Matt's MY08 NC Roadster.

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:36 pm

At Last - Track Time!
So, the NC has finally seen some track time. Twice thus far, at the new Marulan Driver Training Centre.

MDTC is like a mini Ebisu Circuit - tight, twisty, and no run-off. There is a crown in the track, and it is built on a hillside, which means plenty of dips, crests, and off camber corners. It's hugely entertaining.
Circuit Club had the exclusive first taste a few weeks ago. The roadster and I were fortunate enough to be among the chosen few. This will all be reported in the next issue of The Circuit out on Monday. Just quietly, there will also be a CC event there in the coming months, and I highly recommend it to anyone who would love to run through the Natio or Old Pac without the fear of oncoming traffic, polizia or wildlife

Yesterday i was back again at the IRS launch day for 2009. You'll have to wait a little longer to hear about all that

Here's some of Matt Mead's brilliant snaps:

Entry into the turn three, heading up the hill:

Exit of turn three. This is an up-hill right hander, 2nd gear, however the road dips off to the left so the back naturally hangs out on exit, you can see i'm starting to dial in some opp-lock at this point. The turn two-three-four section is like a minature version of the hill at Wakefield, only more fun (there's even a gutter run as you come off the other side)

Impressions: overall, veerrry happy with the balance and grip of the NC on the track, it's adjustable, grip is exceptional even on the worn RE050's. By the end of yesterday they were just mush, they have really gone off and will be replaced soon. Brake fluid also needs changing, due for a service anyhow but i will consider changing fluids to something more suitable before track days. Apart from brake fluid and tyres, the car is hugely entertaining on track, 2nd gear powerslides are more difficult to initiate than i expected thanks to the sheer mechanical grip. It turns in well, and communicates well when dríven hard. Considering i'm in the standard seat and have only had a basic alignment, i'm really pleased.

So, really keen to see how good it will be on better rubber and a decent alignment. That's next!

Also worthy of note, with 25'000kms clocked i've really noticed the engine opening up in the last few weeks. It's just a bit more responsive and a bit more willing under full noise.

In summary: Grin factor remains

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 7:40 pm

Wakefield At Last

Finally hit Wakefield in the Roadster, for Circuit Club's Australia Day Track Day.

Gosh - what a revelation! It was fantastic taking the Roadster out on a familiar circuit (at last!).

The complaints i had at the last track day of tires melting and brakes boiling where vastly reduced despite the extreme heat.... apparently MDTC is quite punishing by comparison, because the brakes and tires held up quite well throughout the four sessions i managed to get in. The last session was fantastic, 16 laps with a mix of open track and traffic. Glorious!

Brakes and tires were as they come from the factory, with 30'000kms of wear and the two previous days spent at MDTC under their belt as well. The tires are quite worn, it must be said. As in, well overdue for replacement.

Lap times were, sadly, not quite as good as expected if i'm honest. Consistency was down from my previous outings in my IS200, naturally i was getting used to the new car and there was traffic to contend with in every session. However i did manage to go out faster than my old car pretty much from the get-go, and final PB in the last session was 3 seconds faster than my previous PB in the Lexus. But still a-ways to go. So:

Previous PB at Wakefield in my old car (IS200): 1.19.220

New PB in the NC: 1:16:529

However, throwing the NC around Wakefield was huge fun, many parts of the track require a new approach for me now due to the higher grip, quicker turn in and higher entry speeds into corners. I also found the NC much less willing to power-oversteer than i expected, and i was sliding into the apex at turn 10 within a few laps, which is something i took a while to build up to in my old car. Gotta love that trademark MX5 communication!

Yummy

All images with thanks to Karl/Storms_of_fate

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:43 am

a few more piccies (thanks Karl!)

PUR157 · Postby **PUR157** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:18 pm

Hey... that's my friends 180SX in the background...!

Congratulations on that laptime... you must be pretty chuffed
how much more do you think you can bring it down by?

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:01 am

PUR157 wrote:Hey... that's my friends 180SX in the background...!

Congratulations on that laptime... you must be pretty chuffed
how much more do you think you can bring it down by?

I would like to get into the 14's with the existing tires and better brake fluid. But I might need better rubber for that. Mid 15's as it is should be achievable.

Aim is 14's on street tires, since i know this has been achieved by drivers better than me. Theory being, that would indicate my driving has improved

I'm still apexing turn 1 as i did in my old car, whereas now i should be going wide through turn 1 to get a faster entry/exit through turn 2, so already there is a bit of time i can make up there. I have also found i wasn't always flat through turn 6 (turn before fishhook), so need to tidy up the line through there as well.

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:50 pm

thunderbird2 wrote:I'm still apexing turn 1 as i did in my old car, whereas now i should be going wide through turn 1 to get a faster entry/exit through turn 2, so already there is a bit of time i can make up there. I have also found i wasn't always flat through turn 6 (turn before fishhook), so need to tidy up the line through there as well.

thunderbird2 wrote:I also found the NC much less willing to power-oversteer than i expected, .

Turn 6 flat will give you the oversteer you seek.

Just be aware of it, keep the boot in and power through ,working the wheel.

Good time Matt for your first up in a NC at Wakefield.

RE-Xtreme · Postby **RE-Xtreme** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:30 am

Good work.

Nice to get out on the track.

Russ.

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:21 pm

New rubber
The stock tires were well past their use-by date, and a puncture only made things worse when i discovered my nice standalone jack cannot fit under my new car! The problems with having a car with no spare - got the tire plugged in town for free though - turning up to the local tire dealer in a Hilux, rather than an MX5 certainly helped things i'm sure. Gotta love 'country' folk :-)

So, a friend was selling some near new semi-slicks... Yokohama A048s.
And with the standard Bridgestone RE050's looking very worse for wear, it was time to change anyhow... this is a stop-gap measure until i sort out something for the daily drive.
The semi's grip is enormous in the dry, particularly once you get some heat into them, even when cold they are ok really. Yes, not much grip in the wet, but really no worse than an average run-of-the-mill road tire. Haven't hit any standing water in them yet though. But they are VERY noisy, particularly on the freeway with the roof up. The noise-cancellation in the BOSE stereo really shows it's worth in this situation. Will hopefully have this sorted soon, so these can become my trackday tires (as intended).

OEM load net
Being largely time-poor, i left this install to the dealership, which they completed succesfully! Very useful item; being a small car, i tend to put small/loose items in the boot, and this load net is perfect for such things. Stitched down the sides and elastic at the top.

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:22 pm

ROADTRIP! / Melbourne
Haven't updated this in a while, have been rather busy with work as always.

We took our first roadtrip in the NC a few weeks ago, a brief few days in Melbourne - part, work, part play. Managed to meet up with some of the VIC crew at the Garage Cafe. Lovely chaps, awesome venue!

Unfortunately between work meetings and catching up with friends, we didn't get a sneaky run down the Great Ocean Road, but no matter, that's an excuse for another trip.

The NC was great on the long haul - simply ate up the miles. We went via Wagga on the way home to avoid all the roadworks north of Albury, some great backroad runs with no traffic.

ROADTRIP! / Targa D'Alpine
Last weekend, after an agonising wait, was Garry's awesome Targa D'Alpine.. What a fantastic weekend away. Got to experience some of the best b-roads NSW has to offer, and the NC lapped up the higher altitudes, climbs and descents. Met some of the typical characters you meet with MX5 club runs

, and put some names and faces to nick-names! And finally met my alter-ego country bumpkin Mr Carter (aka Country Cousin)... this one has been a long time coming (we first chatted on my old forums a few years ago).

This picture taken by my lovely wife is probably the pic of the weekend - we saw this building as we pulled into Yass and had to laugh. So after lunch i pulled up in front to get a picture, and the two locals asked me what I was doing. Naturally, we ended up discussing the finer points of hair care

Day 2: Albury -> Cooma via the Snowies, stupendous stuff, particularly when you have 14 other MX5's with you.

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm

Took a drive to Canberra on Sunday, to visit the Shannons Wheels Expo on the lawns of old Parliament House in Canberra. Large show, featuring a variety of metal... more pics on Flickr when i get around to it. Mainly stopped in to meet some of the ACT Chapter MX5ers and see some of the cars. Carco had a few of their cars there, including their SP race car. Currently PB's in the 1:06's with Pat driving around Wakefield, she was telling me she wants to get it into the 1:05's this year:

Also present was this awesome beast, Fanta.. 94kw of raw NA6 power, aaaaand not much weight. 1:09's at Wakefield thankyouverymuch. Holds a number of class records apparently.

oh, shameless plug - my good friend is selling another set of A048's (the same semi's i have), they have had one heat cycle. Yokohama A048 195/50/16. PM for deets.

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:01 pm

So, back in May, shortly after picking up my car, a few people pointed me to Goodwin Racing. They do great things for the NC! Specifically, they have a great range of Enkies in many combinations of width/offset to suit the NC. So, i then got stuck into my Hyper Rev, pouring over all the pictures of different offsets i could find.

And a few weeks later, i'd done the deal and hooked up some RPF1s. Then the waiting began.

An associate brings a container out from the US each month with old US cars (usually Chevs) and he offered to ship the wheels for me. The Moss Motors boxes arrived within a month, but the wheels... well, they missed a container, than another, than the shipping mob closed for XMAS, then they had to be moved to another shipper, missed the next container... it's been AGONISING!!!!

Well, they finally arrived on Friday. With a few extra bits and pieces:

- centre caps
- light lug nuts

Also got a much needed car cover.

Quite happy with the result, an extra inch of wheel, and much better offset. Honestly, i would like to lower the car a bit more however the height is a nice compromise at the moment, and the thing with the NC is the short/high overhang at the front provides few dramas - it's the very low drivetrain (diff) you need to worry about.

The other thing is the center caps... undecided. Will take them off at some point to way up the difference. I like them, but in the scheme of it all, it may all look better without them. But it's much of a muchness!

Tires are 215 Michelin Pilot Preceda. Wanted to go wider but they didn't come in a 40 profile, which would have made the overall diameter too tall. Only 5mm greater with these tires. Don't mind the stretch anyway

Best thing though - much lighter than stock! Just lifting them you can feel a big difference. Will weigh stock vs RPF1s some time to see what the difference is.

CheyneX5 · Postby **CheyneX5** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:13 pm

Nice! IMO they would look great in 1 inch bigger but nonetheless they look great!

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:45 am

CheyneX5 wrote:Nice! IMO they would look great in 1 inch bigger but nonetheless they look great!

Ultimately i would like to get some 18" for the road, as the NC can carry 18's without looking like a rollerskate. Then i would redesignate the RPF1s as my track rims (as they should be). But those 18"s would need to be LIGHT, otherwise they would just annoy me driving on them all the time. I noticed the difference with the RPF1s instantly, such that I'm not looking forward to running the stock wheels again on my next track day (although the A048s will offset that compromise to some degree!)