Props. Looks great. Good luck with the One Lap. Can't wait to read about the hurt you're going to put on the big $ cars.

 

Bad news...Miata is all dressed and ready for the big dance but not going.

A month ago, Ann re-injured her neck (she had cervical fusion surgery two years ago) and has been doing PT and meds to try and get it back in shape for this year's event. Final test ride the other day in the Miata did not go well at all, and she tweaked it yet again. So we are parking the Miata and taking the Cayenne S (her daily) instead to run in the SUV class. We'll focus on having fun running back in the pack.

The competitor in me is bummed at the missed opportunity, but years have taught me you take what life gives you. After all, this is a hobby. Plus I can focus more as being a journalist for GRM.

The upside is that the Miata will be fully developed for the 2016 One Lap, as we will be running it at various other events this summer. GRM's Ultimate Track Car Challenge and a couple of the USCA (Optima) events.

 

Sorry to hear. No reason to risk further injury or discomfort though.

 

:(

That's what you get for using those remote-reservoir electronically-controlled damping shocks. It's just too much lateral Gs for safety

 

Godspeed to Ann. I've got a couple of bad disks in my neck from an ejection but haven't had them operated on. My lower back has had an operation (at a VA hospital no less). I find that wearing a HANS is extemely beneficial for limiting head movement and preventing injury/aggravation of my neck discs. I expect Ann wears a HANS, but just thought I mention it in case.

 

Sorry to hear that.

I saw Ann's post on facebook about the ride quality with the electronic damping control. At some point, when things are less hectic. Could you share your thoughts and some more detailed information on how the electronics are being used? Is it doing something other than full soft on the street?

 

Sorry to hear that sir, what a bummer. Sounds like you guys will still have a great time though, and hopefully less stress.



Best reason ever.

"How'd you hurt your back?"

"I fired the ejector seat last time I was flying a fighter plane. Hurts like the dickens."

"why'd you fire the ejector seat?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you. In fact, I might have already said too much...."

 

As it turns out, the ride quality with the shocks turnd down is phenomenal over bumps and such. Instead, it was when I did a slow speed u-turn after being stopped at a traffic light that did the job. Some combination of letting the clutch out and moderate lateral g-loading.

The way I have it set right now for street is full soft on the DDA (overall damping rate), with both of the accelerometer-based multipliers up near max. That way, you get the Buick ride over bumps, but not the typical massive nosedive when you hit the brakes and excessive body roll when you corner on the street.

 

Of course I'm bummed to not have a K Miata competing, but you made the right call.

I hope she is feeling better soon. Next year I want a ride with that suspension too.

 

sucks man. i tweaked my back and need to sit out hyperfest. i feel your pain. hope you get better soon!

 

Ok, back to the Miata...got some work done today on parts that had come in weeks ago, but installation halted with the change of plans.

First up, steering wheel and quick release. Love me some suede, so Momo MOD 78 in 350mm gets the call, along with an NRG slim QR mated to a Works Bell slim hub. Big thanks to Bill Wilner at MiataRoadster for rounding up the hub and QR on short notice. This combo moves the wheel only about .5" closer to the driver; very much a stockish setup.

This hub is plug n' play...usually. It comes with the resistor that plugs into the big yellow airbag plug to defeat the dash light, but the NRG slim hub sticks down into the recess too far for the plug to remain. I suspect it works fine with Works Bell's QR, but for our purposes, the plug had to go. We could have cut the plug off and spliced the resistor in, but since we don't have the SRS control module anymore, we get a light anyway. So we simply cut the wires right at the clockspring.

The kit comes with a horn wire that plugs right into the clockspring. The wheel is temporarily installed to the hub directly so we can torque the center nut properly (don't just gun it on with an impact!).



The next step is finding a ground for the quick release to use for the horn. The Momo ring with a tab won't fit into the NRG hub, so that's out. We came up with two possibilities. The first, and easiest if you do it before the hub goes on, is to install a ring connector to the backside of the hub in the hole that is exposed in the recess. Once the hub is installed, there is no room to get it on there. The hub is exteremely hard to get back off, so what we did instead was to move one of the connectors inside the part of the QR that mates to the steering wheel to the back of an existing screw that was grounded. That wire was then connected directly to the horn button. The other wire passes through the QR to the spade lug on the underside which attaches to the wire that goes to the clockspring.



Next, we put the cover around the hub and install the QR to the hub face via the included cap screws.



Here's the aforementioned horn button wiring, using the female-to-female wire adaptor that came with the Momo button. It's a little clunky with all that wire spooled up in there, but this way it is reversible. A cleaner setup would be to cut and splice a female connector directly to the one spade lug on the QR.



And here's the finished product.

 

Today's project: Deatschwerks DW200 255lph fuel pump. E85 compatible and enough flow to satisfy the 300hp race motor's alcohol habit. Mostly plug n' play but did have to splice some wires. Slightly louder than OE, but much quieter than the Walbro in the CRX.

 

Upgraded the injectors in advance of the installation of the race motor. We had maxxed out the 310's even on the stock motor. These are FIC 900's, same as we have on the CRX. Plenty big enough for 300hp on E85, yet idle like stock. Love that they come with individual test data on each set, along with specific dead times. Makes a huge difference in tuning. Wish they were plug and play, but wiring the pigtails is a small price to pay.

 

And here's the reason for the E85...13:1 compression race motor is now in.



The shortblock and CNC head porting were done by 4 Piston Racing, sleeved by ERL. 89.5mm Wiseco pistons on Manley rods. Fresh Honda valves opened by Kelford 179-B2 cams and beehives. Motor will rev to 9000, but we limit to 8500, typically shifting at 8200. This combo made 300hp to the wheels in our CRX breathing through an RRC intake and Hytech header. Will be curious to see the numbers with the GE intake and Lovefab bundle of snakes pushed through a RWD diff. Fuel curves are suggesting more upper mid range (5000-6000) and less up top (8000+).

 

Alcoholic bellies up to the bar:



Got our toes lines up today. 3 degrees camber all around, 6 degrees caster, zero toe front, .25 degrees (approx 1/8") rear toe in.

 

What are your plans for this beast while waiting for next year's one lap?

 

 

Interested to see how those alignement numbers turn out. From what I've run into you're going to be getting the inside of the tires too hot, that much front camber would be faster than something that kept the temps even at an auto-x but man braking ability really nose dives at camber numbers like that so I wonder if it'll make road course times slower. And thats a lot of rear camber too. Be interesting to see if you have a different experience.

 

Assuming all goes well we'll be taking it to the Optima event at NCM this weekend. And if that's enjoyable, we'll do some more of those. Charlotte, Pikes Peak and Fontana all work with our schedule. Street tires, no aero. More details: USCA ? Ultimate Street Car Association

And we've been accepted again for the GRM UTCC @ VIR in July. Slicks and aero for that. Much work to do before then.