Dave's SE - REBORN

Daffy · Postby **Daffy** » Sun May 08, 2016 8:51 pm

Dave ,thanks for heads up with the recon on the diff- diff and gearbox are popping in my head more often nowadays. thanks too for the intel as well RE the brakes on your track day, I like to think the SE callipers can handle my future track days but defiantly will be upgrading better rotors and pads (any brand suggestions and other info are welcome- NitroDann Any thought too buddy?).
So long the head doesn't blow sky high off the block, I'm heading into the dyno room next for some power increase as well as some fine tuning (i'm fixated with the number 400!!! :shock:

). So looking forward to seeing what times the problem child pulls on the quarter run! ( i'm sure my tuner will be seeking hit men quotes every time he sees me coming!!). Please keep those track day figures coming especially with Balmys braking and gearbox info, great to hear that its putting a smile on your face that you deserve after putting up with he dodgy s**t for so long-
FYI, I know he is in semi retired right now but if you have a spare 2 hours for a chin wag RE EVERY aspect of what you need a built clutch for, Jim Berry, Race Clutch now located at Stanthorpe in QLD- not the cheapest but the rebuild he done on mine, mate I had to crawl in M1 peak hour traffic for almost 2.5 hours a few days ago- no burning smell, no issues with the stop start and it felt more like a normal clutch than i thought it would, even to the point where during that peak hour crawl I forgot ll about how the clutch was going (it's built be able to handle 500+hp), Just be ready to put aside a good couple of hours for his Q&A session. (top bloke though, ph 0447114971).

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sun May 08, 2016 9:41 pm

No worries Daffy.

It's BARMY by the way, which is a Pommie word which reflects my state of mind in the same way as does the MADAZ badge on the back of the car. I can understand your thinking it's balmy though.

My own experience with brakes is that the OEM Sport rear calipers and rotors on an SE are fine, preferably with slightly uprated pads. The fronts are a different matter. I'm really hard on brakes (yes they are the "coward pedal"), and could not find a pad which would last a complete track day with the OEM Sport rotors and calipers. Others who get less powerful cars round a track quicker than I have had better results with Sport brakes but their cars are lighter than mine and they're braver and better drivers. In some cases they also have other mods to their cars which mean they don't have to slow down as much for the corners - such things as splitters, wings, undertrays, extreme weight reduction etc.

BARMY's present front setup is Wilwood Little Big front kit with 11" rotors and 6 pot Dynapro calipers which give a big pad surface, with Wilwood's E compound 1,000 degree pad and 2.5" ducting from what used to be the foglight holes. The pads were often overheating with 150-170rwkw (depending on how badly it was running previously). Of course, now there's more power, they're overheating earlier in each stop and for more of the stops. With the new grippier tyres they're not even capable of getting into ABS territory. Brakes Direct were supposed to have sourced some 1400+ degree pads from QFM for before Sandown, but let me down at the 59th minute of the 11th hour. Hopefully they'll come up with the goods and they'll work and I will of course share that info.

If you're aiming for 400hp I reckon you'll need to look at 11.75" Wilwoods or Yellowspeeds, and possibly the Wilwood Big Brake kit for all four wheels, which, with hindsight, is what I should have done, and might still do, especially after recently driving John Boston's standard motor NB at Wakefield Park recently when I realised how good it is to have too much brake rather than too much power.

Thanks for the thoughts about the clutch. Mine came up at a good price, lightly used, from someone whose power aims are so high he's been almost forced to go auto. I'm happy to live with more weight and trickiness to it in exchange for it being rated for significantly more power than BARMY has, especially after the experiences of others recently.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sun May 08, 2016 11:33 pm

Thanks to mods for update of thread title

Postby **beavis** » Mon May 09, 2016 12:42 am

400hp? i would be worrying about the gearbox more than the brakes.

Daffy · Postby **Daffy** » Tue May 10, 2016 9:28 am

beavis wrote:400hp? i would be worrying about the gearbox more than the brakes.

Already doing some investigations into the gearbox matters mate- Im always curious though as to just how far standard things can be pushed, if they will need to be replaced eventually anyhow!
Sorry Dave for the miss spelling BARMY!!! ( fyi, if your still running the standard air con in its original position, move your gas hoses, The problem child was quite a sight on sunday when heat from the turbo cooked through the A/C gas hose and entertained the folks sitting at the traffic lights with me shrouded in a brilliant plume of sweet smelling white smoke- I swear i heard some kid point at the huge puff of white smoke comming out of the hood vent over the turbo side and yell out " look mummy, it a choo choo train car!" :oops:

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Tue May 10, 2016 9:52 am

No a/c. Thanks for heads-up though. BARMY's heavy smoking used to be caused by Mazda's dreadfully designed turbo oil return pipe dropping oil on the downpipe, then on the exhaust.

Daffy · Postby **Daffy** » Tue May 10, 2016 10:09 am

I cant do without the A/C- my better half refuses to get in the car summertime without it!! Still, a bit of serendipity with the ac issue, when we realised a small leak in the t2 flange- more rum and another late nighter for me and mechanic Daz on Weds night :MOCHA_LES:

MrsB · Postby **MrsB** » Tue May 10, 2016 10:45 pm

gearbox will live at 400hp if you attend to all the other things you need to at that power level. Dont waste money doing anything more than better pads in the rear - buy the yellowspeed big brake kit with the 6 pots and 330mm disks and you will never have a problem with braking

cheers

Owen

Daffy · Postby **Daffy** » Wed May 11, 2016 5:34 am

Thanks both Owen and Dave Re brake and box matters- I do have the yellowspeeds for the front in mind already, and most likley will be taking Owens advice for just the better pads on rear. I'd say I will eventually do the same as Dave and get them front and back anyhow, but I need to watchthe $$$ for now (I NEED them 15x8 or 9's rubber- I still cant get a true numer 0-100 or an accurate quater time without that grip in second and part of 3rd!)

Any thoughts on CAMS certified Hoop style roll bars- I know that brown davis etc is easy available, but Im more a fan of the hoop look on a car that has no straight lines!!! I looked into the price of the brilliant looking boss frogs from the US that are certified ther, but im not sure if CAMS will give a cert here- and the purchase cost as well as the cost of getting them here....... S**t me!!!!

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Wed May 11, 2016 8:29 am

MrsB wrote:gearbox will live at 400hp if you attend to all the other things you need to at that power level. Dont waste money doing anything more than better pads in the rear - buy the yellowspeed big brake kit with the 6 pots and 330mm disks and you will never have a problem with braking
cheers
Owen

Yes

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Wed May 11, 2016 9:19 am

If in any doubt about the effectiveness and the cost-effectiveness of the Yellowspeeds, Owen and Mrs B would be great references, as would John Boston, the resident instructor at Wakefield Park. He has three track-specific MX-5s, all with fairly sticky tyres. The Yellowspeeds on the normally aspirated NB I drove were just brilliant, as was the rest of the car.

chops · Postby **chops** » Wed May 11, 2016 9:34 am

must be a hoot to drive, I like spuds

I ran that Willwoood kit and never really liked it. I now run the Yellowspeed 6 pots with the 286 mm disc and Hawk Blue pads under 15's and it is like night and day. The disc thickness goes from 22-28mm (from memory) and dissipates the heat much better. Probably too well as it well melt centrecaps and my mechanic needed gloves to take the valve caps off to check tyre pressures after 6 laps, need to find better hats. Going to the 330mm disc will require 17's which is one of the great can of worms on this forum

I am coming down to the clubs interstate challenge later in the year, hopefully we will see you and some other quick Victorian cars there?

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Wed May 11, 2016 12:45 pm

chops wrote:must be a hoot to drive, I like spuds

I ran that Willwoood kit and never really liked it. I now run the Yellowspeed 6 pots with the 286 mm disc and Hawk Blue pads under 15's and it is like night and day. The disc thickness goes from 22-28mm (from memory) and dissipates the heat much better. Probably too well as it well melt centrecaps and my mechanic needed gloves to take the valve caps off to check tyre pressures after 6 laps, need to find better hats. Going to the 330mm disc will require 17's which is one of the great can of worms on this forum

I am coming down to the clubs interstate challenge later in the year, hopefully we will see you and some other quick Victorian cars there?

Now that, Chops, is really interesting, and is probs about to cost me some money. Best source for the Yellowspeeds? PM'd you about your tyres by the way.

Hey, Owen, I'm sure Chops has double checked this but as a triple check, is it correct that you need 17s with the 330s?

Yes, it's a hoot. Yes, should be at interstate challenge.