Dan's NC track toy

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:41 am

I’m new to the world of open top cars so excuse me if this is a silly question, as others have pointed out CAMS do not require a cage or roll bar to compete in speed events, the thing is I want to wear a Harness with HANS and have rollover protection.

Due to the NC roof design I can’t get a roll bar that would comply to CAM’s requirements due to the rear stays without getting a hardtop and a rollbar welded in (I’m looking around at the moment but don’t think I’ll have it all done before the MX-5 day in October).

I’ve looked through the regs and I can’t find a rule necessitating a cage/roll bar when using a harness (Schedule I & J), I understand that it’s ludicrous if this is possible but is it legal to wear a harness with the stock roll hoops and compete in CAM’s speed events?

For the record it seems like I’ll fit in well under the hoops in a helmet with this configuration so provided the integrity of the stock roll hoops hold up this configuration would be functional in an accident.

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:01 pm

Dan wrote:I’ve looked through the regs and I can’t find a rule necessitating a cage/roll bar when using a harness (Schedule I & J), I understand that it’s ludicrous if this is possible but is it legal to wear a harness with the stock roll hoops and compete in CAM’s speed events?

Yes it's legal. We have a couple of NC drivers running at CAMS NSW Supersprint events with harness attached to eyebolts in the stock rollover hoop behind the headrest. The shoulder straps have to wrap around the headrest, which is not recommended, but is the only option with a stock seat. At least the eyebolts are very close to the back of the seat, so the risk of the harness slipping off the shoulders is minimised. If practically possible, I'd be using the lap-sash belt in addition to the harness when it is fitted this way.

If you can make it to Eastern Creek this Sunday, you can check it out for yourself. We'll be competing in the Supersprint round on the long circuit (includes the new twisty extension). Drop in anytime between 9am and 5pm and you're sure to find us ... just look for the assortment of MX-5s.

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:21 pm

Will drop down on Sunday and check the sprints out if I can, would be good to meet some of you and see how you go.

That's great news regarding the harness/rollbar situation, it almost seemed too easy... I won't be running the stock seat since I've got this sitting around ready to go in with a 6 point harness

The car is going into Deckspeed next week for Daniel to fab me up a seat mount, install the harness mounts and change the brake fluid, just in time for me to head down to Wakefield on the 21st for it's first run

deanb90 · Postby **deanb90** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:26 pm

nice progress, What are you going to do about the seat airbag?

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:50 pm

deanb90 wrote:nice progress, What are you going to do about the seat airbag?

Thanks mate.

The seat won't be in it apart from doing track days so I'll probably run a switched resistor so I can disable the airbag light when the racing seat is in and have it function with the normal seat.

Luckily the drivers seat doesn't have the pesky weight sensor that the passenger side has :mrgreen:

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:30 pm

I picked the car up today from Deckspeed in preparation for the track next Tuesday.

The install came out better than I could of hoped for and I attribute that to Daniel Deckers ingenuity and attention to detail, his creation of a bracket so the install behind the headrest is just eye bolts (rather than Goodwin's approach to mount straight onto the stock section and cut a hole for the harness to go through with a Dremel) and fabbing the seat bracket from scratch meant that the seat fit snugly into the car and is almost literally on the floor but i've still got operation of the centre compartment door which I thought was going to be impossible because of the wings on the seat.

Anyway below are some pictures of the install and how it's mounted, hopefully this helps anyone considering getting one of these installed.

Distance shot

Snug on the door

Snug in the middle

Eye bolts at the rear of the seat

Literally on the floor (the car mats are higher than it's distance from the floor)

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 8:08 pm

Looks great!

mazmad · Postby **mazmad** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 6:56 am

Hi Dan nice ride! You certainly want someone working on the car who will do a good/neat job given how pristine the NC looks, good to hear Daniel is the man for the job.

I am heading to Wakefield on the 13th Sep if you / anyone else can make it, may be a few of us there.

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:52 am

mazmad wrote:Hi Dan nice ride! You certainly want someone working on the car who will do a good/neat job given how pristine the NC looks, good to hear Daniel is the man for the job.

I am heading to Wakefield on the 13th Sep if you / anyone else can make it, may be a few of us there.

Thanks mate, forgot to say he also put some XP10's and RBF600 in to sort out the stopping side of things.

I'd be keen to come for sure, I've put it in my diary and will send you a message closer to the date.

ozi_milhouse · Postby **ozi_milhouse** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:51 pm

Hey Mazmad, i'll be there on the 13th too.

mazmad · Postby **mazmad** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:05 pm

Sounds good guys. I am heading down the night before staying in the accommodation trackside. Be great to have some other mx5's there.

Dan · Postby **Dan** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:36 pm

So I thought I’d put some thoughts after spending some time with the car on the track, I was thankful that my first day at the track was with some MX-5’ers to help me out with lines, tyre pressures and gear selection!

I’ve intentionally taken no timing so I could just try to figure the car out rather than look at times which are going to largely be irrelevant in the long term.

My first few sessions were slow but I sorted out tyre pressures, I got confident with the brakes (great to have a car that I don’t have to brake test on straights!) and started to try out some different lines.

The other guys were telling me they pulled second through T2, T8 and T10, I explained that I’d spoken to a few of the faster NC drivers that said they are holding third through T2/T10 and only one was getting into second for the fishhook which is what I was doing since I figured it would force me into improving my lines but I figured I’d give second a go.

My next session was night and day, pulling second around those corners must have picked up a few seconds, I really want to get a ride with one of the fast guys that hold third to see how it’s done as I seem to be compensating with a downshift.

Since then I’ve been experimenting with some different lines from listening to the guys, making T4 and T5 into one sweeping corner and getting on it to really run T5 out to the ripple strip made up some time, finding out little things that I can do in this car that I couldn’t in the Evo like staying flat till about a second after the kink before braking have been good but I'm still yet to figure out the Fish Hook.

I also had my first spin at T2 from pushing it too hard which led me to a very smokey finish into the infield but all in good fun.

I’m sure I’m not doing any great times but it’s all a learning experience and I’m enjoying the MX-5, I do miss the thrill of the Evo which involves a lot more decisions and balls to drive quickly but the simplicity of the MX-5 is great, looking forward to getting back out there and seeing some more of you guys on the 13th!

Hellmun · Postby **Hellmun** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:10 pm

The other guys were telling me they pulled second through T2, T8 and T10, I explained that I’d spoken to a few of the faster NC drivers that said they are holding third through T2/T10 and only one was getting into second for the fishhook which is what I was doing since I figured it would force me into improving my lines but I figured I’d give second a go.

Make sure if your comparing gear/speeds with other people your both using the same diff ratio, tyre diameter and tyre compound.

mazmad · Postby **mazmad** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:19 pm

Sounds like you are having fun, and giving it a go if you are swapping ends.

Zohxoco · Postby **Zohxoco** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:41 pm

Dan wrote:My next session was night and day, pulling second around those corners must have picked up a few seconds, I really want to get a ride with one of the fast guys that hold third to see how it’s done as I seem to be compensating with a downshift.

I am assured by the experts, and I believe them, that the best is to stay in 3rd at these corners. The reason is that they are not as tight as you might think (if you have the right line), but more importantly, the time to shift down and then back up is far more than any slight power you might gain at the lower gear. That said, extra power would help here, in particular I recommend the full GWR exhaust if you haven't got it yet (sorry I haven't been keeping up with your thread).

Some race pads would also make a killer difference. I haven't tried my Carbotechs on the track yet but I definitely believe they will be epic. Not for the street...

Also, tyres. What do you have on? Go for an alignment at Spinning Wheels (talk to Stu), although I didn't notice any difference on the track, it makes street driving much more fun, especially the track alignment