Nemo's NA6

[Nemo]

Hey guys,

I've lurked these forums for awhile and finally got myself a 1992 NA6, 3 months into owner ship now and have loved every bit so thought it was about time to start a build thread.

Firstly, some of my old cars,

My first car, a 1990 AE93 Corolla SX. I've always been a Toyota guy and this car was the perfect first car...until someone failed to give way and it was written off.


1987 AW11 MR2, this car was loads of fun, taught me a lot. New owner wrote it off a couple of days after I sold it though.


Picked this car up after the AW11, an import 1992 AE92 Levin. Even though it was a nice unique car I never really felt attached to it like my previous cars and made the decision to sell it soon after. During the this time I also had picked up a 1980 MKII Ford Escort as a project, however I soon realized on my student budget this wasn't the smartest idea and sold it.

So I've already been through a fair few cars, surely the next one is my MX5 right? Wrong, next I got in touch with my bogan side and picked up a 2002 VX Commodore S. Made for an awesome comfy daily cruiser, but just wasn't me and I quickly sold it. Didn't even have it long enough to get any photos.

And now finally we come to my 1992 Mazda MX5. Despite my history with going through cars faster then i change underwear, can see myself keeping this one for a long time. I've always wanted to get into tracking etc and saw this as the perfect car for a beginner to do so. Car is no where near perfect by any means, paint is a bit on the sh*t side and a little small things here and there but car still felt awesome to drive. After getting the car checked over by Jason from TT the car was mine.

Some photos:


The day I picked it up, completely stock.


Attended my first track day at Marulan in June hosted by Circuit Club. By no means was I fast but I had an awesome time and learnt a fair bit.


What she looks like now.

I really need to get a half decent camera...

NA6 1992 Mazda MX-5
Height Adjustable Cusco Shocks (Picked these up second hand for cheap, you get what you pay for. Bit old and dampening is a bit off now. Still better then the 18yo shocks that were on the car though...on the car for the sole purpose of looks atm. )
Front Cusco Strut Brace (OS)
RDA Front Slotted Rotors
QFM A1RM Front Pads
Dodgy DIY Radiator Air Guide
Dodgy DIY Side Number Plate Holder
Sparco Sprint Junior
Vented Headlight Cover and DIY CAI
Garage Vary Front Lip
15x7 +35 Enkei RPF1 wrapped in 195/50/15 Bridgestone Adrenalin RE001

Pretty happy with how the car looks atm, plans for the near future atm include exhaust, roll bar and some new suspension bits...although might be awhile with my limited funds.
My main aim though is to improve my driving skills and get out to the track as much as possible, proving a bit hard atm with uni/work.

Despite copping a lot of sh*t from mates for driving a hairdresser's car , it puts a smile on my face every time i drive it and hope it still does for years to come.

[Old Dude]

Welcome to the obsession Nemo, she looks the goods
Cheers
Dale

[rxmx]

Cars looking good mate, nice lip

[Guran]

Looks great! I hope you can make it to the next MX-5 Club trackday at Wakefield Park on 5th September. You won't regret it!

[Nemo]

Looks great! I hope you can make it to the next MX-5 Club trackday at Wakefield Park on 5th September. You won't regret it!

Hmm, sounds very temping especially since i missed out on a spot in the Circuit Club day at Wakefield on the 4th. I'll have to look into it.

Would be good to put some faces to some of the threads I've stalked, your's being one lol.

[broady]

Good to see your car on here Nemo! It looks a bit difference since I spotted it at TT Auto

Come out for a meet sometime, or the track day. Or the EOMM on Sunday!

[Nemo]

Good to see your car on here Nemo! It looks a bit difference since I spotted it at TT Auto

Come out for a meet sometime, or the track day. Or the EOMM on Sunday!

Haha yeah been a busy/expensive couple of months .

Would love to come down to the EOMM however don't think I'm willing to give up Sunday pay rates at work for it lol. Looking into the club track day though.

Anyway, managed to borrow my sister's point and shoot camera today, bit of an upgrade from my 2.0 megapixel phone.

[Nemo]

Sent in my forms tonight for the Wakefield Day this Sunday, can't wait.

Also, recently bought a set of BR type BC Racing coilovers, due to arrive sometime this week. Thought about saving up a bit more for Tein Flex etc, however as the car is still mainly my daily and being a broke student i couldn't really justify spending that much. Plus the majority of the reviews I had heard/read on the BC's were positive. Just gotta hope they come in time for me to put them in and get an alignment before Sunday.

[Nemo]

Thought I'd give this thread an overdue update.

The BC Racing coilovers went in fine, can't really fault them yet. Good bang for buck coilover.

Headed down south that weekend for my first attempt at Wakefield at the Club Day. Unfortunately was a bit damp, managed to come away with a 1:23.670. Didn't break anything and still had a fun day, I was happy.

Before the next track day I made it a priority to get myself a roll bar, ended up buying a second hand MX5+ Roll Bar. Also added a Magnaflow exhaust. The next Club Day was dry and I managed a 1:19.570 this time around.

Made it out to the Shift Performance Track day a couple of weeks later in November. All was going well, managed a 1:19.158 before I managed to crack both my front rotors and decided to end the day early. I managed to get that lap on camera though, can see where I'm going wrong and just need to get back out there and do it. Any tips welcome.


Used this as an excuse to upgrade and got myself a set of NB8A brakes and put that all on. Still running standard pads and rotors etc, one of which appears to be warped but I'm going overseas for a couple of weeks so had to save some money for that first...although I couldn't resist and bought a hard top for the car, one of my favorite mods so far.

Get back in Sydney on Feb 7th and hopefully can get a new set of rotors and pads in time for the club track day on the 20th. Still debating what combination to get, was pretty happy with the QFM A1RM's, just not sure on rotors.

Main aim for this year is to not spend too much on the car and mods etc and just get out on the track as much as possible. Hope to hit 1:17's sometime in the near future.

Anyway, some photos from the last couple of months.
MX5 Club Day


Shift Track Day



JDMST Meet



Putty Rd Run

[Twiggy]

Nice pictures Nemo hopefully see you before the next track day, a visit is long overdue

[wilch]

The car sits really nice on RPF-1's!

[Nemo]

Bit of an update, went on a small spending spree and got Hawk HP+ pads and Slotted RDA rotors as well as some other little things. Very impressed for the pads especially for the price they can be had (bought through Goodwin), just a bit dusty and a bit noisy for street.

Having some issues with my handbrake now though. I adjusted the rears properly with the hex key rather then just a G clamp etc. They seemed perfectly fine, however went down to Wakefield a couple of days later, now they seem to not want to stop the car anymore on inclines. Have also tried adjusting the handbrake from in cabin to no avail.

Went down to Wakefield yesterday for the Circuit Club track day with one goal in mind, to hit 1:18's. Had watched a couple of other videos and figured that I'd been turning in to turn 11 (final hairpin) too early and wasn't going out wide enough for the entry to turn 2.

For most of the day I was following Ivan (one of the circuit club organizers) in his white NA6. We were running similar lap times all day and this was some of the most fun I'd had. Was pushing hard to catch up...often beyond my own capabilities which resulted in slower lap times . I'd have way too much footage to make a bloopers reel.

Second last session of the day I managed to come off up the top after turn 5 and munched my front lip and also bent my front bar in the process. The support rod is bent at nearly a right angle, hopefully I can just straighten this by hand. Will be getting a quote from a plastic welder tomorrow to fix the lip.

Throughout the day I had had a couple of 1:19.2's, but still no 1:18 let alone a new PB. Was a bit bummed at both those things at this stage. Went out on the last session after some serious weight reduction determined, second lap out I managed a 1:18.82 and two laps later also a 1:18.89. I was stoked...however my camera had run out of batteries at this stage so didn't manage to get a video.

Afterwards I was comparing data from Racechrono with MitchF1 in his NA6 who was lapping in the 1:15's on semis. Was interesting to see that through Sector 1 (start/finish line to middle of turn 2 and 3) and Sector 2 (up till middle of turn 6 and 7) I was less then 0.5s slower and my top speeds were less then 1km/h slower. I seem to be losing a lot of time through the back section, I was 5km/h or so slower through the middle of the fish hook. I seemed to lock up a fair bit as well, so definitely found something I need to improve on. My 'optimal lap' was 1:18.3, aiming for consistent low 1:18's next time out.

For the first time I had a slight issue with fuel, after the last session of the day my fuel gauge was literally on E. I've attended days at Wakefield both in the Circuit Club layout and MX5 club layout before and I've never used this much petrol. Think I'll be bringing a spare 10L with me next time. Also going to be needing a new clutch fairly soon, pick up point is way too high for my liking atm.

Video of me trying to chase down Ivan (second session of the day)...don't mind my high quality phone mount.

[Nemo]

Apparently this is meant to be straight.

Looks so bare without the lip...plus side can now drive into my driveway without scraping.
The lip ripped all the screws out of the bar as well so looks like I'm going to have to drill a whole new set of mounting holes once i get the lip repaired.

[Nemo]

Car's changed a bit, now looks like this. Thanks to mitch_f1 for the photo.



Had PhillB roll and pull my guards, awesome service.

Was planning on selling these due to some unforseen circumstances...however after seeing them on the car don't think I can let it go. RPF1's will be retired to track duties only. Once i save up some money/wear these tires out plan to get some rspecs for them.

[Jeo]

Nice!

Specs on the equips?