Was not me. This car has never been on Hwy 6, towed or otherwise. Don't own a car cover, either.

Weighed the car this am. Looks like the cage added just under 60 lbs...better than budgeted. Total weight here is with hardtop but w/o seat, dash/cluster or HVAC. Our spreadsheet shows that adding those will mostly be cancelled out by other weight savings items...though aero will cost us. Current estimate is 2070 for Phase 1 build.

Attachment 184339

Painted the cage in advance of the lexan windshield install.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1424645295

How much weight saving with windshield?
Any downsides?
Scratching, safety, or water tightness?

Update time...

10 lb Kirkey seat is in. We bought this one two sizes too big and will be filling with Space Shuttle foam for easier transits. This will remove one more item from our daily prep ritual that we did for the CRX (race seat in/out). Seat back brace is a modified Kirkey piece bolted to a weld-on ButlerBuilt roll bar attachment. The latter also serves to locate the harness shoulder belts.

Attachment 184266

Attachment 184267

Dash swap mostly done. Massive weight savings. Targa Miata inspired "half dash" using a salvaged NA dash we got for free. Had to fix a bunch of cracks (epoxy + roofing flashing), but it's pretty solid now. Meter hood crumbled in my hands, though. So bought a new one. Will finish the center section once I put the HVAC parts back in (which is waiting on the new intake manifold).

Oh, and those aluminum spacers are lowering blocks for the steering column since the seat is on the floor.

Attachment 184265

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426188429

nice seat bracing. Could you share some pics of how you mounted the kirky seat to the floor please.

Soon, but not yet. While strong, they are temporary, heavy and ugly (perf steel angle from HDM). Will be replaced by better stuff once I verify seating position.

Behold the new hotness...

These are the latest generation, highest option SuperMiata XIDA's by 949Racing, built to spec by Hanchey Vehicle Tech using Tractive components. They are 3-way remotes with Active Controlled Electronics (ACE). Read about them here: Hanchey Vehicle Tech and here: Hanchey Vehicle Tech.

Big thanks to Emilio at 949 and Brian at HVT for making this happen.

Attachment 184254

Hhhhnnnnn :drool:

Do I dare to ask how much those cost?

That's best answered by Emilio. There is sponsorship at work in my purchase, in exchange for engineering feedback and promotional consideration . These are essentially prototypes , which is why they are not yet listed on the 949 site.

The current top-shelf ones on the website are $4700 double adjustables, and there's a $1300 option to get them to triple-adjustables. These have more techy goodies aside from that as well, so consider $6k as a starting point...

oh wow :drool:

Active damping control ... nnnnggggggg ...

Can you comment on what parameters the little black box uses for dampening adjustments? I see some orientation arrows on the label that leads me to think there are accelerometers present. Also are there any user adjustable parameters?

I'm not expecting anything as advanced as GM's magnaride system but just the ability to up compression at the front and rebound at the back under braking would be HUGE.

Some info in this thread
https://www.miataturbo.net/suspensio...6/#post1169752, post #26 especially.

To be honest, I am still coming up to speed on it myself. Rather than say what I *think* is going on, I'd rather report back when I am certain. At the moment, they are back in the box awaiting a couple of attachment pieces.

Braking news!

The latest SuperMiata (949 Racing) front BBK with 11.75x.81 directional rotors, Wilwood 4-pot Dynalites, and V8 Roadsters hats & brackets. Finished off with braided lines, Carbotech pads and ARP extended studs. only 2lbs pounds lighter, but LOTS more thermal capacity. This is very similar to what we successfully ran on the CRX.

Working on the rears now...

Attachment 184246

Awesome car!

How is the clearance between your tie-rod ends and the brake rotor? I had a clearance issue there with the 949 BBK and no-one seems to know why.

No problems here. A little under .25" clearance to the tie-rod.

Did you have the LE extended tie-rod end (correct bump steer on lowered 93 LE)? I could see that making it worse.

I have the same issue on my 96. I'm swapping in NB knuckles to see if I can fix it that way. Seems like the NBs aren't having any clearance issues.

Not happy with the rears at the moment. These are base calipers spaced out to Sport dimensions using the MTuned bracket that 949 carries. Rotor is a two-piece DBA setup that Goodwin carries, and has same dimensions as Sport. It weighs the same as the non-Sport one-piece, so I suspect it is about 2 lbs lighter per side than the Sport one-piece.

The part I am unhappy with is the dangling of the parking brake. These brackets rotate the caliper CCW abou 15 degrees and the ebrake gets pointed down quite a bit. In fact, the instructions say to loosen the chassis mount for the cable when installing. I had to leave it unattached.

I haven't done the other side yet, as I am contemplating the situation. If I bend the bracket that attaches the cable to the caliper, it distorts the pull angle. Could probably get away with a little, but it needs a fair bit.

I have to believe others have solved this. In addition, the V4 Goodwin kits have similar rear brackets, so I'd expect those folks to also have dealt with this.

Anybody?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426680907

I have the same situation with the MTuned brackets, the handbrake cables are very close to the lowest point (maybe 1/2" above).
As usual I have done nothing about it, few things stand up enough on track to catch them. 3-4 years running like this so far (I don't remember when i changed rotor size in the rear).

But as everything can be a bit different, are your cables hanging below the lowest point?

I would just buy the FM LBBK for the rear (powerlite calipers modded to have e-brake) if you want to drop more weight, just get their sport kit and it'll work with the sport rotors.

Already considered and rejected in the planning stage.

Not the piston bore ratio I want. If I was to go that route, I'd just swap to larger-bore OE rear sport calipers and ditch the brackets.

Further, the FM ebrake is very light duty. I use my ebrake heavily when towing. Stabilizes the car quite well. I can always tell when I have forgotten to put it on.

Interesting on the towing part. Yeah their ebrake is very light duty and thats really the only solution unfortunately. I've tried to come up with a way to improve on it and nothing else fits.

You dont like piston ratio between the front and back even with the 11.75 fronts? Math I did makes it seem better than the stock caliper because you wont need to use as skewed of a pad mu to get the right brake balance when trail braking. The sport would have been my caliper pick if the FM LBBK didnt exist if the sport caliper had the same brake pad support as the normal caliper.

At the moment, yes. But the car is still on stock suspension and that pic was taken at full droop. Doing some rough measurements this am, it appears that I'll be knocking a good 3" off the droop travel when the XIDA's go on, so the cable will likely tuck up a lot better.

I think I will go ahead and do the other side...and hope.

I'm on stock 97 tie rod ends. Make sure that .25 clearance doesn't get worse as the suspension compresses- that's what got me... Looked fine up in the air, scraped up the rotors under cornering and bumps.

Let me know if you figure anything out (without using the grinder ;))

An alternate solution is using OEM Sport carriers with either sport calipers (1.375" piston area) or 94-00 calipers (1.25" piston area). I believe this is what we did on the few cars we ran Sport rear rotors on. In restrospect, that might have been a simpler solution for you.

Just researched this via parts fiche. Looks like the knuckles are indeed different between Sport and non-Sport. (NO75-26-28X/29X vs NA75-26-28X/29X)

So you are saying that either caliper will fit on either knuckle...and that the knuckle is the determining factor on the rotor spacing?

Wow I never noticed that. BUT thats the part numbers for the assembiles. If you look further down to just the hub there's only a different part number for with or without abs. So the difference is almost certainly just the diameter of the brake shield.

The carriers and calipers are interchangeable. Pad is determined by the carrier used, not the caliper.

Sport pads if you put NA8 calipers on Sport carriers. M-Tuned adapters, NA8 or NA8 depending on carrier used.

The caliper carrier, or bracket if you will, is different between Sport and standard, but the lug spacing and offset are the same. The pin centers, diameter and offset on the two calipers are the same. Ergo, one can fit Sport carriers (brackets) with non Sport calipers onto non Sport knuckles.

We have tried a bunch of different combos. Running 11.75's up front with Sport rear rotors and minimal aero, NA8 calipers. With huge downforce, porky car (V8), or 275's, the bigger piston Sport caliper starts to give better balance.

No idea why the Sport knuckle has a different P/N than the base. There was only what, one year of overlap AFAIK.

Sport calipers can be made to work on non sport brackets as well. Just a little grinding on the backing plate of the pad to clearance the caliper. It is better to use the larger rotor, but it gives more options.

I did this mod as I run RPF1's, and needed more rear bias.

^Same here.
I'm running the rear sport caliper on the non-sport carrier. Didn't like the stock bias in the rain, so I upped the rear pistons. Stops faster in the dry (I measured back to back) and wet, and is much safer.
I still have the carriers for the sport rotors, should I choose to go that path in the future, but currently, it's nicely balanced, and does the job.

Quick release passenger seat mount is now complete. Slider is gone so seat sits 1.5" lower. Rear hooks on pins, front gets bolted. Might change that to studs. Goes in/out fast.

Attachment 184242

Attachment 184243

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1426990997

Anyone know what happened to the anplumbing video?

Call 'em and ask?

He said they're gone...permanently. Damn it.

Anyone happen to copy all his videos?

The new NC-based cables are supposed to address the failures of the previous cables, although I haven't gotten around to installing mine yet.

But no, I never did find a good solution for the parking brake cable routing with the Goodwin rear brackets. I ran them for ~ 40K miles, never had any *problems* with it, but was never really happy with it.

--Ian

Suspension work.

Nothing radical here...just the usual Racing Beat 1.125" hollow front bar, and 14mm Mazdaspeed Miata rear, both set in urethane that has been bluprinted (shave the flat side even with the saddle bracket). SuperMiata 949Racing end links (these things are pimp) and RB "blocks and bolts" complete the setup. Ran the same stuff on my STS Miata for years with good results.

Attachment 184238

Started mounting up the electronic coilovers and ran into a snag on the rears. This is at about mid-travel.

Attachment 184236

Attachment 184237








Much head-scratching around the world (HVT and Tractive in Holland) w/o any easy/quick solutions. After sleeping on it, I had a ureka moment:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1427305572

Not cheap, but quite possible easy.

Called Shandelle at V8 Roadsters and he had one set left on the shelf. Mine!

An opportunity to replace a little grinding work with shiny new parts can't be missed? :D

But think of the weight savings! ;)

Seriously, I get nervous grinding away reliefs in major suspension mounting points. Would not want that failing at a high rate of speed.

It doesn't need to be a Fea hack job, but time and peace of mind (be able to blame someone else) are worth something too.

Suspension is all on the car now. Locating/securing the shock reservoirs was a challenge as the hose end banjos were clocked in an unfortunate setup, so my original measurements were a fail. I'll blueprint all that stuff later when I have more time. Today, it comes back off the jackstands to set ride heights, corner balance and garage alignment. Also need to wire up the electronics. Pics are at full droop.

Attachment 184227

Attachment 184228

Looking good!

I am assuming these are similar to Xidas. Then why no helpers? How long are the springs?

--Ferdi

Look 6" long to me.

Helpers are unnecessary if the spring is still seated at full droop.

e: Having said that, the fronts are clearly unseated. Why no helpers?

Long story...but helpers will happen eventually.


Update: Car is back on the ground with ride heights set (no corner weights yet) and garage alignment. Drove around the block and nothing fell off. So it should be ready to race, right?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1427886515

Looks GREAT. What height is the car at from the pinch welds?

4.25 / 4.375"

More updates coming...been off testing tires for GRM.

Harness is in. Schroth Profi II HANS. 2/3" hybrid across the HANS, 2" lap for better fit, 6-point subs to better hold the pelvis down (given the rollbar proximity).

Had my cagebuilder do finish welding on the backing plates (I won't weld my own safety gear).

Lots of fiddling involved with the sub straps, as the seat is already on the floor. Had to enlarge the slots quite a bit to create clearance.

Attachment 184204

Attachment 184205

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1428361834

Track debut for the One Lap Miata today...purposely did not put track pads on it so I'd keep speeds in check. Stole the SSR/Cont DW's off the Mazda 2 since all the other wheels have GRM test tires on them at the moment.

The car is a joy to drive. The electronic shocks are truly incredible, though I am still working on track setup. You can dial them down to Buick ride quality on the street (seriously), yet nicely taught on track. Haven't even begun to work on front/rear bias yet.

I need to watch my corner entries as I am so used to the mid-corner push that catches you with FWD.

Much left to do (including swapping in the race motor) but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

Attachment 184195

Car looks so clean and unassuming. Love it.

Moar camberz added.

ISC offset bushings on arms we had shipped there from Treasure Coast. We'll run 2.5 for One Lap due to the street miles (tire wear) and 3.5 for track-only events.

Attachment 184188

Attachment 184189

I'm definitely interested in more camber, but scuttlebutt is that the ISC's conflict with 15x9s (see https://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep...ussions-83267/). Are you using spacers or running more narrow rims? Or maybe it's not an issue at all?

A little late to the party, but you're saying that I can combine the sport brackets and NA8 (Or NA6?) calipers? With a sports rotor? And this combined with an 11.75 kit up front has the best balance?