Hi all, south UK native dropping in. Most know me as Ian :-)

I have a rustheap of a 96 here that i plan to turn into a cheapo track toy over the winter. Ill be nailing on a turbo too, naturally.

A long time ago at its peak:



I should probably get a build thread started...

 

Welcome to the forum. There are plenty of track guys on the forum and a wealth of knowledge in our threads. What modifications are you planning first? Suspension? Brakes?

 

Hey.

The car is a bit of a heap, so i do not want to pour a lot of money into the car. The plan is to use it as a bit of a track beater/turbo development platform, until i can find another, nicer, car. Then i will be swapping the whole circus over.

Aside from the turbo, i will be welding the diff, the usual interior/engine stripdown, and fit some fresh semi-slicks. I will likely do the front discs and pads, as id imagine that would be wise on a 200-odd hp track car.

The turbo system will be getting some love though, il be doing that properly. Likely microsquirt and a TD04, probably a 15 or 16t :-)

 

So when you say track car, are you meaning drift car?

 

Mostly track, but i would like to try my hand at drifting. I figure its better than leaving the diff open

 

Definitely not. An open would be much better for everything except drifting. If you aren't towing the car to drift events only, do not weld the diff.

 

Ta for the advice. It will be getting trailered. Do the mx5's respond particularly badly on track to spool/welded's? Im aware of the handling implications, but being my first mazda project im all ears

 

 

Srsly?

I'm no pro, but I can't imagine anything worse than the two rear wheels fighting each other on the track, unless you just love understeer, followed by some violent oversteer?

 

The front end won't turn when you steer it up until the back end tries to change ends with the front end.

Miatas make terrible drift cars because they have a very low polar moment of inertia. It makes them good race cars but awful drift cars. Rx7's and 240sx/Silvia are significantly better drift cars because they are able to set and hold a drift angle due to their wheelbase and weight balance/location.

 

Welcome to the site sparkybean, thanks for joining up!

 

I don't think he want to make a drift car, he just doesn't understand why a spool would suck in a track car.

To the OP: The only cars that use a spool or welded rear diff are drag racing cars or drift cars.

Keith

 

And lower non-national level asphalt circle track cars, and a lot of lower cost off road racing cars/trucks, and some road race cars. 8/10 people that I know that have tried road racing spools hated the jekyll/hyde nature of driving the car.

 

Don't they also run a staggered tire setup with the larger tires on the outside of the curve? I know some race setups are like this with good handling on the curves and "funky" on the straits.

Keith

 

Some of them yes, which makes it really weird when you hit the throttle and it causes the car to turn.

 

Definitely don't weld the diff.

It also sounds like you're best off finding a used Greddy kit; that'll be cheap and easy.

 

Quite the talking point this welding the diff lark!

How well do these cars drift with an open diff? Ive had them sideways enough times but usually maintaining the slide is difficult, after a few seconds its all over as the inside wheel starts to spin up. That said, i dont want to compromise track performance too much so it looks like ill be keeping it open.

Ill eleaborate further. I will be keeping the CAR as cheap as possible, as it is to be a development platform for the turbo system. The turbo kit i will be spending a little bit of money on and doing things properly; 220whp is the target for now. Then, when the car is suitably shagged and engine begging for mercy, ill be moving everything over to a much nicer car.

TLDR: Keep car crap, enjoy properly done turbo setup.

More pics tomorrow of baller racecar build, ahem.