Custard’s Tart

[Custardtart]

Been busy getting ready for the QR sprint on Monday. Lots of items were on a tight schedule to arrive in time for me to fit them this weekend as I’ve been working interstate during the week.
Two pallet loads if wheels and tyres arrived on Thursday.

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So I spent a few minutes cleaning them up......

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... before a mobile fitter popped round early doors to fit new boots.

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Then it was on to fitting a fresh set of QFM A1rms pads all round.

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Next up came the RX8 sway bars and as I expected, the it was a royal pita getting the oem front one out. You can see the RX8 front is huge and heavy in comparison.

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[Custardtart]

The rear bar was much more straightforward. The only issue being the rubber bushes needed cutting down, an easy task for a Stanley knife.

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Tomorrow’s job is to fit the bucket seat and harness and bed the brakes.

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[bruce]

Wow, you've been super busy.

[Custardtart]

Wow, you've been super busy.

I know! It was a close call between working on the car and watching the Royal Wedding!
Took it out for a spin today to bed in the brakes and knock the edge off the tyres. Lovely day in qld today.

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Just not happy with the SAAS seats, so going back to the oem one for this event.

[Custardtart]

Well what a blast that was!

Spent the whole day Monday at QR thrashing the nuts off the NC with a great bunch of like minded hooligans

The car performed faultlessly and I was really impressed with how much fun it was. As far as handling goes I haven't dríven a stock NC but there were a few on track that I got to sit behind and the stand out difference from mine was body roll and grip. Not surprising given they were on street tyres and stock suspension and mine's running r compounds and the Bilstein/Eibach set up with RX8 sways.
So how did it handle? Firstly, the Toyo R888R's were very good, plenty of feel at the limit and huge grip, their performance was consistent lap to lap with no real drop off even after 12 consecutive laps late in the day.
QR has a number of very different corners, turns 1 and 2 are very fast and others very slow preceded by heavy braking such as the corner onto the start/finish straight. In the high speed corners the car was nicely neutral on turn in but had some mild understeer mid corner as I got back on the throttle. I really liked this as it was my first time in the car and at QR.
Into the tighter corners the car turned in OK, not great but ok, but suffered a fair bit of understeer the minute I picked up the throttle. After trying a number of approaches a couple seemed to help, firstly if I pressed the throttle straight after turn in I could balance slight oversteer or I could turn in more slowly and be very gentle on the throttle to just past mid corner then use the diff to pull the car through on full throttle. Ideally now I'm comfortable in the car I'd like to tune the handling but without coil overs or adjustable sways I'm limited by tyre pressures, alignment and technique - still, plenty of fun which is really my main goal here.
Under braking the pedal was a bit long for my liking and felt a touch spongy and also inconsistent. I'll bleed the brake fluid and fit some steel brake lines for the next event and see if that helps. The QFM A1rms were fine, no fade all day and good feel. Lots of dust unsurprisingly.
The gearbox was a revelation, I love it. I was lucky enough to drive an NA Clubman later in the day back to back and the one thing I preferred about my NC was the gearshift - the NA really was a little cracker, much more steering feel and a more neutral set up the lighter weight was really apparent.
Anyway, times, - I managed a best of 1.06.3 on the clubman and with only five laps of the Sprint circuit a 1.03.7. We ended the day on the National with a time of 1.33. There's a heap more time to come from getting more familiar with car and circuit as well as possibly in the alignment which is currently standard road set up plus firming up the brake feel for a bit more confidence. All up though it was a really fun day. I enjoyed meeting fellow club and forum members and getting their help on the day and would seriously encourage others to come and join the fun, you don't need an all out track weapon to enjoy yourself. In fact, one of the best parts of the day was dropping the roof and driving home, no fuss, no spare tyres.
I'll upload some video at some point but I left my phone at home so didn't get any pics.

[Magpie]

Glad you enjoyed the day. My highlights was doing the track walk, being asked to drive a BMW during the passenger lap session (big difference in the brake pedal, I have no boost assist, suffice to say I almost through both of us through the windscreen on the first application) as well as catching up.

[Custardtart]

Glad you enjoyed the day. My highlights was doing the track walk, being asked to drive a BMW during the passenger lap session (big difference in the brake pedal, I have no boost assist, suffice to say I almost through both of us through the windscreen on the first application) as well as catching up.

Good to catch up, your car sounds truly epic frm the pit wall
I’ve got a set of braided brake lines on their way. Hoping that and some fresh fluid will help shorten the pedal travel and consistency. Watching back some of the in car vid I rarely troubled the apex of the last corner!
I’ll get some temperature paint for the discs too.

[Custardtart]

A lap of the Clubman circuit? I can't remember which was the Sprint and which was the Clubman.


A lap of the National late in the day in my neighbours immaculate NA Clubman. I absolutely loved this car and had the track to myself for the whole session.

[Custardtart]

I’ve entered the Tart in the upcoming regularity day at Lakeside. My braided brake lines haven’t turned up yet but hoping to have them in time.
Finally found a seat belt retractor that works and didn’t cost the $750 Mazda wanted for a new one so it’s booked in for a safety certificate on Monday then I can get it a QLD plate.
MX5 NC is available, anyone care to guess for how much?

[ManiacLachy]

For the plate "MX5 NC"? I'm guessing about $1200.

[Red_Bullet]

A lap of the Clubman circuit? I can't remember which was the Sprint and which was the Clubman.


A lap of the National late in the day in my neighbours immaculate NA Clubman. I absolutely loved this car and had the track to myself for the whole session.

Wow, back to second at 105kmh!! What diff ration does this have?

[Custardtart]

I think the Aus NC’s are 3.9 ratio. Us were 4.1. The Speed is a GPS overlay from my Garmin so not the most accurate.

I was a bit harsh on the poor NA, locking the rears on change down oops!

[RS2000]

The rear bar was much more straightforward. The only issue being the rubber bushes needed cutting down, an easy task for a Stanley knife.

Just a thought. That looks like a lot to take off the bushes on the chassis side, & you said you had understeer. Wouldn't you want an equal amount of rubber around the bar for the bush, & thus the arb, to work to it's max? Perhaps could have not cut so much off, & made some alloy packers.
Cheers

[Custardtart]

For the plate "MX5 NC"? I'm guessing about $1200.

$2395 I might go for MX5 SC when the 2.5l sitting in my shed gets swapped in with a Supercharger

[Custardtart]

The rear bar was much more straightforward. The only issue being the rubber bushes needed cutting down, an easy task for a Stanley knife.

Just a thought. That looks like a lot to take off the bushes on the chassis side, & you said you had understeer. Wouldn't you want an equal amount of rubber around the bar for the bush, & thus the arb, to work to it's max? Perhaps could have not cut so much off, & made some alloy packers.
Cheers

The angle in the photo is slightly deceptive, there’s almost the same amount of rubber all round. You’re right though, packing it out would’ve been better.