you have the budget for an NC2/3 with a 6 speed though, that's a much better place to start. If you have an NA/NB now, the NC will be far quieter and more comfortable on the street, while being a few seconds faster on track with equivalent mods. Personally I think the NA and NB look better but I'm willing to compromise for the extra speed potential.

This is turning out real nice :)

I really love my NA. It's the closest thing I've found to a lotus I drove years back. (I can't afford a lotus lol) My car has definitely gone beyond the street car comfort stage. I think it would be nice to have a version of it that was better on the street. I often tell people I took my perfectly good miata and ruined it.

I'm on the same page. I love my NA, but it's a really raw car. I'm starting to feel like I wish I'd started with an NC and had something I could road trip in but still take to HPDE/autocross events. I'm happy to see someone else build one right so I can cook one up for myself later!
Sorry for the thread drift, but clearly a lot of people are excited to see this build haha.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...13a6d9a697.jpg

Looks too nice to be thrashed around a track IMO!

That car looks so happy

Flares. Nutserts in body so we can remove them. Fit is decent.

Is it warm in here or is it just me?


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...19fb6c789e.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fe669fb202.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b3e020feb4.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7b07b985b1.jpg

Thats hawt.

...but I'm just here to see the inevitable 18x10 fitment at peak latG with two in the dirt like the Blub GIF.

Hyper silver GTC02's for now. Later, Coto.

Finally rolling. Interior still apart, no roll bar, suspension not set up, wrong wheels, etc. But at least we can finally see how the flares and lip spoiler look. Thinking the Garage Vary Type-S trunk spoiler would look nice on this.
Flares are huge but the 10's should fill them nicely. Sorry for the horrible photoshop, just wanted to see it kinda low-ish. Wheels should be here in a few weeks, suspension dialed in, will take more pics.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5ce96cc3c6.jpg

pinch weld heights
F 102mm
R 108mm
245/40 on 17x9 +45

Xida Race (11/7kg)
Pulled primary rear helpers out to get that low. So just mains and tender spring in rear for this low.

I think we'll still need spacers in rear even with the 18x10 +45 on 265/35 RT660 going on. The DG flares are huge. At this ride height, there is still roughly 50mm of bump travel. Too low for track use, but sure looks cool. We'll raise it back up to about 115mm front, 120mm rear but wanted to show y'all what it looks like slammified.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8d6f652d76.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4958666e36.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5364da06d4.jpg

For sure. I'm running 17x10 +43 with 255 RT660 under stock fenders, and the 255 RT660 is super fat.

Wow. That is a thing of beauty. Never loved the look of the NCs but something tells me you’ll have my mind switched by the end of this build

Why not go to 18x11's if you need to fill up all that space?

Had already ordered 18x10. 11's are too wide for the front and we want to run a square setup. We'll see how it works out with spacers.

Had I known these were sized for a radically staggered fitment, I would not have ordered them. Really frustrated with the flare options for the NC. The ones that are the right shape attached to the body at like a 45ﾟ angle. Which means you cannot bolt them on, they have to be glassed or bondo'd in. That would work except the flares overlap the bumper skins which means you could not take your bumper skins off ever again. So that's a no go. Been talking with Marc at Carbonmiata about designing something new from scratch that lay flat to allow nutserts like we have but are properly sized for 18x10 with 265.

Wheels on. 18x10 Enkei GTC02 +45. Ride height about 125mm, Xida Race. Rears could use a spacer but the studs aren't long enough. Getting RX8 rear hubs and uprights along with ARP studs, BX13 Boxmount BBK prototypes next week. Needs that trunk spoiler no?

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ac0110f5a6.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d0c226d5cd.jpg

I knew those flares were big, but 18x20 big??

I kid, but I really will be watching your big brake kit progress. If it comes out fast enough, I will try to make my stock brakes last and pick it up within the year.

Replaced the crappy pics in post #54 with new ones I took today. Moar pixels :)

I thought everything these days was about less pixels (NFTs and whatnot)

Roll bar is in
 

Hard Dog Hard Core Roll Bar in. Lot more work than an NA/NB roll bar. But well integrated. Carpet is generic Home Depot Motorsports black carpet we always use for street projects. Light, flexible weather resistant and cheap.
Chose the Hard Core for the extra height, better protection on track. We deleted the soft top anyway, which is required for the NC HC. Really liking how it turned out.

Bar is available on our site: https://supermiata.com/chassis---rol...-interior.aspx

Paint matched to car. Later it will get Racequip FIA 6pt harnesses wrapped onto that harness bar.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...27359ec7b2.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5bdeccb6a3.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8c17f20957.jpg

Using carpet to replace all the stupid plastic is a great idea. I could not get the plastic parts back in after my roll bar install so I left them all out. I will probably head out to HD racing this weekend.