Jumping in head first
 

Hello fellow Miata enthusiests ! ! !

I'm not new to Miatas as I have had my 91 since 2006, but looking at purchasing a Turbo Miata very soon (I'll keep you posted).

As the title states . . . I'm jumping in head first because I have no clue when it comes to turbos. I'm sure I'll use and abuse you guys to learn about turbos. Please be kind to me as I hope not to sound too stupid with my questions as I learn.

My current 91 Miata has been modified for autocrossing in the CSP class. Mostly suspension work:
Koni Race Shocks
Ground Control Coil-overs
450# front & 375# rear springs
Flyin' Miata front bar
Factory rear bar
Hard Dog roll bar (because I do DE's with the car)
13" Hoosier A6's (255)
Sparco Race Seats
Fugi Racing Header
Spec Miata Cat Back Exhaust
ISC Racing Cold Air Intake
Custom 2-tone (Orange & Silver) paint job (I may not be the fastest, but at least I look good - LOL)

I should know by this Friday if I'm getting the turbo Miata. Wish me luck ! ! !

~ Chris

why not just turbo the current?

Florida! Welcome to here.

Because the car would not be legal in CSP anymore.

The turbo Miata would become my daily driver and the CSP car does beat you up a bit driving it on the street.

Photos?

Welcome. You are almost local.

There is lots of good info in the FAQ section for a new guy to read up on. Good luck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kabelph...7624270000636/Here is a photo of me back in June of this year. The club I race in is the Martin Sports Car Club (celebrating 50years), but we use SCCA car classing. Back in February I went to a SCCA National Tour in South Georgia and it was my first time going to a race of that level. We had 15 cars in class and I finished 10th over all. my car may be fast in the local scene, but not when going against National level competitors. I was the only 1.6 and I'm about 150lbs heaver than the other Miatas. With me in the car (about 145lbs.) the car weighs 2303, but I still have power steering, a/c, power windows & a roll bar. I'm keeping the a/c until it no longer works because I live in Florida and I keep the roll bar because I'm also an instructor with Chin Motorsports and the PBOC (Porsche BMW Owners Club) that teaches people how to drive their cars on real race track (i.e. Sebring).

Here is a photo of me back in June of this year. The club I race in is the Martin Sports Car Club (celebrating 50years), but we use SCCA car classing. Back in February I went to a SCCA National Tour in South Georgia and it was my first time going to a race of that level. We had 15 cars in class and I finished 10th over all. my car may be fast in the local scene, but not when going against National level competitors. I was the only 1.6 and I'm about 150lbs heaver than the other Miatas. With me in the car (about 145lbs.) the car weighs 2303, but I still have power steering, a/c, power windows & a roll bar. I'm keeping the a/c until it no longer works because I live in Florida and I keep the roll bar because I'm also an instructor with Chin Motorsports and the PBOC (Porsche BMW Owners Club) that teaches people how to drive their cars on real race track (i.e. Sebring).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/...da1f38c4_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/...40da1f38c4.jpg


Very nice!! You are better at painting than photo embedding.

Nice looking car. Are those 13" wheels?

Yes they are. This season I switched to the 13x8 Diamond wheels so that I could go with a 255 series Hoosier A6. The past couple seasons I was running the 13x7 Lenzos with a 215 series Kumho V710 (I really need to post the Lenzos in the for sale section - LOL). The Lenzos were definitely lighter at about 8lbs. per wheel compared to the Diamonds at 12lbs. It's tough to say if I noticed a difference in the weight because going to the wider tire and Hoosiers made the car that much better. Let's just say Hoosiers are my new drug - LOL ! ! !
:bowrofl:

I love V710s. I also love lightweight wheels. I wonder if 13 inchers will clear my 1.8 brakes?

I had the 1.8 brakes on the front of my car with the Lenzos, but the Diamonds would not clear them. I now have 1.6 brakes on the front and everything works great.

To answer your question . . . YES the Lenzos will clear the 1.8 brakes.

~ Chris


PS:
I bought the turbo Miata ! ! ! !
Will post pics soon.

Oh, man, racerx13, I really love that paint job!

I'm also now rocking a 1.6 for Divisional-level CSP work, it is good regionally but a 66% car divisionally, if I had to estimate. You should come out to the Blytheville Tour Oct 23-24, we have small CSP class and would love more cars to look at.

Do you find the springs to be light for the Hoosiers? I have 550/350, and they do seem a bit too light. Good on track, though.

Thanks for the compliment. We took the paint scheme in through the door jambs and under the hood/trunk lid. We spent probably a full 2 days just laying out the tape line for the stripe to get it just right.

I'm right with you about the car being good regionally, but I'm pretty far off pace when I went to the divisional earlier this year in South Georgia. I placed 10th out of 15, but I was also going up against Elliott Harvey in his incredibly fast Datsun Roadster and a couple other very well prepared Miatas. This was my first time going to that level of competition and went there with 2 goals. 1) Have fun. 2) Learn what I need to do to the car at that level of competition.

Thanks for the invite, but that will be my only free weekend in October and my wife and kid will probably like for me to stay home - LOL ! ! !

Good luck at that event and let me know how you do.

As far as the springs are concerned . . . The front springs feel great, but I do experience some bouncyness in ther rear if the pavement has multiple undulations. I have my shocks set right in the middle both front & rear. Depending on track conditions I'll soften the rears to keep it from bouncing. I have not tried different springs yet to get a comparison.

~ Chris

Chris, I'd recommend checking shock travel, especially in the back. The easy way is to put a cable tie around the shock shaft and do a run, and check where the cable tie ends up. My Bilsteins with NB top hats, very thin bump stops and 350# rear springs were bottoming out very badly in the back, especially when I switched to the 255-13 A6s. It made the car snap oversteer when it was highly loaded. Since I bought more rear travel, it's been very stable.

YMMV, since you are on the shorter Koni Race, but I would check it out to eliminate a glaring handling issue.

I'm still fapping over the paint job, looks like an old-skool slot car. Did you clear over the number and classing graphics?

Keep in touch, us 1.6 CSP guys have to stick together.

When I heard orange and silver, I cringed a little. That paint looks good though--you pulled it off gracefully.

Thanks for the advice and I will look into it.

We did not clear over the numbers as they are vinyl stickers. We did sand the transition of orange to silver smooth, so that you can not feel a difference. The car did receive 1.5 gallons of clear according to the body shop. OUCH ! ! ! I could have saved some weight there - LOL ! !

I need to post a picture of the car with the hard top on and the Team Dynamic wheels.

~ Chris

My friend who did the paint work had the same feeling all the way until he saw the final product. I just kept telling him to trust me. I do get a lot of compliments on the paint.

~ Chris