Adventures of the Honey Badger Miata

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

I understand how that could happen but don't understand why the MS would use solely the IAT in any scenario.

Mazduh, what tables should we check? Boost compensation? My tuner is really good at nailing the numbers but doesn't do any MS (mostly hydra) so he might have simply missed some menus. 2 hours on the dyno and the car did great, so I assume it can at least take some abuse.

I'll definitely have to monitor everything very carefully my first few times out there. I know that just because I have a lot of parts on the car doesn't mean I'm out of hot water for potential issues.

[SilverMiataRacer]

Lets get back to the bottom line here.  I've been a PCA instructor at track days for 18 years now.  You need to worry about just a few things.  Your car is teched and prepped properly to run the weekend without issues.  If you are even vaguely worried about it overheating turn the boost down.  You do not need to be worried about how much boost you are making or how much HP your making.  If this is your first track day stock HP would be more than enough.  You don't need to worry about wings and splitters or anything else.  Reliability and attitude is all you need for this event.  Worrying about dampening and alignment etc is not okay either.  Set the car up and don't worry about anything but listening to your instructor and doing what he or she says.  This is not a test and tune day for the car this is a learn to drive day for the car owner.  If you go there with an attitude and a goal other than that you are not going to get anything out of the weekend and if they have good instructors your likely to be visiting the pits to be spoken to by the instructor, the head instructor or at the very least the starter.

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

Lets get back to the bottom line here.  I've been a PCA instructor at track days for 18 years now.  You need to worry about just a few things.  Your car is teched and prepped properly to run the weekend without issues.  If you are even vaguely worried about it overheating turn the boost down.  You do not need to be worried about how much boost you are making or how much HP your making.  If this is your first track day stock HP would be more than enough.  You don't need to worry about wings and splitters or anything else.  Reliability and attitude is all you need for this event.  Worrying about dampening and alignment etc is not okay either.  Set the car up and don't worry about anything but listening to your instructor and doing what he or she says.  This is not a test and tune day for the car this is a learn to drive day for the car owner.  If you go there with an attitude and a goal other than that you are not going to get anything out of the weekend and if they have good instructors your likely to be visiting the pits to be spoken to by the instructor, the head instructor or at the very least the starter.

Thanks for the words of confidence. The goal on the first day is to get used to how the track events operate, the instructors, all that jazz. Later in the year, I can try different tire pressures between heats, or mess with alignments between events, etc. Actually know a few of the instructors there and they are all great guys. I know there won't be testing and tuning until I learn to properly drive the thing. It's way overbuilt for my abilities right now, the question is how quickly I'll be able to learn and how soon I'll want to start experimenting. Probably not the first year, but if the car feels off to me by the 3rd event, I might have my buddy throw it on the Hunter rack and just tweak something to see how it changes the car's feel. I've never done a real race event so how these things work is still a mystery to me. But yes, I understand the learning curve and my first few times out trying to mess with the car will just make it harder to make progress.

[joeereid]

Lets get back to the bottom line here.  I've been a PCA instructor at track days for 18 years now.  You need to worry about just a few things.  Your car is teched and prepped properly to run the weekend without issues.  If you are even vaguely worried about it overheating turn the boost down.  You do not need to be worried about how much boost you are making or how much HP your making.  If this is your first track day stock HP would be more than enough.  You don't need to worry about wings and splitters or anything else.  Reliability and attitude is all you need for this event.  Worrying about dampening and alignment etc is not okay either.  Set the car up and don't worry about anything but listening to your instructor and doing what he or she says.  This is not a test and tune day for the car this is a learn to drive day for the car owner.  If you go there with an attitude and a goal other than that you are not going to get anything out of the weekend and if they have good instructors your likely to be visiting the pits to be spoken to by the instructor, the head instructor or at the very least the starter.

What he said! Theres so much to take in when it comes to high performance driving and you can only absorb so much at a time. You need to be 100% focused on your driving except for the cursory glance at the dash to check temps, etc. on the straightaway. A good instructor will tell you when and where you do that too.

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

I'm really gonna need the help dialing in my new turbo for next year. A friend's 1.8t VW stocker is on the left. Should be good for a few seconds off the lap

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

Big power need big spark

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

Met up with a local guy who is a Miata and Photo enthusiast. Talked cars, and he snapped some photos. This is still with the 15x9 wheels, the 15x10 are actually being delivered today, and then sometime before my March track day, both the new 6ULs and the Singular Louvres are going to be installed.

















Photographer Credit: http://www.sithaputh.com

[Chrisbee]

Nice pics! Cool bokeh effect! 

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

UPDATE

Now that the car is mostly sorted out and I am getting into doing actual driving events with it, I will start updating this thread with results, videos, photos, etc. from my adventures in the track day/hpde stuff. So far, 2 events in the bag, second one more successful than the first, but still lots of improvement to be made.

Hooked on Driving NJMP Thunderbolt 3-27-16
First event was at NJMP Thunderbolt track, where a good friend of mine who instructs for Hooked on Driving helped me a ton. Unfortunately it was on Easter and I had a family function to be at so I only did half the day, but learned a lot on the track and in the classroom. I learned enough not to do everything right, but to be able to spot some of my mistakes.

Now lets get into the issues the car encountered that day.
1. The breather filter which was touching the valve cover began to melt (and more the next event)
2. All 4 turbo to manifold studs had come loose, and one fell out. I found it, re-installed, and found it missing again after my second run
3. Due to a lack of Heatshielding, the turbo has started cooking things. The GarageStar brake master brace with delrin bushing began melting
4. Hawk HPS brake pads could not withstand repeated 140mph stops so they cooked, and my instructor took the car off-road where nothing broke but we lost one of the adjusters for the XIDA

There was a track-side photographer out at NJMP that day, but since I did not buy any photos, I will simply leave 2 links below to the albums on his side. I'm wearing the white open-face helmet and you can clearly see me cheesing hard in some of the photos, it was an amazing time!

Running with Group A (novice) - http://www.windshadowstudios.net/hooked-on-driving-march-2016-sunday-group-a
Running with Group B (intermediate) - http://www.windshadowstudios.net/hooked-on-driving-march-2016-sunday-group-b

Turbo studs were replaced with the TSE Inconel studs and Stage 8 locks, breather filter was wrapped in metal foil to keep it from melting, brakes were changed to G-Loc R12/R10 pads and Centric rotors (and ducts still to be installed), and we began working on a heat shield

Track Night in America NJMP Lightning 4-27-16
This was my second time on a track ever, and it would be a challenge since I had to rely on what i had learned from the event a month ago, YouTube videos watching people's lines, and would have no coach with me that day. It turned out to be successful, but I do admit there are things I could have done better. I had one instance where I got a little ahead of myself, hit the brakes half a second too late, panicked, and was suddenly approaching a Porsche 911 too quickly in the hardest braking zone of the whole track.

The car still had a few issues, but overall she ran good.
1. The breather filter completely fell off, and began melting. Since it smelled like rubber (tires) I didn't think anything of it on track, but it fell on the exhaust manifold and began smoldering and dripping on the block. When I pulled in, I was shiny black stuff all over the engine, and soot on the exhaust manifold, and thought I was going to need a tow home. After some inspecting, I realized everything was OK. I do need to build a second catch-can for the exhaust side of the valve cover, just a simple hose, can, and breather on it, since I was shooting a little oil mist out of there after the filter fell off.
2. The GarageStar Brake Master brace bushing melted some more.
3. Since I don't have a real Oil Pressure gauge but just the TDR sender kit, I can't see what my actual pressures are, but they are a good bit lower when I come in from a 15-20 minute session than they get on the street. 5-10 mins of cool down later,  I can start the car and pressure is back to "street" area. I need to invest into Oil Pressure, Temp, and possibly another gauge soon.
4. Turbo continued to melt things. The whole exhaust side of the valve cover is seeping because I think the radiant heat dried the gasket out. 

I did manage to score an amazing deal on a GoPro 3+ Silver and a roll-bar mount which I was able to position perfectly, so here are some videos from the day. Heat 2 at the 15:25 mark is where I had the close call with the Porsche. My fault for trying to chase the guy and not focusing on my driving as much, and I hit the brakes about 50 feet late.

Heat 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omXy5FqEVTY
Heat 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6peF--6D-Sk
Heat 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-ggda7kpKM
Fast Lap - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVmzTyP8T4c

My biggest mistake still is not looking through the corner, but at the entry, then apex, then exit. I tried to correct this a little in the last heat and it did help with times, but I am still focusing on getting a feel for the car and the limits of the tires. Things will keep improving.

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

Also since the last update, I've changed out the 15x9 wheels for 15x10s, added the Singular Louvres (NC Variety), and picked up a hardtop as well, just going to have a friend who's good with plasti-dip do a gloss black for it and for the windshield pillar



This is the heat shield we started working on



Photo with a good friend's Miata at the last event. He's running a 1.6L FM2, Caged, ~2150lbs, with a GTC300 wing that he says needs lower stands. He's got a front diffuser as well but it didn't make it on in time for the event.

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

2 more quick vids, a friend of a friend had a Kia Soul on the track so they filmed me flying by

https://www.facebook.com/ACEKnight/videos/10154143998984855/

Leaving Turn 7 shooting flames

https://www.facebook.com/N.Spire.Performance/videos/1012730952153471/

And just a cool shot from the ride home, love the RevLimiter gauges

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

So just a quick question. For controlling turbo temps radiating into the engine bay, what do you prefer?

1. Ceramic coating
2. Turbo Blanket
3. Heat Shield

Or a combination of the above? I know there are some downsides to a blanket such as moisture retention, but someone had suggested I simply run a blanket on the track and then take it off everywhere else, since I only have issues on track with things being overheated.

[joeereid]

So just a quick question. For controlling turbo temps radiating into the engine bay, what do you prefer?

1. Ceramic coating
2. Turbo Blanket
3. Heat Shield

Or a combination of the above? I know there are some downsides to a blanket such as moisture retention, but someone had suggested I simply run a blanket on the track and then take it off everywhere else, since I only have issues on track with things being overheated.

Quick question...are you still running your stock under tray? If not it may be messing with your pressure differentials.

[04TitaniumGrayPhilly]

So just a quick question. For controlling turbo temps radiating into the engine bay, what do you prefer?

1. Ceramic coating
2. Turbo Blanket
3. Heat Shield

Or a combination of the above? I know there are some downsides to a blanket such as moisture retention, but someone had suggested I simply run a blanket on the track and then take it off everywhere else, since I only have issues on track with things being overheated.

Quick question...are you still running your stock under tray? If not it may be messing with your pressure differentials.

I am, but the louvres are too far forward to work as an effective turbo vent. We slipped the stock tray on and then had to cut a small hole in it for the oil cooler to get airflow. I'm having no issues with water temps at the moment, just the fact that tere is no cover around the turbo is heating up a lot of other things.

Also developed a small misfire after the last track event, which seemed to get better every time I opened up the car. First time punching it in 5th gear, I got about 10 misses. Eventually, it settled down to 1 or 2 per pull. Had no issues on track beating on it, just after. Going to install new plugs before the next event, hope it helps.

[SilverMiataRacer]

What are you running for plugs and at what gap???