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So I bought a new car and tinkered around in the garage for a bit, this is what came out:



SPECS:
Running gear:

• Standard ~100,000km NB8B Motor, 6 speed gearbox, Torsen 4.1 diff and running factory ECU
• Lightweight flywheel, Mazdaspeed engine mounts, $300 eBay extractors
• Basic straight through exhaust
• Standard NB8B brakes with Hawk Pads
• El-cheapo CF pod filter enclosure

Suspension/Steering:

• 15x8 6ul wheels and 205/50/15 Nitto NT-01
• Energy Suspension bushes and BC Coilovers
• Larger front swaybar, Standard NB rear swaybar, adjustable endlinks
• Depowered NB8B steering rack with quick release hub

Interior:

• Sparco race seat, Willans harness
• most of the NB8B dash/console remains, but the rest of the interior is gone
• Doors are as factory, with different door trims to accommodate the roll bar, the power windows still work
• AC and heater boxes have been removed.
• 2 inch extension fitted the the gear stick, with ebay spec white gear knob
• Sensors for water temp, water pressure and oil pressure which are mounted in the dash panel in front of the gear stick
• Cage was built by Nick Luxton. He also sorted out the wheel alignment/geometry and welded the exhaust for me.

Exterior:

• CF/Fibreglass Headlight 'covers' with LED spotlights
• Bonnet is vacuum infused CF with vents strategically placed, built by myself and lightyear.
• boot is infused CF, built by myself and lightyear.
• roof is a custom fastback design in fibreglass, built by myself and lightyear.
• Bonnet is fixed to the factory hinges, and held down by Aerocatches.
• Boot uses more traditional bonnet pins and locating bolts.

You may have seen my previous track cars, they were competent, but they were a compromise between road car and track toy.
The NA6 started to get old, and began using a lot of oil:

The NB8A was never quite fast enough, and I couldn't go faster without spending money or converting it from road worthy to track only:



That's why I bought an 01' JDM imported NB with standard VVT motor.
It was missing most of the interior, roof and running gear. It had no brakes, drive shafts, diff or gearbox.

Old car getting converted to 'stock':

Old vs new flywheel:

Nearly done, making room for rubber:





Off to fit cage:




Pretty much as it is now:

First official day on track, managed a 1:07.?? at Broadford.
Not bad really for standard running gear:

Interesting rear wing! I've been thinking of doing something similar with a little gurney flap!

wow...that is cool!

That's a strong first garage post... This will be in the top 3 at Phillip island next month. What times do you expect? My guess is a 1:52-1:53 if we get good weather. Your higher top speed will help there.

Apu wrote:Interesting rear wing! I've been thinking of doing something similar with a little gurney flap!

It's not a wing. It's basically a kamm tail.

Expecting around 1:54 at PI as a start, probably will be reasonably happy when I see a 1:52, however that might not be possible with the old tyres that are on the car. Also, got to get back into the rhythm of driving it.

I like it...

Great looking car. Look forward to hearing how it goes on track.

just wow.... looks amazing!!!

Another video from Broadford:


Next event is at Phillip Island on 6-Jul

Nice in car footage..

Hey, whats going on with your steering wheel? In the first minute of footage it is slightly off to the left at straight ahead, and then after the 1 min mark it is 45 deg off to the right at straight ahead?? Can your quick release wheel be fitted at any orientation?

I like this!

rascal wrote:Hey, whats going on with your steering wheel?

Nice spotting, I tried out a new quick release, and it wasn't lined up properly.... I swapped it around during the day to try fix it, just made it worse.
Only way to fix it properly will be to remove the boss kit, which I didn't want to do while at the track in case something went awry and I was stuck with a race car with no steering.
Will sort it before PI.