Track car preparation advice sought

[david_syd_au]

Pretty well what everyone else has said, BUT, get rid of the airbags and DON'T remove the abs.

Yes, with you on both those points. Airbags and SAS are out.

Read the cams manual for Cat 2 sports cars mainly 2F specs. You don't want to start stripping down everything to find later on that it has to go back in. Doesn't mean you have to logbook the car BUT just in case.

Looking at the regs now

Cage seat and 6 point harness, proper race suit, shoes, gloves, balaclava, underwear and good helmet and a hans device are all part of the act so don't skimp.
If ya gunna do it, do it right.

Terry

Thanks. The budget may not extend to a hans device, but we should be doing most of the rest

[Sailor]

You know, I'mm gonna go against the tide on the tyre issue.
Imports quite often have very old tyres, and/or ones more suited to the cold weather experienced in Japan.
Cars just don't do all that many kms over there.

The benefits of a decent set of tyres and a good alignment will make the car much more pleasant to track, give you a really good place to start and be a whole lot safer than an old set of street rubber.
The cost in the size you'll be wearing is not all that high and they'll last forever on a track only car with the limited outings your planning.

The idea that you'll be going substantially quicker and be potentially unsafe on new tyres is almost laughable..What they will do is give you the grip to stop if required, avoid that car that spun in front of you, or regain control a whole lot easier and sooner when you have that .... ooops moment.
These really are the reasons we fit the best tyres we can afford...and luckily you are not a 1st year apprentice or a struggling uni student.

Think about it

[deviant]

I have one of these:http://www.revolutionracegear.com.au/index.php?PCID=10584&PSO=245&PSID=1231985302&PSV=Primary&CDO=

Not as good as a Hans style device but better than nothing I think. It fits between my helmet and shoulder quite snug and I found it does go some way to support my head under hard cornering and rattling across some big ass curbs my head did not flap around as much with it.

Pay attention to your seat install, I find them more supportive and comfortable when they are reclined slightly. Your thighs then rest on the squab as they are meant to do rather than in the air with your weight bearing down on you bum.

[mxrx]

Hi David

If you are considering removing the heater. Many people do to simplyfy the cooling system and have one less thing that will stop the car if it starts leaking or blows a hose. There is an alternative demisting sytem that many people are now installing and that is an electic heated windscreen. The prices are around $350.00 and hooking it up easy as they have two separate elements in the screen. The wires as so thin that you will not notice them in general use.

The other thing is to come along to the MX-5 club track days and see what other people are doing and talk to them about cost and effectiveness of modifications.

[NitroDann]

The idea that you'll be going substantially quicker and be potentially unsafe on new tyres is almost laughable..What they will do is give you the grip to stop if required, avoid that car that spun in front of you, or regain control a whole lot easier and sooner when you have that .... ooops moment.
These really are the reasons we fit the best tyres we can afford...and luckily you are not a 1st year apprentice or a struggling uni student.

Think about it

There are a bunch of good reasons, like the fact that street tyres, especially old ones are VERY linear.

Dann

[Sailor]

The idea that you'll be going substantially quicker and be potentially unsafe on new tyres is almost laughable..What they will do is give you the grip to stop if required, avoid that car that spun in front of you, or regain control a whole lot easier and sooner when you have that .... ooops moment.
These really are the reasons we fit the best tyres we can afford...and luckily you are not a 1st year apprentice or a struggling uni student.

Think about it

There are a bunch of good reasons, like the fact that street tyres, especially old ones are VERY linear.

Dann

So is ice!
but I'd rather not drive on it

[KRM]

This is the order I would do the preparation as you are just starting out and don’t know where you will end up.

This will get you started for the club track days.

1.- Wheel alignment. A proper 4 wheel alignment from either Spinning Wheels at Waterloo on Heasmanns at St. Peters. (Go to the Tech day on the 10th March)
2.- Tyres. A good UHP radial like Kumho KU36 at approx $150.00 per corner.
3.- Brake pads. Yellow stuff from MX5 Parts UK.
4.- Fluids. Good synthetic oils for the motor, Gear box and Diff. As well as brake fluid change.
5.- Check your standard seat belt and if OK run with that until you work out what direction you want to go for the future. But if you want to, do put in a full harness.

You will need an approved helmet, non synthetic clothing from neck to wrist and ankles as well as non synthetic shoes. Go for shoes with a flat sole with non aggressive grip to help with heal toe braking.

The main thing is to go out and enjoy yourself and ask questions, we are a very talkative lot and are pleased to give advice.

Hope to see you at a track day. Come up and say hello I’m in car 35.

[greenMachine]

Thanks for that feedback ... I am too far down this track to change now.

I thought you might be, but wanted to put the alternative out there.

I agree with Terry, keep the ABS. HANS are pretty expensive, but I was looking around at these a few days ago and Stand 21 have one for (IIRC) around $400, plus freight of course. Let me know if you are interested - could even get two perhaps

[david_syd_au]

This is the order I would do the preparation as you are just starting out and don’t know where you will end up.

This will get you started for the club track days.

1.- Wheel alignment. A proper 4 wheel alignment from either Spinning Wheels at Waterloo on Heasmanns at St. Peters. (Go to the Tech day on the 10th March)

Got my NC done by Stu at SW, and planned to take the track car there after the roll cage is done.
I wasn't sure if the roll cage install might tweak or affect the chassis, so though it best to get that done first.
Roll cage and seat go in next week. If that all goes to plan I will sign-up for the tech day.

2.- Tyres. A good UHP radial like Kumho KU36 at approx $150.00 per corner.
3.- Brake pads. Yellow stuff from MX5 Parts UK.

Doing the brake pads, but as noted earlier, we plan to run the initial track days with the existing tyres.

4.- Fluids. Good synthetic oils for the motor, Gear box and Diff. As well as brake fluid change.

Yep, done all those.
Plus got the 100k from MX5 Mania to do the timing belt and water pump, as the car has done just over 100k kms, and the timing belt does not appear to have been changed.

5.- Check your standard seat belt and if OK run with that until you work out what direction you want to go for the future. But if you want to, do put in a full harness. You will need an approved helmet, non synthetic clothing from neck to wrist and ankles as well as non synthetic shoes. Go for shoes with a flat sole with non aggressive grip to help with heal toe braking.

Yep, got all those from doing a few MX5 club track days last year in my NC.

The main thing is to go out and enjoy yourself and ask questions, we are a very talkative lot and are pleased to give advice.
Hope to see you at a track day. Come up and say hello I’m in car 35.

We'll be there, and will make a point of saying hello.
The car won;t be ready for the Feb track day, but if family commitments allow, we would like to come along anyway.