Lachstock and Four Turbo Charged Cylinders ['04 NB SE]

Postby **NitroDann** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 3:17 pm

Its important to note that 30whp at the bottom is a bigger percentage change than 50 at the top.

The 50 at the top mostly comes from no risk of detonation when really pushing the turbo to 11, so its really using every last bit of performance the car setup has with no especially conservative parts unlike on 98, not because of the fuels ability to release more chemical energy alone.

Dann

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 7:34 pm

This afternoon the car passed it biggest post tune challenge!

No, not back to back hot laps around QR.
No, not multiple 12 second passes at the drag strip.
No, not even leaving a full sick Commodore SS in my dust.

The challenge that all else pails in comparison to: The hot restart at the shops on the way home from work, and the parking lot crawl! :twisted:

A common problem with NBs running a standalone ECU is really horrible hot restarts, after the car has set for 10 minutes or so. Due to the returnless fuel system, fuel sits in the rail and along with the injectors gets heat soaked, causing erratic fueling on restart lasting a few minutes. A common solution is to increase the After start enrichment and duration to increase the supplied fuel and speed up the supply of cool fuel from the tank. Even still, if your low load/rpm VE cells aren't tuned nicely, you'll get an unstable idle and easily stall.

I could never get this perfect. I could get it OK, but I had to drive carefully and smoothly for a few ks, and I would stall easily when coming to a stop due to RPM just dropping to the floor.

Today, all good. Passed with flying colours. Idle was rock steady, no dips and no risk of stalls.

I'm doing my Happy Dance over this! :mrgreen:

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 10:08 pm

so you'd now agree- these tunes by ND @ the 250/300 and probably the 350 rwhp too are very easy to drive :wink:

Daffy · Postby **Daffy** » Mon Sep 25, 2017 11:33 pm

Now I'm really looking forward to the next chance of a run! :mrgreen:

SKYHI · Postby **SKYHI** » Thu Sep 28, 2017 4:13 pm

Great news mate.

Hot starts don't seem to be an issue, and my idle seems pretty steady, but I have had some issue with it stalling at stops occasionally. In saying that, I still haven't done a lot of driving in the car since ND did the work. Really need to pull my finger out, get a harness, install my Sparco seats and get out to the track before much longer.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Thu Sep 28, 2017 4:23 pm

Hot starts were only a problem previously, on my old hacked up tune and originally likely exacerbated by bad injector dead times. Now, it's all gravy.

I've had no idle dips of any kind coming to a stop, regardless of whether I coast in under engine breaking, neutral, or even sudden stops. Speak with Dann and he'll help you sort it out I'm sure.

But you gotta drive it more often! It's not porcelain, it can handle being dríven regularly. Unfortunately you've missed the best driving weather for the year, now we're into stinky, sweaty, sun burn weather.

I'm hoping to get into the hills this weekend for an early morning run.

Daffy · Postby **Daffy** » Thu Sep 28, 2017 6:51 pm

ManiacLachy wrote:Hot starts were only a problem previously, on my old hacked up tune and originally likely exacerbated by bad injector dead times. Now, it's all gravy.

I've had no idle dips of any kind coming to a stop, regardless of whether I coast in under engine breaking, neutral, or even sudden stops. Speak with Dann and he'll help you sort it out I'm sure.

But you gotta drive it more often! It's not porcelain, it can handle being dríven regularly. Unfortunately you've missed the best driving weather for the year, now we're into stinky, sweaty, sun burn weather.

I'm hoping to get into the hills this weekend for an early morning run.

Take an early morning run to Stanthorpe- its cooler after Cunninghams gap, E85 is at Warwick and it will give you a good Idea of how far you can run out a tankful. :BROADY:

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:18 am

Daffy wrote:Take an early morning run to Stanthorpe- its cooler after Cunninghams gap, E85 is at Warwick and it will give you a good Idea of how far you can run out a tankful.

I came home that way, though I was on 98 until I got to Ipswich when I stopped in to get some of the good stuff at Booval.

Stanthorpe is a little far, I'm thinking I'll go up Mt Mee or out to Neebo/Glorious bright and early before the caravans get moving.

I filled up the tank with more E85 yesterday, from Saturday - Thursday I drove 275km, and filled up with 31L (rough numbers), so that gives me around 11.2L/100km. A good amount of that is freeway, but let's not kid ourselves, I did plenty of pulls into boost wherever I could as well. So, not too bad, it's about what expected mileage-wise. I guess I'd get a little over 300km to a full tank. I usually get about 9L/100km and just over 400km to a tank on 98.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 9:51 am

A few odds and ends to discus.

Before the car went down to Dann, I got a Jetstream shorty console thanks to Rupewrecht. It's a really nice piece, made from fibreglass and has the same finish as the OEM console and centre stack. It's not a perfect match thanks in part to 13 years of sun, but it's very close. It gives me lots of room under my elbow, makes the cabin a bit more spacious. I got it with an extra panel to go over the fuel cap and boot release mechanisms, to keep the cabin tidy.

So much room for activities

This means I lost the cup holders from the centre console, while many people complain about them, I used mine almost daily. I picked up a dual cup holder from Moss Miata that slides under the lip of the centre console and sits on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel. Very handy. Unfortunately I've neglected to take a photo, so here's the stock one from Moss.

iStock

I picked up a Voodoo Shift hand break handle from Moss at the same time, to match my shift knob. Unfortunately it's already began to chip somehow. I don't wear rings, so I'm confused as to how this is happening. I guess I'll just let the patina grow for now though.

Before I took the car down to Dann, I would often hear a knocking when taking turns. When I picked the car up, the knock had gotten much worse and would also squeak loudly. Up on the hoist Dann and I shook a few things about, and determined the issue was with the sway bar endlinks. I've been using 949 Racing's adjustable length endlinks. They have an exposed pivot joint, so the moving part is exposed to the elements, the dirt and water, etc and will degrade over time. As Dann said, "That's what you get for using race car parts on your street car". I had to laugh. :mrgreen:

I picked up some Whiteline adjustable endlings, that have a sealed ball joint, and unlike the Racing Beat endlinks, they can be adjusted without the need to disconnect one end from the car (same as 949's). The only problem with these Whiteline's is that the thread was extremely tight. It took a lot of effort and time with a ratchet spanner and an allen key to get them bolted in. I hope to never need to take them off again. (Narrator: He will need to take them off again)

949 vs Whiteline vs Stock

And finally, I came home Saturday morning, preparing to put the car on stands for the end link install and found myself a fuel leak coming from the rear, where the hose lines meet the hard lines. I spent a long time trying to remove the fitting, buying a fuel disconnect tool and everything, no luck, getting frustrated, only to finally follow Dann's advice and tighten the clamp. No more fuel leak :oops:

How to make your E85 fuel economy even worse!

I filled up on 98 this week for the first time since getting the car home. It's too slow, I'm addicted to the corn now. Maybe I need to form a club with Daffy? :beer:

Daffy · Postby **Daffy** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 4:28 pm

ManiacLachy wrote:A few odds and ends to discus........
I filled up on 98 this week for the first time since getting the car home. It's too slow, I'm addicted to the corn now. Maybe I need to form a club with Daffy?

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:27 pm

I got a chuckle out of the "That's what you get for using race car parts on your street car" comment (guilty).

Corn addiction warning:

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Mon Oct 23, 2017 4:34 pm

David from MX5 Mania posted on Facebook over the weekend that the Whiteline end links foul on the tie rods at full lock. I haven't felt anything yet, the SE has less lock than a normal NB so I might be clear. The Whiteline's do have a fatter body than the 949's so I can see how it could happen.

I'll try to throw the car up on stands this weekend and have a look.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:19 am

My car started squeaking and clunking again last week, so on Saturday I threw it back up on the jack stands and found one of the nuts on two of the end links had backed out about 1/8th of a turn. Just a tiny little bit not tight and the car sounded like it was falling apart every time I turned the wheel! They're snug now and all's quiet once more. If it recurs I'll put some locktight on those suckers.

I also checked for any interference from the endlinks at full lock, but there's plenty of room, no need for concern.

Also while I was under there I investigated what I suspected was an oil leak. And yep, got a decent leak and it looks like the gearbox will need to come out again. I gave Dann a call because he was the last one in there to hear his thoughts. He suspects the half-moon seal, the rear main seal could be the culprit but Dann is quite confident it was installed properly when the clutch was done. It's off to Auto+ on Wednesday and we'll get to the bottom of it. It sucks, but these things happen when you play with cars.

Last week I discovered a thread on m.net about removing shims on the steering column mounts that give you allow you to raise the steering wheel slightly. My hands jam on my thighs when I turn the wheel - even in Elise seats. It's a free mod so I figured I'd try it. The shims came out easily and sure enough I can now turn the wheel unobstructed. Not quite enough room to heel and toe, but its a definite improvement.
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?p=8709206

Four little shims can make a nice change

While I was tackling the shims I pulled the gauge cluster. Two issues to deal with.
1. My spedometer was sticky above 80kph. With the cluster out I could turn the needle by hand, but above 80 it wouldn't fall back easily, I guess I pushed the needle down too hard last time I was in there. I just had to raise it slightly with the tools RevLimiter supplied with my gauge faces.

2. Many of the signal lights (indicators, low fuel, ABS, etc - not the back lighting to the actual dials) in my cluster are a bit dull becuase the light has to pass through both the OEM plastic filter (that shows the shape of the signal) and the coloured K.G. Works indicator glass. I often wouldn't be able to see the Fuel light, and wouldn't notice very quickly if I left an indicator on. So, I removed the OEM plastic filter, now the lights are quite bright and noticeable.

Cluster with a freely moving speedo and OEM plastic filters removed

Also, I found another m.net thread that piqued my interest. Redline goods are in the process of making a smaller wheel that fits the OEM airbag! Redline already make flatbottom wheels that are similar to the Gaurdian Design's (KevGoat) and I.L. Motorsports' (Lokiel). I'm very interested to see how this develops!
https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=654858