Venturing down the slippery slope - SKYHI Motorsports SE

[davekmoore]

OCD + modified SE retaining the standard ECU and the poor ickle IHI turbo is not going to turn out well. You'll still have the bog and winding up the IHI mostly produces more heat and wears out its antiquated seals and plain bearings.

The least painful medium term upgrade is ECU, injectors, turbo, manifold, exhaust. You already know who I'll recommend to fabricate and install. It'll be more money and all in one go, but trust me, I know in massive detail why it'll be waaaaay cheaper and will avoid you losing your mind.

If you really must do only one thing first, it's the ECU.

Refer to thread "Dave's SE - REBORN" for more things not to do and things you should do. You'll see a big change in the results from the moment I finally started following the advice I'm now giving.

[SKYHI]

Thanks Dave, ECU discussions have already begun. I'm certainly leaning towards a standalone ECU, and I'd rather do it all at once, just need to get the money together.

[SKYHI]

Went for a run out to Lakeside on Saturday to help a couple of blokes out and catch up with some fellow racers. Got home mid arvo and found some time to do a bit more cleaning. Got a bit carried away and ended up pulling the seats out to vacuum and clean the interior out properly. Whilst I had them out I took the opportunity to clean and condition them.



Now, I'll preface this paragraph by saying the thought of driving a convertible car has never really appealed to me. Strange thing for someone who just bought his 3rd MX5 to say, but it's always been about the chassis and handling for me. With that said, today was about as perfect a day as you're liking to get to experience to joys of driving topless, so I decided to see what the fuss was about.



We headed out towards Tamborine Mountain, and ended up doing about 300Ks during the day, and I got to say it was one of the best days I've ever had in a car. The whole experience was fantastic, the sights the sounds and even the sense of speed were all heightened with the roof down. I'll still end up getting a hardtop for the car, but I'll certainly be doing more drives with the roof down when it's practical to do so.

[SKYHI]

Not really a lot to report. Just been tidying up a few things like a loose seat belt stalk, some general detailing of paint and interior, and put my personalised plates on. Apart from that, just getting out and enjoying some great drives around the Gold Coast hinterland.

[SKYHI]

Still not much to report on. Will need a new clutch and tyres shortly, so saving for that. Then it'll be an ECU, injectors and tune etc. In the meantime, taking it out whenever I can.

[ManiacLachy]

Glad to see you're getting plenty of use out of the car! We'll have to T up a drive sometime soon.

[SKYHI]

Yeah, really enjoying the "top down" experience that the MX5 offers. Will still get a hardtop at some stage, but can't see it being a permanent addition as it has been on my other MX5s in the past.

Definitely keen to catch up with a few other enthusiasts and go for a drive.

[StanTheMan]

Real nice looking unit......sometimes I wish I suffered from OCD

[SKYHI]

It can be a curse at times

[SKYHI]

Wow, can't believe it's been 5 months since my last reply. A lot been going on in my personal life and I haven't really had the chance to enjoy the car much. Just sold my house and moving into a rental this weekend, but the good news is that the house sale has finally given me the funds to get "Stage 1" of tuning and track prep underway.

First thing is to get a new clutch installed, then time to contact Dann about an ECU, injectors and tune.

Whilst that's all happening I'll need to decide whether I get new wheels and tyres, or just new tyres for the current wheels. Was going to go with the Enkei RPF1s, but really liking the look of the Advanti Storm S1 wheels.



Question is 15x8 or 15x9. Would love to go 15x9 but tyre choice is so limited. Only thing I can find that would suit weekend drive/semi track tyre would be the Hankook RS3 in 225/45/15. Anybody know of any other 22/45/15 tyres available in Australia?

[ManiacLachy]

As far as I know, it's only the RS3 (soon to be RS4) available in 225/45/15, but it's a great tyre, and priced quite well.

[SKYHI]

Yeah that's the issue. Suddenly Hankook Australia decides to stop importing the 225/45/15 for whatever reason, and I'm left with 9" wheels that I can't really fit any tyres to.

At least with the 15x8 wheels I can fit a 205 tyre, but really want at least a 225 tyre if I going to be running 200+ rwhp.

[Magpie]

Personally I would stick with 205's until such time as you the driver find the car grip limited. I have just shy of 200RWHP and still have not been able to consistently the limits of grip of AD08R's in 205.

If looking for 225's AD08R's are available, but only in 16/17".

[SKYHI]

I've been racing for over 30 years and pretty sure I can find the limit of any tyre

Ultimately there's not a lot of difference grip wise between a 205 and 225 tyre, but it's generally agreed upon in MX5/Miata circles that the 9" wide, 225 wide tyre is the better combination over the 8" wide, 205 tyre. Mind you I really don't plan on punting this particular car around the track at 100%, so some of it is just the fact that I prefer the look of the 9"/225 combination.

I will probably just settle for the 8" wheels and fit the 225/45/15 RS3s whilst they're available, as they will suit my needs for now, and I'll always be able to fit a 205/50/15 if need be down the track.

[ManiacLachy]

At the stage it just depends if Hankook Australia continue to import the RS4 in 225/45/15, or drop it. If we're super lucky, they'll add the 245/40/15 that they're giving the Americans, then we could run 10" wheels

But I'm with you 225 on 9", please. But it'd be nice to have a few more options.

Oh, acutally I think you could get Nitto NT1s in 225/45/15 - even less streetable, but better track.