Good result, glad that the "80/20" ducting worked out ok, and you saw out the day! Used to be that MXs were the ones lining up at the end of the day for the last few sessions, with lots of others parked/already gone home. These days I think that the MXs are pushing the engine/modz limits harder, and suffering accordingly.

High oil level is good for track, maybe 5-10mm above full. Flecks in oil not good, remember that the oil filter has a bypass, and flecks in that bypass oil are going to your bearings. Pretty sure the catchcan thread addresses that issue.

That amount of oil/stuff in your can is too much. Either the engine is on the way out, or your plumbing needs work - or both,

Glad you had fun, keep at it!!

If that scrubber is flaking off, do you really want that inside your engine?

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5f83689bb2.jpg

I call this one "Gold on gold on gold".

If its from the scrubber material in the catch can and isn't being returned back to the oil supply, it should be a non-issue. If its coming off scrubbers in the valve cover chambers, then it would be a concern.

Is that a dong mowed into the hill?

Yep, I missed the part where he said it was a scrubber in the catch can, thought it was in the valve cover (I know that was a popular discussion in the past).

Glad to see you made it back on track, Gordon!

A few shots of Gordon riding along in my flying jungle gym fighting the nausea of my crazy driving. At least I didn’t spin him this time!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...168e6c155.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8b5e43e2a.jpeg

Gordon had the same "Hold onto the shoulder straps for dear life" look in my car as well :D There @gesso too! I miss Laguna Seca :cry:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...335e4ef4da.jpg

Yeah, the question of what to do with your arms as a passenger in an open car is a little odd.

We were supposed to have a miataturbo.net meetup at Sonoma!

--Ian

I'm blaming that miss on Covid lol. We should all talk about something next year though. Maybe it'll motivate me to get my car back together?

Thanks! Its a SUPER excessive amount of oil in the can and it'll be addressed for sure. I know there are a bunch of different strategies to address it, I'll be taking a look at them.

Thunderhill West is pretty short and has a pretty long sweeper for T2

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...pdated+map.jpg

I could smell hot/burning oil at the end of T2 and a bunch of other places on course, so it wouldn't shock me to find out its pushing some past the cover baffles. I'm just glad it didn't try to burn all that oil, that would have drown the cat for sure. Probably ruined the plugs as well. (I need to try to remember to check them...)

I spent about an hour on Sunday looking for my oil filter cutter (which I haven't seen in years) so I gave up and bought a new one. Knowing me I probably loaned it to someone and never got it back. New one should be here later this week. Not a tool you'll use often but definitely comes in handy. I also ordered a test kit from Blackstone Labs, let's see what fresh Rotella T6 15W-40 looks like after 1 track day in 100°F ambient looks like. The sampling procedure recommended by Blackstone recommends a drive for 20min, which should be more than enough to get some junk trapped in the filter, if there is junk to be seen.

Plus, I've never done a UOA before, I'm interested to see what they have to say.

Right, which is why it's not in my engine ;)

Or at least I hope its not. I haven't actually had the valve cover off this motor, I guess its possible someone else might had done something stupid. Jamming the valve cover full of pot scrubber always seemed suicidal to me so its not something I've ever perused. The little Moroso can definitely has something that looks like scrubber in it and I suspect (hope?) that's where its coming from. Filter vivisection and oil change should tell the tale.

Man, I look WAY off the line there :facepalm: Good pic though!

All its costs me is a valve cover gasket and some RTV to find out what the baffles look like under the cover, shouldn't be to much of a hassle. Cover is weeping anyway.

Knowing the staff at Thunderhill? Probably yes.

Thanks! Its fun to be back. I'm glad @afm and @gesso pushed me to do it, and it was good fun getting a ride with @Cxracer

It was good fun! Was my turn to spin spectacularly this time, and I may never get all the dirt out of the car :giggle:

IM SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHAT

Also, isn't that what you are supposed to do with your arms? Someone told me that once so I've tried to stick with it. If nothing else at least I'm consistent :laugh:
I also miss Laguna. I feel like we should all maybe try to get together and do a west coast track day at some point hummm....

Would it tho? 🤔🤔🤔

Now time for the age old debate: Do I buy tires now or wait until next year? Rivals, RS4 or VR1s? :D

@andym Can you weigh in on the tire question? Also 245s or 225s? Or even 205s?

I think you should just use whatever you have until they are worn. Then get new ones.

NO GEORGE, NO! Gordon has like 10-year-old tires that will literally never die at this point, don't tell him to use those :rofl:

Wait a fuckin minute....... he's still on those NT01? Jesus christ.

In that case, rs4 will last him the next decade and provide gud grip. Thats my vote.

I'll have you know I recently gave up my set of RS3 v1 :fawk: still have the NT-01s tho

My last 2 trackdays were on borrowed tires (VR1 & RS4) so its about time I ponied up and bought a set. Gotta spend money to spend money!

Is it just me or are RS4s the heaviest tires on the planet? I have a set of very hard, repeatedly frozen "205" Rivals on 15x8 Storms and they are featherweights compared to the 225 RS4s. Of course that may have something to do the Goldmember rims. I have sets of 15x8 and 15x9 rims (unless @gesso is using the 9s?) so 205 or 225 are both an option, I'm not super interested in going to a 245.

The 205 on 8 has always been my favorite on this car.

Yes, I missed that too! So you have scrubber in the can? That's not a bad idea, and for sure that won't contaminate the oil in the car unless it drains back into the engine (which some people do, but obviously you don't). If you have crankcase pressure from worn rings say, you will get high(er) velocity flow of gasses through the infamous tiny hole, and that can carry oil vapours as well as liquid oil into that chamber, hence the "tiny hole mod" to enlarge it and reduce the velocity and minimise the stuff carried by/with the vapour through to the can. That's also the reason for the scrubber in that chamber. And that's the reason why choice of scrubber material there is somewhat important.

It's certainly a reasonable thing to do. I don't actually have any idea what I do with my arms on the infrequent occasions I ride in someone else's car. :)

--Ian

FWIW I also hold the harnesses in exocets. In other cars I just keep them in my lap.

Usually, it's the only thing to hang on to, so probably the best thing to do with them. I think I normally just jam mine into my legs lol