Roadster Wife

[RanfordSilver]

This is the next instalment in Joe's NA6. I bought the 1990 Roadster from him in September 2015 and things are getting a bit more serious this week with my entry into the MX-5 Club of Victoria's Sprint Championship for 2016. I thought it good timing to post about the few little things that have been done since it changed hands.

The back story...
My path to owning an MX5 began with a meeting with my bank about saving for a home loan, in which they also noted I could apply for a car loan if I liked (they just LOVE giving away cash it seems.... :S) I think the reality of being responsible and locking in a 30 year mortgage tripped some wire in my brain that said "buy a race car instead". My partner was leaning more towards getting a serious go-kart set up for us both but after coming across Joe's ad for this one it just seemed perfect.
I arranged to see the car, drove a few hours from Wodonga, got a speeding fine on the way, and met the little black NA6. It was the second MX5 I have ever dríven, after borrowing a friend's NC for a test drive so I at least had something to compare it to.
At my request Joe took me for a drive to show what it could do- he obviously took this as a challenge. I remember taking a tight ACT roundabout at 70, the back end hinting at coming unstuck but solid, I was doing child-birth shallow breathing during most of the sketchy moments but needless to say I was hooked!

[RanfordSilver]

The back back story.
This car has a bit of a funny history and explains why Joe had some difficulty selling it as there’s some hoops to jump through to get a re-shelled car registered in some states. It was originally a 1.6L auto 1990 Roadster, in ’98 it was damaged and an imported JDM shell was used to re-shell it. In about 2006 it was converted to a NA8 5 speed manual gear box and 1.8L BP engine. Since then the following upgrades have been made:

42mm aluminum radiator
Stock headers, then 2.25" exhaust from there back. Aftermarket cat and muffler.
HD clutch and braided lines
Lightened flywheel
Autronic SM4 stand alone ECU
Dynoed at 90kw atw
Flyin Miata full butterfly brace and chassis rails
BC Racing BR coilovers
NB8A brakes all round with HP+ pads
Gear box replaced 2015
LSD 4.3:1
Wheels 949 Racing 6UL 15x8 +36

[RanfordSilver]

First…. Roadworthy Certificate

1. New tyres- replaced the Federal RSR’s 205-50-15 with new ones
2. Wheel alignment- check out the readings below, after seeing these figures it made sense why I felt like the car was trying to kill me when going over bumps/potholes. New alignment not so aggressive but made me feel a lot more confident in the car.
3. Connect disconnected windscreen wiper hose.

That’s it. Very happy.

If you can't see the image the summary of alignment is
Rear: camber -1.3 L and -1.1 R, toe -0.01 L and 0.0 R
Front: Castor +2.49 L +2.48 R, camber -1.54 L and - 1.57 R, toe +0.3 L and +0.1 R

I'm interested to know what anyone thinks about this set-up. The guy that did it wanted the best of both worlds, not too much wear on the tyres through the week and a bit of camber for the track. He also said he couldn't get much more castor than that, which I thought strange as the original readings were 1.5 degrees more. I don't understand enough about this yet, but it sure felt good afterwards with fresh tyres and a smooth feel to the drive.

[RanfordSilver]

Second.. Remove Plastidip from car and rims

This job took about 2 weeks as I thought I could just peel it all off, and I could- mostly- on two of the rims but the others needed soaking in WD-40 and then peeling/rubbing off. This took a few sessions over a couple of weekends. It looked pretty shabby in the process but if you understand the rim culture of Albury-Wodonga you would have thought it was intentional.
Not gonna lie, this was an incredibly annoying process!

[RanfordSilver]

First repairs

On it’s first long trip to Melbourne it started making a rattling noise from the engine bay, I was halfway to Melbourne and decided as it wasn’t related to my speed or the engine rev’s it wasn’t critical… ha! Good logic there! I had it diagnosed on return to Wodonga and one of the bolts from the radiator had been sheared off, on deceleration part of the engine block was shifting forward and one the fans was rattling on another part. (I have lost the description from the mechanic so that is my best recollection). The solution was to shift whatever that was in the engine bay back 10mm and re-bore the screws for the radiator. All this was done ready for my first Motorsport event.

[RanfordSilver]

First Motorsport Event

My first event was a come and try day at the Rob Roy Hillclimb track in the Yarra Valley. It was hosted by the MG club of Victoria and it was a perfect introduction. I met two other ladies with flashy new Mini’s who were also just getting started in their car club. My heart was beating SO hard on that start line the first turn up the hill. I won’t forget that feeling. I felt like I was flying at warp speed and then afterwards, looking at the video replay it resembled a leisurely Sunday drive put-putting around that first turn.
It was enough through, I realized what my partner had been doing for several months already- that drive to analyse where you can improve, what are you going to do differently next round to get just that little bit faster, what gear would have been better…all those thoughts, that’s where the obsession begins isn't it? This also served to give me confidence to attend meeting with my local car club.

I had been along to watch a couple of lap-dash events and I found it very intimidating. It had been 100% male competitors and there were a few of their partners and children watching from the sides. You know that public speaking technique where you imagine everyone in the room is naked so it’s not as intimidating? … well I pretended that all those drivers, stewards and marshals were women and that, believe it or not, helped me feel more confident about joining in.

Sometime after this me and my partner got engaged, hence the Roadster Wife and not Roadster Significant other or Roadster Defacto life partner!

[RanfordSilver]

First Motorkhana

I remember parking and walking up to a group of older gentlemen talking over their car. Before I could ask anything one of them asked “Can I help you?” looking a little perplexed. I said I was joining in today and where was registration? “Do you have a car?” he replied.
Ha! Fortunately I did and fortunately that guy, Rod was a great support through the day and was genuinely excited about competing with me as an equal. It felt good to have someone rub it in your face when they got a better time than you because it meant you were a competitor like anyone else.
Before getting out there I was terrified that I was going to make a fool out of myself. Mostly I was scared of going the wrong way and doing something very stupid. I felt there was an expectation on me to fail because I was a girl. This was before I realized how much harder it is for a guy starting out- when there is an expectation to be GOOD!
I was happy with my results, I didn't make big directional mistakes like many others did and I finished 8th of 21 in the motorkhana and 5th of 20 in the khanacross. I wasn't feeling confident enough in my hand-braking technique to use it that day so I expect I can get better results once I improve on that.

[RanfordSilver]

Results of Motorkhana and Khanacross attached.

[RanfordSilver]

Lap Dash at DECA Barnawartha

So if I was scared of making a fool of myself at the motorkhana I was afraid of killing myself at the lap dash. I am quite obsessive about having to know every detail of every possibility. It makes me anxious to not. So I had watched on-board videos of the track, Google-earth'd it and studied the track. Then at 12am the night before my thoughts turned to coming off the track- what happens to an MX5? Do they flip easily? Enter: youtube. A scary place after midnight and your fears are eating you. I came across this video which has been burned into my mind and works quite well to remind me of my mortality.
You've all seen it, its the one with the flailing arms. And his first race no less!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfWjXzvVoL0

But a lap dash is not a race, and fortunately everyone else wants to hurt themselves or their car as little as I do. So I eventually slept.

Day of the lap dash was 40 degrees. Incredibly hot track, hot car and decreasing performance of tyres and track surface as the day went on. Which meant any improvements in my technique seemed negated by the deteriorating conditions. Started with 36 psi front and rear cold as per this random post I found for RS-R's (http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/376924-federal-595-rs-r-pressuresgrip-etc/)
Decreased the psi front and rear by about 5 for the 4th session which FELT better but didn't equate to better times. Coming in hot they were around 45psi from memory. I was losing traction in some of the corners hence bringing down the pressures as an experiment.
My times weren't great, I was comparing myself to the supercharged mini as perhaps my nearest competitor (0.4sec faster), but I should probably be a lot faster than him?? Not sure.
I can definitely find time with my braking at turn 1, I haven't found the limits of this car's braking yet but I was happy with my lines.
Action pics and final times below.

[Magpie]

From my experience with 595 RSR's aim for about between 32 and 36 hot. I can dig out my temps on these tyres for you, however tyre temp is impacted greatly by alignment and pressures.

On the weekend I was seeing 66­°c on the inner edge of both front wheels (FZ201's), this was at 31.5 psi hot, infra red temp showed about 60°. I do run over -4° of camber on the front.

During the morning I adjusted out mid/exit understeer by increasing the damping on the front, as well as added a few PSI into the rear tyres and put the wing back to 0° AOA. Data from the day suggests that I need to decrease the rear pressures (were 35 hot) and increase the front pressures a tad. Next time I go out I will adjust the tyre pressures and see how it goes.

I find keeping a little notebook and writing in it after each session helps with the memory. I can then check lap times against the changes, however my lack of consistency as a driver needs to be factored in when reviewing the notes and handling.

You may need to have your control arms checked as well as the bushes, tie rod ends and alignment bolts as these can be a limiting the amount of castor. I found for my car that replacing the lower control arms fixed up the castor issue, prior I could not get anymore than about 1° now it is about 3.5°.

[RanfordSilver]

Thanks Magpie, great idea about the log book for tyre temps and pressures. I ran lower pressures on the weekend at Phillip Island and didn't have any under/oversteer issues (perhaps not finding the limits?!). I came in off the first session and all four were 30 psi. Someone else on the day recommended checking surface temps for inner/middle/outer tyre to check how the alignment is suiting the track. I'll certainly get onto that as well as getting a tyre pressure gauge for myself- weekend trip to supercheap!
As for control arms, bushes, tie rod ends and alignment bolts- I'll look into that- I just don't understand how you can walk in with 4 degrees and walk out with 2.5 max?

[RanfordSilver]

Preparing for Phillip Island

Phillip Island was a great motivator to do a few things that I had been meaning to. First was bonnet struts. I ordered some struts off ebay, super easy to install (thanks MightyCarMods video also). One thing though- the bonnet didn't sit perfectly flush on the drivers side after installation. I ended up removing the spring loaded push thing at the front of the drivers side of the engine bay. Didn't know what it was, couldn't find what it did- maybe it helps to pop the bonnet up after you release the clasp, maybe it has a sensor to say if the bonnet is closed fully? Anyway its done and it looks VERY hard to put it back on again. And no problems with opening or closing the bonnet and it all sits beautifully!
Next replace the daggy looking seal from the airbox to the cross pipe. Some people had remarked that it looked like unfiltered air could be entering after the airbox so I cut off the old silicone one and replaced it with a new one and covered the join with Supatape. What a discovery that was! I love the stuff. Result looks great.
When giving the car a once-over I noticed a piece of metal hanging down under the middle of the chassis. A few days out from an event and I was not pleased. On inspection it looked like a probe or sensor attached to a braided metal line. Braided metal says brakes to me. But a quick check of clutch/brakes and handbrake showed no leaks and no loss of function. Reassuring.
I got my uncle (mechanic) and dad (ex-driver) on the case and within 24hrs it was identified as an exhaust cat sensor. It doesn't seem to be affecting any performance of the car so it was taped up with electrical tape and cable tied to the butterfly brace as a temporary measure to get through scrutineering. It's possible it was disconnected when installing the after market exhaust and cat but I'll have it checked over.
Seat and harness. Went with the cheaper option of Monaco Sport from Revolution racegear, and an RPM 6-point racing harness. It comes with an H-adapter plate to fit the seat onto the stock rails. This didn't go smoothly. It was about 4 days of problem solving and it drove me insane. Basically the H-adapter plate didn't fit properly and when done up tight caused a bowing of the adapter plate. Didn't look right or safe. I spoke to Revolution who said that because it is a generic one for all cobra seats the adapter plate might not fit the MX-5 perfectly. Disappointing. The solution was to stack washers between the seat rails and the adapter plate to eliminate the bowing. About 8mm of washers! Surely there is a better option than this, but it got me through the weekend. I will look into getting side mounts or perhaps just bolting straight onto the floor in future.
Pics soon as the up-loader is struggling today...

[RanfordSilver]

Pics of bonnet struts- new airbox seal- cat sensor

[RanfordSilver]

Pics of seat woes and it finally fitted!

[RanfordSilver]

Phillip Island
Round 1- Mx5 Car Club VIC/TAS Sprint Championship

Phillip Island..... I won't soon forget that feeling of rising over the hill to see the track in the early morning sun. The track cleaning truck was out on the circuit and I got that first feeling of "wow, this is really happening, that will be me out there". Then I arrived, popped out of the underground tunnel and cruised through the unloading race cars. Holy sh*t - I'm a long way from Kansas and the friendly local car club at the Barnawartha track. There are some very serious cars being unloaded here...
Some of the most impressive was a Ferrari race car and quite a few Porches. The day was organised by the WRX Club so there were plenty of Subarus around too.

The first session gets under way and the first group out is the fastest high performance cars. Hearing and watching them roar past the main straight actually terrified me, how the hell was I going to do that?

But I did, albeit much slower.

First session out and I had Tim from the club give me some pointers, "you can go faster, keep your foot on the throttle..." more words to that effect. 2.27.06 best time of session 1.
Session 2 best time 2.18.21 and there were not much gains after that.

I started the day on 30psi all round and did not mess with it. I had no under/oversteer issues but that's probably because I was not finding the limits.

On the 4th session I noticed a very feint shudder coming down the main straight that started above 150km/hr (I reached 170 mid-straight but chickened out out of holding the pedal to the floor for fear of turn 1). My instinct was that this did not feel like a suspension or alignment issue but perhaps an aerodynamic feeling. The vibration did not seem to be transmitted through the steering wheel but was a more subtle feeling than that. The front lip has a large crack in it held together by cable ties so this could have been vibrating at high speeds.
I wasn't game to push it so I missed the 5th round.
The shudder has not returned on any highway driving since then and it I am having the brakes and suspension checked this week.

I had been practising heel and toe braking on local streets for about 2 weeks and was really feeling confident with it. But there's a big difference when the corner is coming at you about 4 times faster and you're thinking about 5 other things at the same time so to be honest I did not even attempt heel and toe breaking at this track this time around.

Phillip Island track leaves it's mark on you and I cant wait to return later in the year. What an incredible experience, I left feeling proud of my first attempt and relieved that the car had held up. I had a lot of support from my family, including a great pep talk from my grandfather who is an ex-racer himself. I have since received a beautiful message from my great aunt saying how pleased she is that I am doing this, as she would have loved to as a young woman in the 1940's but as she sad- it wasn't something that a woman "did" in those days.