Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...
On 20/12/2016 at 2:24 PM, Kinkstaah said:

I stupidly suggested to my gf that a MX5 would be a perfect car for her to get a head start in, learn on, use, etc. 

Now I want one, with a small turbo albeit.

LS Swapped FD would be great, but if you want a ~1250-1350kg car with an easy to use 250-270kw then you start looking into options like, oh I dunno, a RX7.. or a jap turbo import made by Nissan...

I have this discussion with my housemate who got an E36 328i with plans to put a LS1 in.

I got bored the other day so did some quick power-to-weight calculations:

Given that the 4door is about 1430kg dry with a manual box (according to 'sources' aka the internets) my current power-to-weight is roughly 192rwkw per tonne.

To get to the same in an MX5 you'd need:

  • NA series – 180rwkw
  • NB – 204rwkw
  • NC – 213rwkw

So naturally aspirated is pretty much out the window. Given the size of the donk you'll probably need forgies too = $$.

For comparison, in an S13 you'd need 235rwkw, which should be reasonably easy with a sorted SR20DET?

So perhaps OP already has the perfect track car? :)

Obviously power-to-weight is just part of the equation, but still...

Actually the MX5 engines (at least the 1.8) is known to hold a good 200rwkw, there's plenty of people out there with a turbo, some guy has gone full John Richardson at 191 rwkw and has done something like 60 track days on it. Seems about 180rwkw in a MX5 is similar to the "300 is safe" kw in a RB25.

And then you go to a corner or brake and instantly lose 400KG of weight.

But no, the S13 with a modest power setup and sorted handling is a very good option as well. You only really get problems in any car if you decide HOLY SHIT POWAAAAAAR or decide you want slicks and then you get oil control fun. I mean shit the S13 gets blame for being a bad chassis, but someone won WTAC with one. Not a very stock one albeit, but it can't be that bad for fun and games!

  • Like 1

I think the mx5 guy your talking about with 191rwkw also had an Na one with 90 something rwkw and was still very very competitive. Turbo did 1.22 -23 around sandown and the Na did 1.25-26 from memory. The performance came from weight reduction. Anything that could be removed was and everything else lightened. Think fibre glass panels, carbon roof, carbon drivers seat etc. Very impressive what those little things can do but just like anything $ need to be spent. Skylines and Silvias are still great track cars and can be made very quick without mega $ spending. Think, richos r33. That is 1 quick machine that cost a modest amount focusing on the things that needed to be done. He could make that thing substantially quicker with bulk $ put into it.

  • Like 1
22 hours ago, Kinkstaah said:

Actually the MX5 engines (at least the 1.8) is known to hold a good 200rwkw, there's plenty of people out there with a turbo, some guy has gone full John Richardson at 191 rwkw and has done something like 60 track days on it. Seems about 180rwkw in a MX5 is similar to the "300 is safe" kw in a RB25.

And then you go to a corner or brake and instantly lose 400KG of weight.
...

Fair enough :)

21 hours ago, admS15 said:

I think the mx5 guy your talking about with 191rwkw also had an Na one with 90 something rwkw and was still very very competitive. Turbo did 1.22 -23 around sandown and the Na did 1.25-26 from memory. The performance came from weight reduction. Anything that could be removed was and everything else lightened. Think fibre glass panels, carbon roof, carbon drivers seat etc. Very impressive what those little things can do but just like anything $ need to be spent. Skylines and Silvias are still great track cars and can be made very quick without mega $ spending. Think, richos r33. That is 1 quick machine that cost a modest amount focusing on the things that needed to be done. He could make that thing substantially quicker with bulk $ put into it.

Very good points Bill. Those N/A times are insane, must be a great driver and a very well sorted car. It must be so much easier on all parts carrying that much less weight around, which should help with reliability.

So I think my ideal track car then is a fully sorted 200rwkw turbo MX5 NA pre-1992 in club plates so you can drive to/from events. For $10k please :) 

Very good points Bill. Those N/A times are insane, must be a great driver and a very well sorted car. It must be so much easier on all parts carrying that much less weight around, which should help with reliability.
So I think my ideal track car then is a fully sorted 200rwkw turbo MX5 NA pre-1992 in club plates so you can drive to/from events. For $10k please [emoji4] 

10k order 1 for me too please[emoji106]
  • Like 1

Thoughts on this MX5?

http://www.my105.com/ListingDetails/p/1/k/mx5/id/17404

 

I like the idea of swapping for something a little easier to manage and cheaper to run. LS1 with an RX7 also sounds interesting. Does it drop straight in?

Is Sports Sedans the only place you can run something with an engine swap?

In a CAMS sense, improved production allows an engine swap for same manufacturer/same number of cylinders. but yes you'd need sports sedans for a nissan 4 cylinder in an mx5.

Thoughts on this MX5?
http://www.my105.com/ListingDetails/p/1/k/mx5/id/17404
 
I like the idea of swapping for something a little easier to manage and cheaper to run. LS1 with an RX7 also sounds interesting. Does it drop straight in?
Is Sports Sedans the only place you can run something with an engine swap?

I reckon it's awesome but would be pretty tough to engineer for rego I'm guessing
  • 2 weeks later...

I reckon it's awesome but would be pretty tough to engineer for rego I'm guessing


LOL I was actually looking at it for myself apologies! No need for engineering as it would be a track car only.

I've been giving this some serious thought as the GTR is in a pretty good state to sell as literally everything has been refreshed on it, and the 32 market is on the up.

I was actually fairly close to securing a trade on an SR3 but it fell through. But I did do quite a bit of research on them and liked what I found. Much as Ben noted with the Radical, all parts are 'lifed' and replacing anything costs a fortune. So can't break anything which rules out door to door racing, however running it as a track car is definitely affordable. Also you can source a used hayabusa engine and chuck that in for a fraction of the cost of a sealed engine.

The other cars that interest me are ICV's. Only thing that concerns me is safety. Rollover protection looks suss and hitting a wall at 200kmh in a metal coffin welded together by a bloke in a shed doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Does anyone know more about them?

Also, mx5's are rad. My first car was an NC it is still one of the best cars I've ever driven. Needs a snail though
  • Like 1

Oh wow someone's combined a (turbo) MX-5 and an open wheeler: http://jalopnik.com/driving-a-stripped-down-turbo-miata-kit-car-doors-are-1791238438

You basically move your NA/NB running gear over to a tube chassis and lose about 1/3 weight in the process. Looks like heaps fun.

The Exocet kits start at $7k US, which is actually pretty good. No idea whether something like this could be engineered in Aus. Great idea nonetheless!

sgfr6hvvob7gytxnk2ns.jpg

 

4 hours ago, V28VX37 said:

 

Oh wow someone's combined a (turbo) MX-5 and an open wheeler

 

There is a link on page 1 of this thread to an Exocet....

Edited by GeeDog
  • Like 1

My knee jerk intrawebs review of the Exocet is it's rubbish but perhaps it reminds me of dickheads in Clubmans who apparently think it's cool to try to take your apex, next time I'm turning in track rat.

Serious? Would need mudguards wouldn't it? That could be a problem, nothing to hang them off.

  • Like 1

FYI looks like the Exocet distributor in Aus has gone under and ripped a few people off by the sounds of it. 

Would make for an interesting track car, wonder if it could run against the clubbies in supersprints 

  • 2 weeks later...

We've run a Stohr WF1 for a few years-- by far the fastest car per dollar you can drive.  54's - 56's at Wakefield, 1:25's to 1:27's at EC.  Some of the numbers earlier in thread ($3k per day?) are seriously off the money.  The car has a GSXR1000 engine which you can buy for about $3k complete.  Race prep is relatively cheap, the thing is somewhat simple really, most of the tech is in the aero.

  • Like 3
13 hours ago, LSX-438 said:

Some of the numbers earlier in thread ($3k per day?) are seriously off the money.

Sports Racer Series (per event)

$1,900 = New Tyres

$500 = Mechanic / Pit crew

$100 = fuel

$1,895 = Event entry fee

Total = $4,395

 

Radical Australia Cup (per event)

$1,900 = New Tyres

$500 = Mechanic / Pit crew

$100 = fuel

$3,975 = Event entry fee

Total = $6,475

 

Now of course, if you just want to do club trackdays or super sprints that total per event comes down to around $500

 

  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Next on the to-do list was an oil and filter change. Nothing exciting to add here except the oil filter is in a really stupid place (facing the engine mount/subframe/steering rack). GReddy do a relocation kit which puts it towards the gearbox, I would have preferred towards the front but there's obviously a lot more stuff there. Something I'll have to look at for the next service perhaps. First time using Valvoline oil, although I can't see it being any different to most other brands Nice... The oil filter location... At least the subframe wont rust any time soon I picked up a genuine fuel filter, this is part of the fuel pump assembly inside the fuel tank. Access can be found underneath the rear seat, you'll see this triangular cover Remove the 3x plastic 10mm nuts and lift the cover up, pushing the rubber grommet through The yellow fuel line clips push out in opposite directions, remove these completely. The two moulded fuel lines can now pull upwards to disconnect, along with the wire electrical plug. There's 8x 8mm bolts that secure the black retaining ring. The fuel pump assembly is now ready to lift out. Be mindful of the fuel hose on the side, the hose clamp on mine was catching the hose preventing it from lifting up The fuel pump/filter has an upper and lower section held on by 4 pressure clips. These did take a little bit of force, it sounded like the plastic tabs were going to break but they didn't (don't worry!) The lower section helps mount the fuel pump, there's a circular rubber gasket/grommet/seal thing on the bottom where the sock is. Undo the hose clip on the short fuel hose on the side to disconnect it from the 3 way distribution pipe to be able to lift the upper half away. Don't forget to unplug the fuel pump too! There's a few rubber O rings that will need transferring to the new filter housing, I show these in the video at the bottom of this write up. Reassembly is the reverse Here's a photo of the new filter installed, you'll be able to see where the tabs are more clearing against the yellow OEM plastic Once the assembly is re-installed, I turned the engine over a few times to help build up fuel pressure. I did panic when the car stopped turning over but I could hear the fuel pump making a noise. It eventually started and has been fine since. Found my 'lucky' coin underneath the rear seat too The Youtube video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ65pmQt44&t=6s
    • It was picked up on the MOT/Inspection that the offside front wheel bearing had excessive play along with the ball joint. It made sense to do both sides so I sourced a pair of spare IS200 hubs to do the swap. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the strip down but here's a quick run down. On the back of the hub is a large circular dust cover, using a flat head screw driver and a mallet I prised it off. Underneath will reveal a 32mm hub nut (impact gun recommended). With the hub nut removed the ABS ring can be removed (I ended up using a magnetic pick up tool to help). Next up is to remove the stub axle, this was a little trickier due to limited tools. I tried a 3 leg puller but the gap between the hub and stub axle wasn't enough for the legs to get in and under. Next option was a lump hammer and someone pulling the stub axle at the same time. After a few heavy hits it released. The lower bearing race had seized itself onto the stub axle, which was fine because I was replacing them anyway. With the upper bearing race removed and the grease cleaned off they looked like this The left one looked pristine inside but gave us the most trouble. The right one had some surface rust but came apart in a single hit, figure that out?! I got a local garage to press the new wheel bearings in, reassemble was the opposite and didn't take long at all. Removing the hub itself was simple. Starting with removing the brake caliper, 2x 14mm bolts for the caliper slider and 2x 19mm? for the carrier > hub bolts. I used a cable tie to secure the caliper to the upper arm so it was out of the way, there's a 10mm bolt securing the ABS sensor on. With the brake disc removed from the hub next are the three castle nuts for the upper and lower ball joints and track rod end. Two of these had their own R clip and one split pin. A few hits with the hammer and they're released (I left the castle nuts on by a couple of turns), the track rod ends gave me the most grief and I may have nipped the boots (oops). Fitting is the reversal and is very quick and easy to do. The lower ball joints are held onto the hub by 2x 17mm bolts. The castle nut did increase in socket size to 22mm from memory (this may vary from supplier) The two front tyres weren't in great condition, so I had those replaced with some budget tyres for the time being. I'll be replacing the wheels and tyres in the future, this was to get me on the road without the worry of the police hassling me.
    • Yep, the closest base tune available was for the GTT, I went with that and made all the logical changes I could find to convert it to Naturally Aspirated. It will rev fine in Neutral to redline but it will be cutting nearly 50% fuel the whole way.  If I let it tune the fuel map to start with that much less fuel it wont run right and has a hard time applying corrections.  These 50% cuts are with a fuel map already about half of what the GTT tune had.  I was having a whole lot of bogging when applying any throttle but seem to have fixed that for no load situations with very aggressive transient throttle settings. I made the corrections to my injectors with data I found for them online, FBCJC100 flowing 306cc.  I'll have to look to see if I can find the Cam section. I have the Bosch 4.9 from Haltech. My manifold pressure when watching it live is always in -5.9 psi/inHg
    • Hi My Tokico BM50 Brake master cylinder has a leak from the hole between the two outlets (M10x1) for brake pipes, I have attached a photo. Can anyone tell me what that hole is and what has failed to allow brake fluid to escape from it, I have looked on line and asked questions on UK forums but can not find the answer, if anyone can enlighten me I would be most grateful.
    • It will be a software setting. I don't believe many on here ever used AEM. And they're now a discontinued product,that's really hard to find any easy answers on. If it were Link or Haltech, someone would be able to just send you a ECU file though.
×
×
  • Create New...