stuiephoto

Big surprise-- the raybestos ABS front hubs from rockauto are wrong-- ABS ring is outboard not inboard. What fu----- car does this fit that everyone is switching over to them? This is starting to get annoying-- I dont feel like paying 300 dollars for OEM hubs that are considered "wear items". Someone order me ebay hubs.

stuiephoto

I had an electrical issue that I was chasing for a couple days that made the gauge cluster not work. Turns out there was a plug that a friend disconnected in the pass side far right when we were taking out the dash. it was sorta hung up on the dashbar so I never even saw it. Plugged it in and everything is back to normal. Nice and simple.

Car looks like its on life support. Lol.


Buttoning up the odds and ends. Got all new eccentrics installed because the OEM ones were concave. Kinda hard to see in this pic but you get the idea. The newer version has thicker "washers" if you will.



I ordered raybestos hubs and of course they came with the wrong ABS ring. Idk if anyone else had had luck, but I am 99% sure timken stopped making abs hubs (513155)-- they are not available anywhere except ebay. Luckly, the ABS rings fit on the new hubs perfectly. The more rings the better......right? Hubs were repacked with amsoil grease.




Started getting the tow vehicle ready today. Getting ready to install a friction sway control thing.



The tow package.

stuiephoto

Got the car out for the first time today--wow what a difference between this and my Sti. Definitely going to be a learning curve. I need to do some DE's and get some instruction because there's really only a couple things I "know" I am doing wrong and I want to know what else there is. Anyone on here want to tear into me? For reference, I am looking at the last time attack results-- a 2011 mazdaspeed ran a 1:26, and other miatas ran between 1:28 and 1:36-- who knows what kind of drivers they are.

A few things - I obviously started to get skiddish on the last corner since I kept...failing (i went off twice - both times were identical and i reacted identically both times). I am not quite sure what I was doing to get the rear end to hop out on me repeatedly, but I learned that these cars dont correct from oversteer like I am used to. You can see that I let go of the wheel to get it to spin around to countersteer, and by the time i grab it the oversteer condition resolved itself and I end up just going straight (is that method of countersteer widely used or is this a bad habit from snow drifting?). I have a feeling thats going to be hard to break myself from. Also, I know I am not taking turn 2 as tight as I should but there is a HUGE hole at the end of the concrete and I dont feel like hitting it. I have trouble with turn 11-- I think I am just taking it too fast. I also have trouble getting a consistent line from 3 to 4 and I upset the car turning into 4 hard--end up pushing through it because of the quick right to left. After turn 7, for some reason it becomes very hard to shift into third...odd.

The left rear wheel bearing was growling at me all night. I dont have enough experience to tell what the chassis setup needs, i feel like its pretty neutral but does push through corners a bit (this is probably due to too much driver input, not a setup issue). At this point I am not worrying too much about it-- I have a lot of learning to do before I go down that road.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Recovering from the tail out in a maita is tough. Pretty much have to gun it and quickly counter steer. Never Ever let go of the wheel, ever, like for realz. Stock we dont realyl make enough power to spin the wheels on sticky tires in a gear higher than 2nd so hitting the gas transfers the weight to the back and also changes how the torsen is working. Both of which help plant the rear. But you have to be really quick countersteering. Put it this way, national level auto-xer firend of mine on a 5 cone slalom should have 6 steering inputs, actually has 37. The turbo guys have it a bit tougher since they have more power they cant just floor it to save it.

I would really recommend getting to an auto-x to really hammer down how the car reacts to inputs. You can really push the limits and see what the car does without having to worry about putting it into a wall. Worst things that can happen are cone marks and flat spots. Just remember, "If auto-x was easy, road racers would do it."

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I've released the wheel when recovering on a road course. For the front wheels to match the slip angle the steering wheel needed to move faster than I could direct it. It was only a fraction of a second. The tankslapper was quelled and I recovered but I wouldn't endorse releasing the wheel as a preferred technique.

Q: Why don't they require rollbars for Miatas in autocross?
A: Because it is hard to roll one at 45mph.


What happened to turn 6?

stuiephoto

I noticed I did it another time on the last lap when the rear end came out. I'm going to have to work on that---its not even something I consciously do, it just happens. I live in the snow belt so when you slide, you just let the car take over and it basically drives itself out of a countersteer.

I dont know if I can justify auto-x. The local chapter is not very good (they dont even chalk the course and there are like 9 spots where it crosses over since the lot is so small) and there are a lot of people running. On a GOOD day you will get 8- 45 second runs. I cant justify 40 dollars to pay for 6 minutes of seat time when for 70 I can get 4 hours at the track the video is at.

I need to do some DE's and get some real instruction. I know its hard to tell what the car is doing from a video- the video makes my laps look a lot better than they feel.

Im not sure. I was wondering why they omitted turn 6-- damn canadian's.

9671111

iTrader: (10)

*

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Finally watched the video, couldnt at work. Looks like the 1st spin, was the good ol' lift off over steer. I keep doing that too, stupid learning how to drive fast with a high power fwd car. 2nd one looked like locking up the front wheels with them turned then getting grip back, normally turns into a pretty harsh tank slapper but at least you kept it straightish. I could be completely wrong, thats just what the video looked like to me.

stuiephoto

I am going to pick up an '01 vvt motor out of a wrecked car today for 400 bucks. Is there anything else in the engine bay that I should get? I dont know ---- about VVT yet.

stuiephoto

Well I picked it up. $400 for a 35k mile vvt motor out of an 01, Harness, COP's, ac compressor, alternator, remote oil filter thing. The guy next door to where I was pulling it was setting off HUGE fireworks and I kept getting pelted by the *****. Was not fun.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

You kept getting pelted with the guy's next stores ***** I can see why that wouldnt be fun.

Handy Man

It was karma for stealing that motor. $400!? I F-in hate you!

stuiephoto

L O L

I have bought a few items from this guy. He has been sitting on the motor for a while, but hes going on a cross country road trip so he was willing to help me out for a little extra travel money.



Ive been debating whether or not I actually want to use this motor. My goal for this winter is to turbo the car with a goal around 220hp. Obviously VVT is not even close to being required for that power goal. *Disclaimer: I may be talking out of my *** right now.* I was/am under the assumption that running lower boost creates less overall heat in the engine and reduces risk of detonation. Would it be beneficial for me to run the VVT head for the increased n/a hp/tq so not as much boost is required for my power goal? I want this to be ridiculously reliable, so I dont ever plan to be in the 300 club.

stuiephoto

I think I figured out what the phantom noise is during hard cornering. The axle appears to be actually making contact with the height adjustment ring on the shock body. Identical markings on both sides. Ive never seen this being an issue before-- not quite sure why its happening on my car.



Installed a duct on the driver side. Hopefully it will get some more air into the cabin.



Trying to get the passenger seat in a better location. I dont think its going to happen. Without the relief bend in the crossbar, the pass seat just sits in an awkward position, causing you to bash your ------- head on the rollbar when you go over bumps. I cant mount the seat lower due to harness angle, so I think my only option is to add another crossbar to mount the pass side harnesses to. This is mounted at its lowest position.



I'm starting to think about holding off on the turbo for a couple years, and instead adding more lightness and putting the VVT motor in/I/H/E and tuning it. I think I will use the turbo money for track time and tires.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Wow my xidas are VERY close but dont seem to hit. Funny though that you show wear on the steel axle but not the aluminum collar.

stuiephoto

Other side. Im pretty sure the mark you see is worn down...ill have to take a better look tomorrow. These marks werent there when i bought the car, so IDK what else would be causing them bilaterally in the same spot.

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I see the mark now. Call 949 on monday, Emilio will fix it.

comradefks

iTrader: (3)

Friend of mine has the same thing going on with his Vmaxx setup on his NB. Wonder if it happens on a lot of different suspensions.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

I saw the same thing on my GCs, but not on the XIDAs that replaced them. It's a light enough rub that variance in how your car is aligned will cause it.

It looks like you are braking, yanking the shifter into 2nd, turning in, and then stepping off the clutch. That's a huge no-no.

stuiephoto

The rub is so light that its more like its polishing the axle than anything. Theres not a noticible ridge in the material.

I know. I have 8 hours at the track tomorrow that I am spending working on heel/toe. I need to get some real shoes too 'cause my cinderblock feet are hard to manipulate.


So, I bottom mounted my pass seat (humps are removed, bolted right to the floorpan with as much of a recline angle that allows you to still get out of the car), installed another (lower) crossbar so the harness angle is correct. Guess what. Helmeted head still ------- bashes off the side rollbar padding. I give up. I dont know how to resolve this issue short of taking out the cage, mounting the seat flat on its back like an F1 car, cutting the passengers head off, or cutting out the floor and suspending the seat on wires like a god damn marionette doll.

I know a lot of caged cars dont have a pass seat, but for those of you that do, is this a common issue? Will HPDE instructors even ride in the car?