Guran's NA6 "Little Reddy"

[Hellmun]

You found yourself some wheels and semi slicks for the supersprints yet?

[Guran]

25th October 2009
MX-5 Challenge at Wakefield Park
I drove down to Goulburn today to watch the racing and take some photos. A very small selection is shown below (I took nearly 300 photos all told).

[Guran]

You found yourself some wheels and semi slicks for the supersprints yet?

I've got a spare set of 14s in the garage and will be buying a set of Kumho V700s as soon as I get around to it.

[Guran]

4th December 2009

Poor old Little Reddy has been gathering cobwebs while I've been away on holidays for the last few weeks.
So today I spent a bit of time this morning giving the old girl a bit of TLC in preparation for the club track day on Sunday.

After putting the car up on jack stands and removing the wheels, I checked the brake pads. The Ultimates have been on since February and have done nine track days. There's still 4.5mm left in the fronts (more on the rears) and I hope this lasts on Sunday. Reckon I'll get a new set ready to go on. I bled the brake lines too.

Next I decided to adjust the front-right fender which shifted a bit after my bingle at Wakefield Park. Was amazed to find quite a bit of leaves and dirt already collected between the fender and the sill.

Third job was to change the oil in the gearshift turret. I forgot to do this when I changed the transmission oil two months ago. Upon removing the gearshift boot, I discovered that the rubber gaiter was perished - I'll order a replacement ASAP. Once I had the gearshift lever out it was pretty clear that the oil level was low and pretty grubby. That'd explain the notchy shift on some changes (especially 1st to 2nd when cold). I managed to loosen the plug bolt at the back of the turret, drained the old oil (spilt some on the catalytic converter ), and refilled it with 90mL of fresh transmission oil.





After putting the wheels back on, I treated Little Reddy to a wash, de-bug/de-tar, and polish. Nothing fancy but the old girl looks much prettier now, although I still haven't managed to remove the white paint that I picked up from the tyre wall. I've decided to do Sunday's track day with the soft-top up so I left the hardtop in the garage.

[Guran]

6th December 2009
MX-5 Club Track Day at Wakefield Park

YES! Another club track day. You beauty! I woke up at 5:30am before the alarm went off, and hit the road by 6:00am. Macquarie Pass proved to be a nice heartstarter, as usual, except that I hit a bit of traffic about a third of the way up. Ah well, plenty of time for fun later this morning. After pulling into Sally's Corner for fuel, there was no surprise to find two MX-5s already at the bowsers. Had a quick chat with Hammer and met Craig Gartlacher and his lovely blue NA6 turbo who was making his debut at a club track day. Back onto the Hume and I pulled into Wakefield Park at 7:30am on the dot.

There were 64 drivers today, and all but 11 of them were in MX-5s. There was also an impressive 11 entrants in Class 1 (stock NA), so I had plenty of competition. The weather was perfect to start with, dry and cool enough to warrant long sleeves. That didn't last though as the mercury continually rose all morning until reaching the low 30s (at least that's what it felt like). Just for something different I thought I'd drive with the soft-top down today, at least until the sun made it too hot to cope with.

Run 1, I had a slower car hold me up on the first two laps, and then did a fairly comfortable 1:18.20 on the last lap, but Hammer shamed me by slashing his PB (and stock NA8 record) by 0.33s to 1:18.03 on his last lap in the same group. Bugger! That puts me into second in Class 1. After this run, I noticed the video camera was vibrating a lot on the tripod I had strapped to the rollbar, so I tried taping it down.

Run 2, I spent almost the entire run stuck behind Lindsay Burke. Best was 1:18.27 on lap 3. Hammer's best in that session was 1:18.29, I was still 0.17s behind him. The video was still vibrating a bit, so I moved it to the windscreen via my mega suction cup mount.

Run 3, one clear lap of 1:18.13 and then the now familiar view of the back of Lindsay's NA6. I eventually got past him on the back straight at the start of lap 3. A wobble on turn 4 meant there was no chance of a quick lap but my final 4th lap was a 1:18.11 - with the roof open. Not bad but not good enough and that was the best I managed all day. Hammer was dropping back with a best lap of 1:19.11 although I think he had traffic too. The gap between us was now 0.08s. The camera was still vibrating away but I noticed the problem was where the camera screwed into the mount. More race tape and that did the job for the rest of the day.

Run 4, and thankfully Mike stepped in to adjust the running order for our group. In my subsequent enthusiasm, I overcooked turn 2 which ruined my first lap, then slowed down to let a quick 130i pass me on lap 2, before clocking a 1:18.23 on lap 3. By lap 4, the tyres were getting hot and I was off the pace. It was bloody hot by now and people were already starting to pack up for the day since the track was slowing noticeably.

Run 5, a big slide on turn 2 (sound familar) meant that my first lap was toast and I was overtaken by Roger Palfreyman in his auto NC. Hammer, Roger and I were garage neighbours so I spent the rest of this run tailing Roger so that I could get some good video of his car. My best lap was 1:18.75.

Run 6, I succumbed to the sun and put the roof up. Just before crossing the start line for the first lap, I had a big spin on the fish-hook and ended up looking the wrong way as Roger and then Hammer overtook me. Roger went off into the dirt on turn 3 on lap 1, and I had another spin on turn 2 of lap 2. Definitely lacking grip out there! My fastest time for this run was 1:19.02 on lap 4.

Run 7, more ugly spins this time out, with a slide on turn 2 followed by a 180 spin in the fish-hook. I was also distracted by a car going off on turn 6 as I was climbing the hill and nearly forgot to take turn 3! My fastest time was 1:18.87 on lap 1.

Run 8, final call for anyone who wanted another go and they gave us an extra lap too. I spent much of this run behind hamx5ter and got some video of his car. Fastest lap was 1:19.09. And that's it for the day.

Yet again, the officials did a brilliant job and everything went very smoothly for the drivers. Kudos!

The final wash-up for Class 1 was Hammer in 1st with 1:18.03, me 2nd by eight hundredths with 1:18.11, and Renaud Degois 3rd with 1:18.76 (PB).

I also discovered that my Vmax on the main straight is typically about 3km/hr quicker with the hardtop fitted compared to the roof down. FYI here's the breakdown:

soft-top down - 142.4km/hr
soft-top up - 143.9km/hr
hardtop (with soft-top fitted) - 145.3km/hr

My best lap of 1:18.11


... and a bloopers reel featuring all my "greatest spins"


Turn 2

Turn 2 riding the ripple strip

Turn 4 with a bit of oppy lock

Turn 5

[Guran]

Last Friday morning, greenmachine (Ed) listed a genuine Lightyear carbon-fibre hardtop in the for sale section. I got lucky and within 30 minutes, Ed had agreed to sell it to me! Ripper!

So last night I drove to Bywong near Canberra to pick up the hardtop. I drove the MX-5 in the vain hope that it'd be a straightforward job to fit it. Turns out that fitting the hardtop was easy ... but removing the old latches was a total nightmare. I'm truly grateful to Ed for spending an hour and a half, loaning some sockets (I did take screwdrivers, torx-drivers and extra bolts), and donating a few bits & pieces to the cause. Those bolts that weren't held in by locktite or rust, had double-ended threads (ie the Frankenstein bolt). In the end we managed to attach the hardtop via the righthand side bracket, the righthand rear bolt, some wire on the lefthand side bracket, and LOTS of race-tape ! We couldn't remove one of the Frankenstein bolts, one of the side strikers, and both of the front strikers. I drove home like nervous Nellie at no more than 90km/hr on the freeway with one hand out the window on the front of the roof. It stayed on without any problem , but the entire time I had visions of my new CF hardtop flying off and shattering into a million pieces.

Here it is parked in the garage with my red hardtop hanging above. Excuse the filth - it's been very dusty here lately and the hardtop still has lots of sticky-tape residue on it from the packaging.


And it was only this morning that I thought ... why didn't I just remove the front latches off the soft-top and fit those to the hardtop???

[broady]

Looking good

Are you keeping both hard tops?

[Guran]

Looking good

Are you keeping both hard tops?

Yep. I'll be keeping the old hardtop on for everyday and only fitting the CF hardtop for trackdays. It's easier to remove/install the old hardtop whenever I want to go topless, and still be able to raise the soft-top if there's rain. And the old hardtop is more weatherproof for when I park on the road.

[Hellmun]

The frankenstein bolts were a pain. They're in there really tight and seem to have something like loctite on the thread. However the material is so soft the impact screwdriver minced one of them. I ended up doing it with some vice grips.

[Guran]

You found yourself some wheels and semi slicks for the supersprints yet?

I've got a spare set of 14s in the garage and will be buying a set of Kumho V700s as soon as I get around to it.

I bought a set of used Bridgestone RE55s yesterday for $120 a corner. Bargain! They've only done a couple of track days on an MG and look to be in excellent condition. Very happy with my find!

Now I have my fingers crossed that CAMS will allow NSW Supersprints to lift the limit for Oran Park from 100 to at least 103. I'm 3rd on the reserve list for 17th Jan.

[RawSouth]

This is a fantastic thread Guran!

It looks like you and Little Reddy sure are having alot of fun

[Guran]

Finally I just got notice that Round 1 of the Supersprints has been expanded from 100 to 125 entries. Since I was 3rd on the reserve list, this means I'll get to drive Oran Park GP this Sunday, which will be the last ever Supersprint on this historic track. The bad news is that with so many drivers, there'll be over two hours wait between runs. I'd better take a good book!

This morning I spent a couple hours prepping Little Reddy for Sunday. I properly fitted my new CF hardtop for the first time, and cleaned up all the sticky tape residue. Here's a tip: there's a product called "Orange Power Sticky Spot & Goo Dissolver" which works brilliantly on sticky tape residue. Unfortunately I tried using eucalyptus oil before that and it micro-scratched a small area of the perspex window. Anyway, the hardtop is now bolted down tightly and cleaned up. Very happy with my buy!

I also made myself a pair of magnetic numbers just like the club ones. To do this, I bought a metre of white vinyl magnetic sheet from Patch Magnets in Croydon ($50.50), and a pair of black 6 & 8 numbers from Revolution Racegear ($8.80). I trimmed two magnetic sheets to the CAMS-compliant size (500mm x 360mm) and stuck on the numbers. Worked great!

One set of used Bridgestone RE55S semi-slicks fitted ... not bad for $120 per corner!


CF hardtop fitted and looking good.


My Supersprint number on a magnetic sheet - just like the club ones


All ready for the Supersprint at Oran Park GP this Sunday

[Guran]

NSW Supersprint 2010 - Round 1 - Oran Park GP

Last chance to drive in a CAMS-affiliated event at Oran Park before the bulldozers move in. You beauty! Unfortunately there were 124 other drivers registered to share the joy. Prepare for a long wait between runs. At least there was the promise of a 7:00-7:30pm finish.

The weather forecast was for a maximum of around 32C and late afternoon thunderstorms. Eeek! I arrived at the track at 6:45am, just in time to claim one of the carport spots that some of the MX-5 guys had staked out. Scrutineering was an arduous task with so many cars to get through. I was placed in the Blue group which was second last to run.

My first run finally commenced at around 10:30am. I started behind Stewart Clode's Class 2A NA6. By turn 2 on the 2nd lap, we'd both caught up to Bob Gage's Class 2A NA6. Stewart managed to pass Bob on turn 4, but I didn't have the straight line speed to get past Bob and followed him for the remainder of the run, getting sprayed with overflowing fuel in the process. My best lap was the first one, with a time of 1:32.6227. Not bad for my first lap on cold semis considering my previous best was 1:32.1554.

About two hours later I started run 2 behind Stewart again. I had a fairly clear run, and was catching up to Stewart by the end of the 3rd lap. Unfortunately I was getting a really weird high-pitched whistle on the straights which was off-putting to say the least. It was only caused by a small gap between the hardtop and the windscreen - easily fixed with some race tape once I got back to the pits. My best time was 1:32.6443 on lap 1, so no improvement. And it was getting hot by now.

Run 3 was another clear go behind Stewart, and again I was close on his tail by the end of the 3rd lap. The clouds had settled in by now but it was still quite hot. I was starting to get the feel for these tyres too and I improved my best time to 1:32.1694 on the 3rd lap. That was still a fraction slower than my previous best.

I started Run 4 behind Stewart Temesvary this time. In my enthusiasm to get cracking, I overcooked turn 4 of the warm-up lap and had a big oversteer moment, getting passed by a Torana in the process. Then I was passed by a very quick Commodore on the main straight at the start of lap 1, but he then locked up on turn 2. I slowed down to avoid the Commodore and was overtaken simultaneously by a Mazda2 and a Suzuki Swift GTi while passing underneath the Yokohama bridge. Man it was a tight squeeze! My best lap this time was 1:32.7047 - not good enough still.

Run 5 began behind the abovementioned Swift GTi and with the temperature having dropped significantly, the conditions were perfect. I had a perfect clear run, started with a 1:31.7231 on lap 1, and stepped up with a 1:31.4517 on what turned out to be my last ever lap at Oran Park!

My fastest lap of 1:31.4517


The time by now was about 6:30pm and I hoped to get in one last run, but I just missed out as there were already a few groups lined up. In the end I finished 3rd in Class 1B, behind Stewart Temesvary NB (1:28.8010) and Ian Vickers NB (1:29.3705), but just ahead of Tony Chan in a Toyota Celica (1:31.6359). Looks like I'll be having a tight battle with Tony this season!

Link to full Natsoft results

It was great to spend the day with a great bunch of MX-5 owners, and also rewarding to see the MX-5 Club pick up 104 points to NSWRRC's 118. The 2010 club championship should be a bit closer than 2009 (NSWRRC 1005, MX-5 Club 639, CDCA 542).

Goodbye Oran Park. What an absolutely brilliant track! It's a damned shame to see it go.

[Lukus]

Hey Bryan!

Was great to meet you out at OP at Round 1! Just been reading through this thread, nicely put together!

I will have to talk to you about your Performance Box. It's something i've thought about fitting, but would like to see how it all installs before getting too excited. Certainly looks like a great tool, will have to have a closer look at Eastern Creek

Do you have any video of the Commodore overtaking, then myself and the GTi going past under the bridge!?! My GoPro was playing up on that run, would love to see it!

[Guran]

Was great to meet you out at OP at Round 1! Just been reading through this thread, nicely put together!

Likewise Luke! It's always fun to meet and chat with other likeminded track junkies. I didn't know you were a member here. Then again I see this is your first post here since I joined nearly a year ago.

I will have to talk to you about your Performance Box. It's something i've thought about fitting, but would like to see how it all installs before getting too excited. Certainly looks like a great tool, will have to have a closer look at Eastern Creek

Installation is a piece of piss. It sticks on with a few small suction cups, just like a satnav unit. I usually put it on the inside of the windscreen but the supersprint scrutineers don't like it there, so I put it in the glovebox instead. The GPS works through the windscreen, but for the glovebox, I use an external antenna stuck on a steel body panel somewhere (it has an internal magnet). I love the Performance Box for it's instant laptime readout and also the full datalogging which allows you to study split times, cornering lines, braking points, etc. If you're analytically inclined, it's a brilliant toy!

BTW, if you have a suitable mobile phone, you can already do all this with Racechrono software and an external GPS. The only difference is that the mobile phone GPS has lower sampling rate than the PerformanceBox (5Hz vs 10Hz), so you only get half the amount of data logged and 0.1s precision is by extrapolation.

Do you have any video of the Commodore overtaking, then myself and the GTi going past under the bridge!?! My GoPro was playing up on that run, would love to see it!

Sure do. I've just posted the clip on Youtube. You can see the bit where I had to wiggle to the right to make room for you to squeeze past.