Guran's NA6 "Little Reddy"

[Guran]

Since I missed out on the club trackday today on account of my best friend Christening his firstborn (lucky, it's pissing rain in Goulburn!), I had the time to scare myself a bit by figuring out how much my first year of MX-5 ownership and trackwork has cost me. Here's the damage:

Trackdays (11) = $2245 (trackday fees, licenses, membership)
Parts = $2037 (tyres, brake pads, hoses, leads, etc)
Consumables = $1225 (fuel, oil, etc)
Operating = $789 (rego, insurance)
Servicing = $182 (wheel alignment, dyno test)

TOTAL = $6478 ... and interestingly I covered 6500km

This is a far indication of what I'll be spending each year in future to keep up the trackdays.

On top of that I spent another $6072 on various "resellable" items, one-off set-up things, and workshop equipment. The big ticket items were partial respray & dent removal $1100, race suit package & helmet $1010, CF hardtop $1000, regular hardtop $900, BD rollbar $755, miscellaneous workshop equipment $450, and harness $400. Keep in mind that Little Reddy is an unmodified NA6! And I've thus far resisted the urge to replace the soft-top.

All that is on top of the $6900 purchase price for the car. So a grand total of $19,450 in 12 months . Yep, I've done my bit for boosting the economy!

[Guran]

I had the day off today and finally found a couple hours to change the front brake pads, have the front rotors machined, and thoroughly flush the brake lines with fresh fluid. First thing in the morning, it took me half an hour and I had the front rotors out. A local brake shop machined them for me for $50. They seemed to have a sandblasted finish which surprised me a bit. Anyway, I put the rotors back in, fitted the new pads (Bendix Ultimate again), and then enlisted help from my wife to pump the brake pedal. The old fluid was much grubbier than I realised and I gave it a good flush. All was going smoothly until I accidentally let the reservoir run too low and it sucked in some air. Bugger! So back to the pedal pumping and eventually it cleared the air bubbles. Finished off with a quick run out to some quiet back roads to bed in the pads. Very nice, with a firm pedal once again. The old fluid was obviously well past it.

Afterwards I had a look at the old pads. They still had a bit of meat left in them but they were flaking badly around the edges, had some fine cracks through the middle and were a bit tapered. I figured it was a safer to start again with fresh pads. I'm still pretty happy with them and they lasted 11 trackdays in total.

Slight taper on the old pads


Old pads with flaking edges and cracks through the middle


New rotors after pads bedded in

[broady]

Maybe Bendix Ultimate are the best he can use to stay in stock class? I'm not sure

How do you find them though Guran? I'm shopping for brake pads soon... probably after next track day and mine will be gone.

[Fatty]

my bendix pads looked much the same after a few track days. some people swear by them but in my experience they're just not up to the task. i'm now using hawk hp+ and very happy with them, they're fine for the street too altho they do squeel a bit.

[Guran]

These are the only pads I've used so far. They served me well thru 11 trackdays and were still pulling up well. The pedal was getting a bit spongy but that was just the old fluid. The main reason I changed them is because I could see they were starting to crumble and didn't want them to fall apart completely and trash the rotors. I've still got plenty left in the rotors but they were scored and giving a bit of steering shudder under braking. That's all fixed now after the fresh machining.

Yes I could try better pads, that's still acceptable for the supersprint class I'm in. But I'd expect they'll cost more and not sure if I'd see the benefit over the reasonably priced Ultimates. I might just give it a try next time anyway.

[Guran]

I just checked the MX5 Mania website and they quote $165 for front Hawk HP Plus pads. I think that buys only one pair though. I paid $165 for two pairs of front Ultimates at Autobarn, so the Hawk pads would cost twice that. It'll be interesting to see how the Ultimates cope with semi-slicks, especially with more track time at Eastern Creek. If they start to feel the extra load, then I'll give the Hawk pads a try.

[Guran]

I ran out of time on Monday to get a pink slip and re-register Little Reddy. Since the rego expired on Wednesday, I needed to get it sorted immediately. So my good wife, who had the day off work, kindly agreed to get a pink slip. Only problem was the garage failed the car because of the badly worn tyres. Dunno why?





OK, they're ridiculously chipped on the sidewalls, but they still had plenty of tread depth and gripped enough to give me club record times at Wakefield Park!

After a few urgent phone calls, Fiona was waiting in a nearby Bridgestone tyre shop while Little Reddy was fitted with a new set of Adrenalin RE001 boots. The cost? $121 per tyre. Less $5 per tyre discount for NRMA members. And a $50 Bunnings gift voucher too! Bargain!

When I got home from work, I was thrilled to see Little Reddy parked with shiney new Adrenalins AND the new rego sticker on the window. Yes, Fiona had returned to get the pink slip and paid the rego when she got home. What a great wife!

[Hammer]

Does she have a single sister?

[tbro]

I just checked the MX5 Mania website and they quote $165 for front Hawk HP Plus pads. I think that buys only one pair though. I paid $165 for two pairs of front Ultimates at Autobarn, so the Hawk pads would cost twice that. It'll be interesting to see how the Ultimates cope with semi-slicks, especially with more track time at Eastern Creek. If they start to feel the extra load, then I'll give the Hawk pads a try.

Hey mate,
Have a look see at the QFM pads, a lot easier on rotors and stops brilliantly. I find their a pad that work reasonably well stone cold and just keep getting better the harder you use them, which is essential at Lakeside

Have you told Mumma Bear how much you've spent yet!!!!! If so, your a gamer man than me!!

Have FUN.

Terry

[Guran]

Hey mate,
Have a look see at the QFM pads, a lot easier on rotors and stops brilliantly. I find their a pad that work reasonably well stone cold and just keep getting better the harder you use them, which is essential at Lakeside

Thanks for the tip Terry. I'll check them out. Which QFM pads do you use? Any recommendations for suppliers?

Have you told Mumma Bear how much you've spent yet!!!!! If so, your a gamer man than me!!

Strewth I'm not THAT crazy! Can't hide from the BIG purchases though and my fallback position is "I could sell those things anytime and get most of the money back". Hopefully I'll never need to test the theory.

[Guran]

Thanks for the offer Luke. Actually Stewart Temesvary has booked four garages to share amongst the MX-5 Club members, myself included. I'll look you up if those garages fill up early! There are 16 MX-5s entered!

[Hellmun]

I'll see your total expense and raise you -----Total so Far = $14,769.90 + $24,500 = $39269.90 as of 31/1/2008 (Not counting alignments, trackdays, licenses etc)

That's up the page on my mx5 spreadsheet

[Guran]

Ouch! I know when to admit defeat Mark. At the rate I'm going, it'll be a few more years before I get near your tally, and that's counting all the trackday fees. The next Supersprint on 7th March can't come soon enough. I'm itching to get back to Eastern Creek.

[Charlie Brown]

I'll see your total expense and raise you -----Total so Far = $14,769.90 + $24,500 = $39269.90 as of 31/1/2008 (Not counting alignments, trackdays, licenses etc)

That's up the page on my mx5 spreadsheet

No wonder I'm having trouble catching you, I'm not spending enough. What happened between 31/1/2008 and now?

I also got a shock when I checked my list from March 2007 till now. It added up to $6,500 for everything that went onto/into the car for track purposes. ie tyres (5 sets), rims, shocks (2 sets), sways, pads (5 sets), rotors, header, CAI, oil ,etc., no entry fees. I thought maybe half that.

[CoffeeBoss]

Thanks Joe. My inspiration is Coffeeboss ... so prepare for a wordy and personal journey!

Haha! I'm flattered, and a little ashamed I haven't read this thread until now. Have very much enjoyed the journey so far though.

I suspect we may have crossed paths in the past, I used to do drives with some of the Mini2 crew, including Snapper on occasion.

the clubMINI NSW committee seemed to be threatened by the MINI forum communities and this caused (and continues to cause) plenty of ridiculous friction. The MX-5 community is a very pleasant change!

I have much the same observations to make! The Renault community has a similar disparity between the club proper and the forums. It seems silly, but it seems some people perceive there's a gap that can't be crossed?!

We still haven't gone on that drive yet! Put it on the ToDo list