Guran's NA6 "Little Reddy"

[Guran]

:D Well done! Are you sliding as much as it sounds in some of the corners?

Yep. The only corners I don't slide in are 1, 6, 7 and 9. That's only because my car isn't fast enough to provoke understeer in those corners. Sliding is my way of avoiding understeer and getting the car turned so I can get on the power early.

Dashware fairly easy to use?

Yeh it's pretty good. Took me a little while to figure it out but it has a good help facility and basic step-by-step guide. The main trick is aligning the GPS data to the video - I pick a major braking point and align the start of the nose dive with the start of lateral G shifting forward. Another trick I learnt was that the timing point aligns with the leading edge of the "circle of error" on the GPS position. That explained why the laptiming was often a few tenths behind the video, despite aligning them properly. It also comes with a Miata gauge template but it's in MPH. I'm going to make one in km/h.

[Guran]

hahahahaahah nice commentary at the end of the lap Bryan!!

Sprung!

[plohl]

:D Well done! Are you sliding as much as it sounds in some of the corners?

Yep. The only corners I don't slide in are 1, 6, 7 and 9. That's only because my car isn't fast enough to provoke understeer in those corners. Sliding is my way of avoiding understeer and getting the car turned so I can get on the power early.

Dashware fairly easy to use?

Yeh it's pretty good. Took me a little while to figure it out but it has a good help facility and basic step-by-step guide. The main trick is aligning the GPS data to the video - I pick a major braking point and align the start of the nose dive with the start of lateral G shifting forward. Another trick I learnt was that the timing point aligns with the leading edge of the "circle of error" on the GPS position. That explained why the laptiming was often a few tenths behind the video, despite aligning them properly. It also comes with a Miata gauge template but it's in MPH. I'm going to make one in km/h.

Thanks for the reply!
Might have to get a copy of dashware before the sale ends.

I'll have to watch the video again to be sure, but you're applying very little counter steer aren't you? Do you find it negates all the understeer, or just enough to get the power on earlier?

[zero00]

I just 'point and pray'!! Something that came from the 'old' rallying days!!

[Guran]

I'll have to watch the video again to be sure, but you're applying very little counter steer aren't you? Do you find it negates all the understeer, or just enough to get the power on earlier?

It's a bit hard to see what's happening with the steering wheel because some of it is blocked by the DashWare gauges (deliberately so that they covered the SpyCam date/time display). But there is nearly always a bit of countersteer happening in turns 2, 3, 4, 5 and sometimes 8 & 10. Have a look further back in this thread for photos taken on those corners to see what I mean. I'm usually aiming for more of a four-wheel drift on the faster corners (2 & 3), but get a little understeer on the fastest corners (6 & 9). I deal with the latter by opening the steering slightly when I feel the understeer, and letting the car use more of the road on exit - or if it's really bad, a slight throttle lift. And in the slow corners, I find the best way to beat understeer is to avoid turning in with too much speed, trail brake and ease the pressure off just after turning in, which provokes a bit of oversteer then nail the throttle before reaching the apex. A bit of throttle adjustment and/or opening the steering is needed to avoid spinning the inside wheel (open diff on my car) when it's unloaded (especially when riding the curbs).

[Guran]

I've been on annual leave for the last few weeks and still have another week to go. We're having a "staycation", meaning that we pottered around at home, did the odd few days away, and enjoyed the local attractions of beach, backroads and Jamberoo rec park. It's been great!

On Wednesday this week, I spent a few hours giving Little Reddy a basic service. Changed the engine oil and filter, changed the diff oil, flushed the radiator, and flushed the brake fluid. Afterwards, I blew out the cobwebs with a circuit of Macquarie Pass and Jamberoo. It's been about a month since I've dríven the car and this run was a brilliant reminder of how much fun it is.

Now with a bit of spare time this afternoon, I thought I'd update this thread with ...

2012 in Review

Little Reddy passed her 20th birthday this year and has spent the last four years with me. Together, we've taken the odometer from 162,950km to 201,300km so far. That's a fair few kms considering that we mainly only drive to and from the track!

This year I spent 19 days at the track with Little Reddy, including two trips to Victoria, and sampled all four of the new track configurations at Sydney Motorsport Park. So that's eight different tracks in total. In summary, it goes like this:

• One day at Marulan - 0:48.91 PB on RE001s.
• Eight MX-5 Club track days at Wakefield Park on Star Specs - 1:15.80 PB.
• Three supersprints at Wakefield Park - no PB and 1:15.528 on flatspotted RE55s vs 1:16.207 after two goes on R888s. My R-spec PB at Wakefield is still 1:14.978 on 30th Jul 2011.
• Two days at Winton Short Track in March - 1:15.283 PB, beating Rob Downes' Standard NA record (1:15.454) although he went better again (1:14.407).
• Two days at SMP North - 1:20.652 PB on R888s.
• One day at SMP GP - 2:00.627 on R888s. I couldn't get close to my 1:59.288 PB from 14th Aug 2011 on RE55s.
• Two days at Phillip Island in August competing in the Victorian 6hr Regularity Relay - our team finished 7th out of 50. In traffic and on R888s, 2:07.929 PB.
• One day at SMP Extended - 2:27.388 PB on R888s.
• Two days at SMP South - 1:08.764 PB on R888s and 1:09.260 on Star Specs.

In the 2011/12 MX-5 Club Championship, I won the pointscore and fastest lap for Class 1. Also won Fastest NA at the NatMeet track day. Mike "encouraged" me to move up to another Class, so for the 2012/13 season, I decided to run in Class 4 "Clubman" with my standard NA6 (unmodified). After two rounds at Wakefield Park and one at SMP South, I'm currently leading Class 4 and have the fastest lap at SMP South. There are only two more rounds to go, with Wakefield Park on 20th Jan and SMP South on 5th May. I'm thoroughly enjoying the close battles with the other Class 4 drivers.

In the CAMS NSW Supersprint Championship, the MX-5 Club won the Club Shield for the eighth time, and I had the honour of receiving the trophy at the CAMS Presentation dinner on 8th Dec. I also finished second in Class 1B (Unmodified 1601-2000cc) and Type 1 (Unmodified) - that trophy will probably be presented at the ARDC Garage in April.

The cost of my MX-5 motorsport in 2012 can be broken down like this:

• $3615 track costs (entry fees, dorian hire, accommodation, licence)
• $1912 tyres (4x R888 and 4x Star Spec)
• $1827 fluids (mostly fuel, but also oil, brake fluid, etc)
• $800 operating costs (rego, CTP, third party property)
• $391 parts (brake pads, 4x daisy wheels, oil filters, gaffer tape, etc)
• $126 equipment (new pair of gloves)

Total $8670

That includes prepayment for the next club track day and the tyres and brakes are all still good for a few more rounds. So effectively it covers 20 days at the track, at an average of $434 per day. It adds up, but very cheap in the scheme of things, considering that it covers absolutely everything.

Beyond Little Reddy, I had a very productive year on the committee of the MX-5 Club. I published four editions of Club Torque: Summer 2011/12 (January), Autumn 2012 (May), NatMeet Special Edition (June), Winter 2012 (August). I also coordinated the establishment of the Illawarra Chapter. This started with a run and meeting on 5th May, a sub-committee meeting on 29th May to develop a run schedule, and the Illawarra Chapter was formally ratified on 13th June with Peter Feutrill as Convenor. Then in October I handed over the role of Publicity Officer to Neil Hamilton-Ritchie, and was elected President of the MX-5 Club of NSW. I've been VERY busy since then and aim to make the club even more successful in 2013.

And of course, we had a new addition to the family when I traded my 135i and bought a 2009 NC2 Roadster Coupe, which has received the nickname Little Bluey. It's proving to be an inspired decision, and we've enjoyed several club runs as a family - Fiona and Alex in the NC2 and me in the NA6. I also took Little Bluey up to Ballina and back on the 4-day MX2012 trip in October. Better still, every single drive is an utter joy.

[climberjoel]

Guran,

Thanks so much for creating such an informative and inspiring thread. In fact its so inspiring that after sampling some supersprints/trackdays last year in my Micra (and doing battle with Peter B.'s na at the local hillclimb) I am currently looking for my own stock NA to do supersprints/mx5 club days - so hopefully see you out on the track this year!

Thanks again,

Joel

[Jeo]

Hi Joel

[Guran]

Good stuff Joel. Looking forward to seeing you on the track at our club events and state supersprints. I don't really want to interrupt your impetus to buy an MX-5 but you are welcome to join the MX-5 Club without one (as an associate member) and enter our trackdays too.

[Dweezle]

Sorry to Butt in here

In regards to that Bryan.
Is it ok if i continue being a MX5 club member and attend club track days with my Renault Clio or would it be preferred if just MX5s attend on a full time basis?

I will be running as MX5 CLUB of NSW at this years NSW HILLCLIMB championships and have already had questions regarding my car and club haha!!

If it is an issue i will not take it personally!!

[Guran]

Absolutely fine Mark. We have a few regulars at trackdays who don't have MX-5s. You are very welcome to continue your membership with the Clio.

[Dweezle]

Cheers for the response!!

Good news then

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

[Guran]

• Eight MX-5 Club track days at Wakefield Park on Star Specs - 1:15.80 PB.

Bugger, that was a typo. I did five club trackdays and three supersprints at Wakefield Park. That's where the "eight" came from in the above sentence.

[Guran]

20th January 2013
MX-5 Club of NSW Track Day – Wakefield Park

First club track day for 2013 and it was capped at 70 drivers across six groups, in a bid to give more track time to all. After a few last minutes changes, there were 69 starters. I was fearing a stupidly hot day after it hit 40°C on the Friday, but I actually had the heater on for the drive to Goulburn! It was only 13°C and very murky with the threat of light rain (never arrived). The morning stayed cool and overcast until the sun broke through at lunch and it topped 26°C in the afternoon.

It was an eventful day with HJT losing a wheel on his SP, PeterB rubbing a tyre wall, and there was a grass fire to stamp out! Even with these lengthy delays, most drivers had six runs. Hats off to Mike and his team for carrying off another very successful and thoroughly enjoyable day.

My student in the first-timer group was Tiit Saul in a 1992 Corolla. Tiit is usually seen at the track with his cameras, and it was great to be able to return the favour by showing him around the track. He was worried that he'd be the slowest driver, but needn't have worried as he ended the day with a super impressive 1:25.74. He even managed to get lots of photos in between his runs! Great news for Club Torque.

John Karayannis and I enjoyed a very close battle in Class 4. He flew out of the blocks with 1:16.28 in the first run. I could only manage 1:17.10 in my first run (tyre pressures were a bit low), improved to 1:16.69 in the second, and then 1:16.34 and 1:16.30 in the third run. Meanwhile John found another hundredth with 1:16.27 in the second run. Neither of us could improve from there as the day warmed up and the times increased. I came very close on run 5 recording a 1:16.42 which included having to ease off for turn 4 due to a yellow flag when PeterB crashed. Then on my sixth and final run, it was looking like another very quick lap until my brakes decided to play up for the fish-hook and I dropped a couple tenths with a big slide, resulting in a 1:16.44.



So in the end, John pipped me by 0.03s. We both had five laps under 1:16.50: John's were 1:16.27, 1:16.28, 1:16.31, 1:16.31, 1:16.47, and mine were 1:16.30, 1:16.34, 1:16.37, 1:16.42, 1:16.47. It was incredibly close and today Zan's trigger finger fell in John's favour. Well dríven mate! Lindsay Burke was third (1:17.18), and Ian Vickers fourth (1:17.29).

There's one round to go at SMP South on 5th May, and I've got a 7 point lead over John in the Class 4 pointscore. That could change if he wins the class and I'm 3rd or lower. Should be a fun day!


_MG_6873 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr


_MG_6534 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr


_MG_6281 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

[Guran]

Our next club track event is a driver training day at Marulan on 10th March. The day will be a great opportunity for people to be trained by experienced competition drivers from within the Club (I'll be there), or alternately to experience driving on a circuit without any competitive pressures. There will be no timed laps for this day. Entries are limited to 40 drivers and cost is $90 for members, $105 for non-members (plus $30 for a Marulan licence if you don’t have a AASA or CAMS licence). Spectators are welcome (no charge). Details and entry forms are on the club website.

Here's a video of my PB lap at Marulan for those who are unfamiliar with the circuit. It's a low speed track, with my standard NA6 barely reaching 100km/hr on the main straight and averaging 69km/hr for a 48.91s lap. It's 900m long with eight corners - very busy!