WASABI Jr. - MX5 SE

[ManiacLachy]

Ouch... turbo and gearbox at the same time!

[wasabi]

^^^

Both are still working, but it's clear they are on the way out

Sort of puts a few of my plans on hold... No point in having all the flash gear if the car isn't able to take advantage due to mechanical short falls.

Just the joys of modified car ownership.

[wasabi]

Keeping this out of the general "which gearbox fluid" threads to hopefully keep away all the BS, but wanted to give my experiences thus far.

Landed up experiencing issues with 3rd & 4th gears which has been diagnosed as syncros. Obviously the only way to 100% fix the issue is to pull the gearbox out & give it a freshen up - Not completely unreasonable given it's a 10 year old car with 117K on the clock & I've been giving it the berries on the track & skid pan since I've owned it - however, given I've got the Bathurst Hill Climb this weekend + Wakefield Park the following weekend, I wanted to do whatever possible to get everything working as best I can.

Did a heap of reading online & there is a lot of controversy about whether products like Nulon Gearbox additive & products from Redline actually do anything. *** Please note, I'm not technically minded & am only giving my experiences based on my situation ***.

After speaking with several oil distributors & several gearbox builders including Mal Wood who seems to have a steller reputation in the industry, I settled on giving Redline Lightweight Shockproof a go as this is what was recommended. On that note, I was also advised that a product like Redline MT90 would likely provide better overall performance / protection under street driving conditions, BUT Redline Lightweight Shockproof was the way to go given my car is used in motorsport & also because the gearbox has been already diagnosed as being worn. It is also worth noting that I was advised by more than one party that Lightweight Shockproof is primarily design for use in racing applications, therefore shifts when cold are more likely to be fairly poor.

My initial impressions are that the crunching / grinding I have previously experienced has completely disappeared. General shift quality when warm has also improved. Experience zero change with cold shifting, but the weather in Sydney at present isn't super cold so could land up being a negative point. In any case, I've never experienced a gearbox that was particularally smooth on shifts until it was warmed up.

Will post an update after the weekend, that way the car would have experienced some city driving, highway driving & also some hard track type driving.

[wasabi]

So quick update on the gear box situation. After some 600kms of street driving & a weekend of Super Sprints & Hillclimbs at Bathurst, the gear box is feeling fantastic! That Redline Lightweight Shockproof has made a huge improvement. I have no doubts that it has masked the problems I've been facing given the box appears to be worn BUT, if it gives me another 12 months of street & motorsport driving it's worth every penny.

Bathurst was a fantastic experience & was fantastic chatting with fellow MX5 drivers. Still have so much to learn about driving my car & realised how much more bearing the suspension setup has on these cars where you don't have massive horse power to cover up for the lack of skill. Can't wait to drive Wakefield this weekend (Hopefully the heat & rain stay away for most of the day!) so I can test the things I've learnt & push that little bit harder in an environment where I'm a little more confident.

[ManiacLachy]

That's good news on the gear box. Hope it holds up for you over the cource of the year, it'll be interesting to see how it fares.

Now, if only there were such a magical fix for the turbo

[wasabi]

^^^

Turbo will be tested this weekend I'd suggest. She held up quite well at Bathurst, but didn't get anywhere near as hot as the track, so no oil splatter anywhere which was nice.

I'm hoping the Turbo will be in a similar boat to the gear box where I hope they hold together for a while longer so I don't have to part with silly money in one hit!

[wasabi]

So my turbo gave out at the track yesterday Wasn't unexpected, especially with the heat but was hoping to see a PB since the car's setup has never been better. Felt great behind the wheel & although it wasn't coughing or spluttering, every lap it just felt down on power & revs weren't building.

So the turbo upgrade plans are in the works. Still not 100% certain which way I'll go as I'm not sure if I want to focus more on building a track car, or focus the setup more for street & motorkhanas which is actually what I bought the car for... Having a ball on the track though & know that if I can master the MX on the track, I'll be able to lap faster when I drive the Monster

[wasabi]

Been awhile since I've been on the forum & updated my car profile... So no better time than the present!

New turbo (GT25) went on after I killed it end of last year... Also got myself a new tyre & wheel packaged - 15 x 8 +32 wrapped in Advan A050 I've also had all 4 x wheels bearings replaced as they were original & started to get a bit noisy when on the track.

Trying to get to the track more & more so I can actually learn to drive the car better - Very different to all the other cars I've dríven on the track. Feel like I've come along way since my first track outing & had a great day at South Circuit with a 1:04.9 with the standard diff crapping out on me

Now it's time for a diff upgrade then hopefully see what I can really do!

Next outing is at the Brabham Circuit in September which I've never had a timed run at in any car... No clue how I'll go!

[wasabi]

So my last track day (11/9/16) went quite well at SMSP Brabham Circuit. Had no idea what to expect as it's not track that is used on a regular basis - At least with timing. Started the day with a high 2:19 & by the final session I got myself down to a 2:17.7. Was extremely happy with that result as it put me 43rd out of 117 competitors & was in the mix with people who had far more powerful cars.

Bit of oil was in the engine bay which by all reports is common in turbo cars that are dríven on the track. Will be getting a catch can / breather system installed which will hopefully over come the issue. No oil was dripping outside of the car, but just looked messy under the hood & imagine if any officials saw it, they wouldn't be overly happy with me continuing to drive.

Next track outing is run by RTDC on the 22/10/16 & is the final round of the interclub series at SMSP South. Few new bits will be on the car, mainly the OS Giken Superlocker diff & MCA Red coilovers. Weather permitting, I'm hoping to improve by 1 second if not more.

[ManiacLachy]

I missed the bit where you upgraded the turbo! How are you liking it compared to the stock? What kind of power is it pushing now?

[Apu]

Is oil in the engine bay normal for turbo cars? I don't have that problem!

[Roadrunner]

Is oil in the engine bay normal for turbo cars? I don't have that problem!

I wouldn't have thought so, though I do get a random small spot/stain (20cent coin size) of oil in different places on the rocker cover every now and then, usually in places that it can't have dribbled directly from.

[A.Chen89]

Second that, you might want to check that out. No issues with oil in the bay on my Borg Warner Miata

[wasabi]

Realised I actually haven't posted a pic of my car for ages! So here's a pic from Bathurst at Nulon Nationals Round #2 earlier in the year:

I missed the bit where you upgraded the turbo! How are you liking it compared to the stock? What kind of power is it pushing now?

Quite good actually. Went the GT25/60R as ultimately I'm not gunning for big power when I eventually scrape the cash together to rebuild & strengthen the engine - Trying for a very balanced setup so I can still maintain the MX5 feel behind the wheel. PLUS, it has been proven you don't need stupid power to go fast around a track in an MX (You know who you are!).

Anyway, torque was a noticeable improvement over the stock turbo & overall the car just feels a little more confident under acceleration. Although the stock turbo managed to produce good power (Before it went bye bye) it just felt weak compared to the new turbo.

Second that, you might want to check that out. No issues with oil in the bay on my Borg Warner Miata

As far as I'm aware, my issue is due to not having a good after market catch can / breather system on the car, so what I've experienced is fairly common with boosted track cars which include MX5's, GTR's, etc. It could also be exacerbated by remaining oil in various places after the original turbo went bye bye. Car really gets next to no normal driving use these days aside from driving to supersprint events, dríven hard, then back home parked up waiting for the next event

All getting checked out when the new parts are getting installed along with a full service.

[Apu]

I only have oil in the engine bay from the catch can which vented to atmosphere...so no surprise. It was just a couple of drops seeping through the filter.

I've since gone to NitroDann's recirculating catch can...main reason was I got sick of smelling oil vapour when stuck in traffic.