RyanRaduechel

iTrader: (10)

If you want my old NA seats you can have them for free. Just pay shipping.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

No thank you. I appreciate the offer but I'll just stick with my MSM seats for the time being.

slmhofy

iTrader: (5)

Hey Phil,

When you're talking about the "NB" seats, are you talking about the leather seats or cloth?

I'm not sure how the cloth NB seats are, but the leather GT seats look really nice, but are not really all that great. Only being 5'9" with my seat all the way back and a decent foamectomy, I consider myself to barely fit in the car. I'm wondering how much better a foamectified NA seats would be.

I've got a roll bar being made now and I'm not sure how I'm going to fit under it when I go to Laguna Seca in April.

Mazduh

I've sat in the leather and used to have cloth. Honestly, I hated them. The head rests on NA seats don't come up as high as i'd like but the NB seats just plain suck in my opinion. I finished a foamoctomy on my NA seats and have them in the car. I've only driven around town with them so far since the msm is not my dd. But initial impressions are awesome. Their so comfy. I think I might actually take a trip down to NC this year because of how much better they feel on my back. I don't know how well they will work though once I get my rollbar in. But these seats were never going to be permanent anyways. They are just my inbetweeners while saving up for something else.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

So a little while back sixshooter helped me install a HDHCDD roll bar so that I could start doing HPDEs. I didn't take any photo's during the install because it looked like it was going to rain so we were in a hurry to just get it done. This is the only picture I currently have with the rollbar installed.



Sixshooter finally convinced me to sign up for my first HPDE event with NASA at Sebring on June 15-16. I am pretty excited. I ordered my helmet last night and I need to make a list of what needs to be done before the track.

So far I am thinking:

Change brake and clutch fluid
Check brake pads (I think these still have a lot of life left and I won't be pushing the car to its limits my first time with sub par street tires)
I just changed the motor oil with t6 less than 1500 miles ago
Tranny oil is also fairly fresh from when I did the clutch.

What else should I be looking at to just freshen the car up? I am not going to do any major mods because the car works now and I don't want to mess with it. I am also thinking I will turn down the boost a bit because I am pushing 14 psi on this turbo on the street which is far out of its efficiency range. I am thinking of shooting for 10 psi to keep the heat down.

Tallguyboost

I would bring a folding chair, tire pressure gauge, some water to drink, and a large amount of humility. The more you realize you don't know about performance driving, the more room you have to learn. I assume your tires are in good shape now. They won't be afterwards!

Sidenote: First post here!

Hope the day is great for you and you learn a lot. Great car btw.

Mazduh

Hey Ryan, can you snap a shot of how you mounted your ms under the dash?

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Bring food if it is not available. A good hat to keep you cool in the sun. I would go ahead and put better pads on the car - mediocre street rubber is plenty good enough to cook pads if you are driving hard. Brakes are the last place to skimp, and the last thing you want nagging and worrying you as you start going faster.

Your 10psi idea is a good one.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

Thank you two for the advice.

I will try to get a shot of it when I have the time. Basically what I did was take the bracket that holds the top of the stock ECU under the dash and bolted it to the megasquirt and then the firewall using the stock location for the lower bracket. There was literally no modification involved and it stays in place nicely.

ozbrock

Just read through your whole thread, ms2 is now officially on my list of things to do.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

So kind of a big update. My first HPDE is this weekend at Sebring and there was a lot of preparing to do. I ordered my helmet from Summit and when it arrived I decided I should wear it around to make sure it fit correctly.



I also ordered a set of Hawk HP+ brake pads for all four corners and Sixshooter helped me bleed out my brake system and change the pads. Then his wife cooked us an awesome dinner. Good times.

My current tires were nearing the end of their life but I was going to try and make them last through this track day. I also did not want to put new tires on my stock MSM wheels. Well, a deal popped up and what do you know....







I still was unsure if I wanted to buy tires for them before the track day because I wanted to learn to drive on low grip tires so I would be traveling much slower when I lost traction and I would have more time to correct. Well then the plug that I used to repair the front left tire 15k miles ago failed. After talking to Sixshooter about tire selection he completely disregarded my notion of a performance tire with decent treadwear. His exact words were, "You can have a sticky tire or a tire with good treadware but not both." After a little more prodding and him basically telling me not to be a bitch I ordered a set of tires.

I also had my windows tinted because summer is here and my car was getting incredibly hot and my air conditioning had trouble keeping up. The guy did a phenomenal job. It was so much darker inside the car that I noticed there was light coming through around my rear window on the soft top. ****!



Called around and every shop just said they don't repair soft tops they just replace them. Due to how it was failing I knew it was fixable it just needed to be stitched. Bought one of these:



Had my brother help me do some of this:



It works like a charm. I am not completely finished repairing it yet because the seem is failing around most of the window and it takes a while to hand stitch it. I will post pictures of the finished product and probably do a bit of a write up.

Well today my tires came in and I got them mounted and balanced. My choice was...











I have not had the chance to really test the tires and doubt I will until Sebring but the ride quality improvement was huge over the 17's. I hate my ride height now. The wheel gap looks terrible. I have already purchased pmhaddad's GC sleeves with 550/350 springs and FCM bump stops. I am just waiting for them to be pulled off his car.

The car is really coming together now and I am really happy with it.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

So pretty much you told him to **** off, and bought the tire that has phenomenal grip AND lasts forever.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

I really hope they last a while. I don't mind buying good tires once a year. I just hope it is not going to be every 6 months.

miata2fast

iTrader: (2)

All that car needs is a few suspension tweaks, and it will look ****.

Have you noticed a little seat of the pants difference in acceleration with the new wheels and tires?

You have come a long way in such a short time. Kudos to you Ryan. Be careful out there this weekend. Hopefully I will join you guys in this lifetime.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

I would like to think acceleration is better but I really have not been able to push the car yet. I do know that everything about the way the car rides now is better. It is more comfortable, grip is higher, it feels lighter on its feet. Overall it has been a great change over the 17's.

Lokiel

Definitely need to add some "low" to avoid the 4WD look.

I really wish you'd bought bronze 6ULs instead though, they look great on a green or black car.

Just for giggles, after you've driven on the 15s for a while, switch back to the 17s to appreciate the difference.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

I was looking at getting bronze, silver, or black if I bought new. These were a good used deal so I had no choice on color. I will be selling the 17's and would never put them back on the car.

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

Car is coming together nicely, Ryan_G (which is a curious user name for a person named Donald). Have fun at Sebring and take to heart the earlier comment about maximizing humility.

There were some issues with parts and my schedule, so my car won't be ready for another week or two but I'll hopefully get out to a NASA this year.

Ryan_G

iTrader: (8)

My first name is Donald but I go by my middle name Ryan. Not sure why I put Donald in my profile but I can't seem to figure out how to change it and I have yet to bug an admin about it.

I have no problem admitting that I am a complete novice when it comes to real performance driving and I look forward to really learning everything I can. I actively try to identify my weaknesses in every area of my life because there is no other way to improve.

Definitely look forward to you joining us at the track in the future.

Impuls

iTrader: (1)

Nice set up, hopefully I can get my engine back together and participate in some events with you soon.

You're also planning on going EFR like myself right?

Where in Tampa are you?
I'm in South Tampa