Sailor's NC LE

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 5:26 pm

Though it was about time I wrote a little on the trials and tribulations of owning my first ever Mazda...of any type.

It all started in December 2007, Saturday 16th to be exact.
Susan's birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks, we needed a new car, and decided that we'd buy her/us a combined birthday/Xmas present.
We drove around a bit looking at all types of cars just to see what was around.
Arrived at Eurocars Mazda and were looking at 3's and 6's with the idea of getting a new sedan.
George, the salesman, was good at his job.
Susan sat in a few sedans, and liked what she saw...then George suggested that she might like to have a sit in the nice little black sportscar.
Didn't take long before he was shuffling cars around so she could take a drive. "Take as long as you like" he said.
She took over an hour, then sat down to do a deal.
Deal done, deposit taken on condition that the car would be stored until we could pick up in early Feb...we were going skiing.
I actually caught a train to Artarmon on Feb 7th, paid the balance and drove the car home.
We took Friday off and spent the weekend away putting hundreds of km's on the car.

It was during this time that I noticed that the NC LE was not quite the unflappable handler that I'd originally though.
The car rolled a little more than I liked and the rear seemed....well, disorganised. It would leap about on switchback corners and gave the impression of being seriously under damped.

More to come!
The tales of the new sway bars that made the car handle worse...then the new Tokico shocks that absolutely transformed the car.

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 8:26 pm

howdy neighbour...ill say gidday next time i see your car in Morty!

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:51 pm

Hi Regie, seen you around but usually on Forest Rd heading the other way.

Feb 08. First pic and ready to rally!?

Might as well get on with this, much excitement ahead.
Sway bars were bent up by Ray Selby and installed a short time later.
Handling went from not fabulous to horrendous and after talking it out, it was decided that the bar had marginally increased spring rate required to be managed by the already lacking std rear Bilsteins.
New Tockico HTS shocks ordered from Shox.com and together with a set of Eibach Pro springs and Fat Cat bump stops.
The car dropped well over 2" and was so low I was unable to get it out of my driveway.
A few phonecalls later I decided to pull the Eibachs and refit std springs as a standby measure.
Shock was that the car was still slightly more than 20mm lower!
Seems lower gas pressure in the Tokico has let the car settle lower...It's since gone down a little more as just gets into my drive.
Shocks and bumpstops transformed the car and I'm so happy that I've left the std springs in.
Still have the Eibachs...should sell em.

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 12:43 pm

Well the car went on the dyno last week.
I knew that the AFR was out after watching the Scanguage..but this was a surprise

Comment from Colin was "well, there's plenty of room for improvement"

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:03 pm

In preparation for the major power upgrade...and because the pads were shot and discs needed a skim, I fitted a set of slotted DBA rotors to the front and EBC Red Stuff pads all around.
Stopping power is nothing short of amazing...BUT if anyone tries to tell you Red Stuff pads are low dust, You have my permission to laugh loudly!

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Fri Dec 10, 2010 1:37 pm

Well, The XEDE piggyback from Chiptorque has been installed.

Had a few little dramas with a slightly incorrect wiring diag resulting in the MAF sensor being left out of the loop.
Corrected quickly with a pinswap in the XEDE connectors.
The wrong version of the XMap software being supplied which caused the engine to stall when downloading maps.
Both were very quickly diagnosed and confirmed by the people at Chiptorque over the phone.

No dyno data yet but the base map is ramping up the timing by as much as +6.5 degrees at 5% load
and varying from +3.5 at 2000rpm at 100% load to +6.0deg at 6000rpm at 100% load the car feels much more willing.
Data is showing the knock sensor is not being activated.

My Scanguage is showing much more even AFR across the range and 11.9 at WOT.
Engine temp is up just a tad more than I would normally see but I'll need to get some data logged to confirm.

I've mounted the XEDE on top of the airfilter box and will be putting some reflective foil on it and a little insulation under the bonnet
so it doesn't get baked under my black bonnet in summer.

The car feels much more willing and I'm looking forward to seeing a dyno run with some more tweaking.

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:38 pm

About time you started this thread!

Have been keen to hear about your progress, particularly your experiences with the XEDE.

I suspect after reading Miata.net the XEDE vs Sniper decision was relatively easy?

Sailor wrote:In preparation for the major power upgrade...and because the pads were shot and discs needed a skim

How many kms did you get out of the factory discs up front?

I'm onto my third set....!

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:26 pm

CoffeeBoss wrote:
Sailor wrote:In preparation for the major power upgrade...and because the pads were shot and discs needed a skim

How many klms did you get out of the factory discs up front?

I'm onto my third set....!

Hmmm, 6 sets of front pads and only onto my second set of rotors.

Original rotors had 85K on them and were still going strong bar a few ridges and cooling crazes. I don’t think the slotted ones will last nearly as long as the originals.

You must be terribly hard on your brakes Matt.

I must come over Rob and give the car a go after you return from Canada.

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:07 pm

I got about 50k from the discs andpads. Discs needed only a skim but I thought I´d upgrade while I had the car apart.

CB,CW still not fitted, I´ll now be doing it in May when I´ve got a couple of weeks off.
No longer in Canada, spent the day sipping in Napa, Sonoma tomorrow....You´d love it!

KRM · Postby **KRM** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:50 pm

CB doesn't salior give you a case of them. :lol:

30cm of powder now tasting the wines of the Napa. :mrgreen:

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:25 am

KRM wrote:CB doesn't salior give you a case of them. 30cm of powder now tasting the wines of the Napa.

Hey Keef, I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot (done that already) and miss out on a drive of the CS NC by saying that he's given us a case of "the trotts", though some people have it pretty good don't they as we've only heard half of it. :mrgreen:

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:28 pm

Don´t worry CB, the drive is still yours as soon as the car is sorted...you´ll even get some track time.
BTW, just back from a sweet french meal at La Bicyclette in Carmel this evening, dropping in for a quick look at Laguna Seca tomorrow then back to San Francisco for a coupe of days then out to Lake Tahoe for a little more ski time.
Seeing some nice cars around, even a few NCsand a spectacular NB Mazspeed complete with Hart wheels...stunning!!
Driving the biggest mother or a car you can imagine..a Chevy Tahoe!!!!...it actually drives very well.
Susan has fallen in love with a 2 door Honda Accord coupe..shame they´re no available in Oz.

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Sun Feb 06, 2011 1:35 pm

Well after much deliberation, I have decided to abandon the E85 route for a while.
The huge rollout that has been talked about has just not happened yet leaving availability when touring a serious problem.
I'll be going with petrol in the Cosworth and so have just ordered the AEM meth/water injection kit from Goodwin.
Also popped an oil cooler and Roadster sports Q into the mix.

When they arrive the CW install will begin.
If and when E85 become readily available at the pumps I'll ditch the water injection and convert

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:11 pm

Spent today installing the GWR header...very happy I didn't pay anyone to install it would have cost a fortune!
4 bolts that were almost impossible to move, and generally a PITA....but no skinned knuckles
Still it was worth it..The car absolutely jumps when it hits 3500rpm and although the exhaust note has changed, it's not art all intrusive.
Roadster Sports Q will make it sound fabulous..and gain a few more neddies, just a shame that it won't arrive till next week.
Cost $120 to have the O2 bungs welded in this morning then about 6 hours with a break for lunch to get the old out and new in.
Trap for new players, don't stuff around, pull the alternator completely out and remove all the underbody panels to get easy access.
Pull the centre heatshield bolt from under the car.
No CEL, car is running sweet and idle is perfect.
Will install the Auterra Dash Dyno tomorrow and have a fiddle with the Xede.
Wakefield here we come.

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:26 pm

Well, the proof is in the pudding!
First my Auterra Dash Dyno seems to have a problem with the plug that connects to the OBDII port. Connection is intermittent and I only got a few unreliable AFR readings before giving up.
The measurements were enough fo me to make a very small, very safe tweak of AFR with the Xede after the GWR header install.
Wakefield showed a valuable increase in power with me picking up another 200-300rpm at various points on the circuit and getting into higher gears earlier than before the header install.
I'm more than a little chuffed with the extra grunt, looking forward to another quick dyno run to see just where it all ended up.