112.8mph Lucky Poos Needed

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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    How annoying to get stuck behind that MR2. Looks like he wasn't taking the best lines either. Like you say, that's motorsport but at least you got more experience and left him for dead once you'd got past. 

    Will be interesting to see how competitive you are after a few more races. I wonder whether the 'cheque book racing' effect may be quite large? Paddock chats will tell you I'm sure!
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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    Donington Park - National



    Next up is Donington Park on the National layout (no GP loop) on Saturday 7th September. I'm posting this early as I'm off on holiday the week before.

    Donington is a track that we've tested on many times before, so hopefully, we'll be more competitive than we were at Brands Hatch and Cadwell Park. With only 4 braking zones (Redgate, Old Hairpin, McLeans, and the Esses) the circuit is pretty much flat-to-the-floor all the way around - in our car at least. I know where I can make up time, need to carry more speed through Redgate and Coppice. That should improve my lap times somewhat.

    Once again, we've booked testing on Friday to help us dial into the circuit. At the time of posting there are three other cars entered in our class - a Pug 106, a BMW Compact, and a Toyota MR2.

    Overheating - As mentioned before, we suffered massive overheating issues at Cadwell. Looking at our VBOX data we can see that as the car did more laps and got hotter, both acceleration and top speed suffered compared to the initial 'cool' laps. After speaking to many other MX5 racers we decided it was time to upgrade the radiator to an Aluminium unit, along with a new hose set. The old rad was blocked, full of silt, swollen, and generally fooked. Hopefully, this will sort our issues out.



    Tickets - If you'd like to see us race, tickets are £12 per adult, £8 for 12-15s, and children go free. If you enter voucher code 750MC you'll get some discount off those prices - https://doningtonpark.msv.com/DP-19-750-1




    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    edited August 2019
    Have Fun and good luck 
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  • FX_MunkeeFX_Munkee Frets: 2477
    edited August 2019
    If you're still overheating after this one I'd recommend a coolant reroute. One of the issues of that engine coming from a 323 turbo is that the coolant comes in the front and goes out the front. if you make it go in the front and out the back its will cool much better.
    Good Luck.

    Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name. Not to mention archery tuition.
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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    FX_Munkee said:
    If you're still overheating after this one I'd recommend a coolant reroute. One of the issues of that engine coming from a 323 turbo is that the coolant comes in the front and goes out the front. if you make it go in the front and out the back its will cool much better.
    Good Luck.

    Coolant reroute was one of the first things we looked at, yet nearly every other MX5 race car we've come across uses the standard system and can run around all day. In fact, one car with ITBs, aggressive cams, and a custom ECU tune doesn't even have a cooling fan - just an ally rad!

    Interestingly, Turbo'd MX5 race cars don't seem to be a thing - at least on the UK club scene - most drivers seem to prefer a NA build.

    Both the pink and blue MX5s from Cadwell Park have enough power to readline in 5th gear, so we've decided to follow suit with our 2020 plans.



    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    edited September 2019 tFB Trader
    Donington Park - Race Report

    Testing

    We were keen to find out if we'd solved our overheating issues so Friday testing gave us the opportunity to push the car and get the answers that we wanted. The first session was wet so Nick didn't get to run the car hard but the engine stayed cool so we remained optimistic. The track had dried by the second session so I took the car out and managed to run 6 laps flat out and the temp needle stayed in the middle. Sorted.

    However, mirroring the weather conditions of the day, a bright, sunny moment was immediately followed by a massive downpour of bad luck as our 3rd gear disappeared and the gearbox was borked. I brought the car in, ran around the paddock trying to find a replacement box but incredibly, none of the other MX5 teams had a spare.

    Therefore, we had 3 options:

    • Race without 3rd gear
    • Go home early
    • Make the 3-hour roundtrip back home, get our spare box, and fit it overnight.
    Guess what we did...




    Nick stayed behind and started removing the old box whilst I jumped in the van and headed home. Just as I was leaving the paddock the team owner of BC Motorsport flagged me down and told me there was a breakers yard 10 minutes away in Castle Donington. It was worth a shot. I drove there and found an MX5 owner's dream. They only broke MX5s and Porsches and had literally every part you could ever need. £60 later I had a replacement box loaded into the van and headed back to the paddock. Result!

    Nick started removing the box at 12:30 pm and it took us 11 hours to do the replacement. Having never done one before and doing it on the floor made the whole thing difficult, but we managed it and learned so much in the process.


    The next morning we drove the car up and down the paddock checking all of the gears and thankfully, it all seemed to work.


    Race

    We qualified in last place, being 3 seconds off the next car. The car felt incredible on the brakes and in the corners, but our straight line speed is still woeful. We're easily 6-8mph down on the straights although one competitor complimented us on our apex speeds and drive off the corners, so a silver lining I suppose.

    The race was the most fun I've ever had in the car, I finally felt that I'd got on top of it and was on the limit. Both Nick and I set identical fastest laps so clearly, we're pushing it as hard as it will go. We finished in last place on the road but 32/41 cars owing to retirements and DQs. I'm not disappointed because that was as fast as the car would go. You can see the yellow Puma and orange 106 just drive past us despite both being the same weight as us.

    Next steps? The next two races are power tracks  - Snetterton and Silverstone - so we've got to do something soon. We've decided to get the standalone ECU and a custom tune done very soon to get the most out of the engine as clearly, our setup isnt optimized.

    Great weekend, completely shattered.



    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • robgilmorobgilmo Frets: 3355
    Best thread Ive read in a long while. Thats a well nice car you have built there. Has the cage made it more rigid? When you are down this way (Snetterton) I will try to get to come and see you guys race. Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing!
    A Deuce , a Tele and a cup of tea.
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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    robgilmo said:
    Best thread Ive read in a long while. Thats a well nice car you have built there. Has the cage made it more rigid? When you are down this way (Snetterton) I will try to get to come and see you guys race. Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing!
    Thank you :)

    The cage certainly stiffens up the car, especially considering it doesn't have a roof. You really notice how much chassis 'twist' the car used to have which is completely eliminated now. We've actually had to soften the dampers off to make the car more compliant over the curbs and bumps.

    Our next race is at Snetterton on 12th October, come down!
    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    edited October 2019 tFB Trader
    Snetterton 300 - 12th October


    Next up we're heading east towards Norwich to a track called Snetterton. We're racing on the '300' configuration which is the longest available at 3 miles in length.

    We've never driven Snetterton before, so once again have booked Friday testing to learn the track and get dialled in. I'm particularly looking forward to the long, sweeping corners of Riches, Palmer, Williams, and Coram.


    Prep

    We've known for a while that despite having  - on paper at least - a more powerful engine than stock, we've suffered from a straight line speed problem. This was particularly apparent at both Cadwell Park and Donington where we were left for dead on the straights.

    We decided to finally invest in a standalone ECU, the Motorsport Electronics ME221 and book a tuning day at MX5 specialists Skuzzle Motorsport.

    We started with a baseline run using the stock ECU to see what power the car made (at the wheels, not crank) and got 89.8bhp at 5700rpm. After that, the power dropped off considerably. At the pre-season test day at Donington, we were measured at 74.1bhp at the wheels. So the high-lift cams gave us an extra 16bhp - not bad.

    Nick (Skuzzle) noted that the car was running VERY rich throughout the rev range, especially above 5000rpm where we needed the power most.

    Fitting the ME221 and a basic tune gave us a 6bhp increase but created more power at the top and the power band went on for longer. A quick timing adjustment and tuning refinement allowed the car to finally reach its potential - 103.3bhp at 7000rpm and a huge increase compared to stock. In a race car, we want all of our power between 5000-7000rpm, as that's the range that gear changes drop you into. We estimate now that our flywheel BHP is around 130bhp, over 15bhp more than we started the season with and now at the class limit of 145bhp/tonne.

    Put simply, we now have more power for longer - yes!



    Green is stock ECU
     Pink is ME221 basic tune
    Red is the final tune


    Whilst we were at it, we decided to optimize our chassis set up with a full poly bush all-round, corner weighting and alignment to proper MX5 race specs. The lovely chaps at Northampton Motorsport did the CW/Alignment and Nick and I did the poly bush job which is the worst thing ever to do in a single garage. Glad it's done now though, the car now has an almost perfect 50.07% Weight Distribution with a setup to match.


    Tickets - If you'd like to see us race, tickets are £12 per adult, £8 for 12-15s, and children go free. If you enter voucher code 750MC you'll get some discount off those prices - https://snetterton.msv.com/SN-19-750MC-2


    Live timing - http://www.theresultslive.co.uk/750-motor-club/2019/snetterton-300-12-13th-october



    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • FX_MunkeeFX_Munkee Frets: 2477
    Glad to hear Nick is still doing OK. I remember him from MX5Nutz before he went into business doing it. There's not a lot he doesn't know about these cars. Polybushing is a real PITA but worth it. Did you push the old ones out or go for the pyromaniac approach?
    Good luck for next weekend.
    Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name. Not to mention archery tuition.
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    RiftAmps said:
    Snetterton 300 - 12th October


    Next up we're heading east towards Norwich to a track called Snetterton. We're racing on the '300' configuration which is the longest available at 3 miles in length.

    We've never driven Snetterton before, so once again have booked Friday testing to learn the track and get dialled in. I'm particularly looking forward to the long, sweeping corners of Riches, Palmer, Williams, and Coram.


    Prep

    We've known for a while that despite having  - on paper at least - a more powerful engine than stock, we've suffered from a straight line speed problem. This was particularly apparent at both Cadwell Park and Donington where we were left for dead on the straights.

    We decided to finally invest in a standalone ECU, the Motorsport Electronics ME221 and book a tuning day at MX5 specialists Skuzzle Motorsport.

    We started with a baseline run using the stock ECU to see what power the car made (at the wheels, not crank) and got 89.8bhp at 5700rpm. After that, the power dropped off considerably. At the pre-season test day at Donington, we were measured at 74.1bhp at the wheels. So the high-lift cams gave us an extra 16bhp - not bad.

    Nick (Skuzzle) noted that the car was running VERY rich throughout the rev range, especially above 5000rpm where we needed the power most.

    Fitting the ME221 and a basic tune gave us a 6bhp increase but created more power at the top and the power band went on for longer. A quick timing adjustment and tuning refinement allowed the car to finally reach its potential - 103.3bhp at 7000rpm and a huge increase compared to stock. In a race car, we want all of our power between 5000-7000rpm, as that's the range that gear changes drop you into. We estimate now that our flywheel BHP is around 130bhp, over 15bhp more than we started the season with and now at the class limit of 145bhp/tonne.

    Put simply, we now have more power for longer - yes!



    Green is stock ECU
     Pink is ME221 basic tune
    Red is the final tune


    Whilst we were at it, we decided to optimize our chassis set up with a full poly bush all-round, corner weighting and alignment to proper MX5 race specs. The lovely chaps at Northampton Motorsport did the CW/Alignment and Nick and I did the poly bush job which is the worst thing ever to do in a single garage. Glad it's done now though, the car now has an almost perfect 50.07% Weight Distribution with a setup to match.


    Tickets - If you'd like to see us race, tickets are £12 per adult, £8 for 12-15s, and children go free. If you enter voucher code 750MC you'll get some discount off those prices - https://snetterton.msv.com/SN-19-750MC-2


    Live timing - http://www.theresultslive.co.uk/750-motor-club/2019/snetterton-300-12-13th-october



    I like the name of the right hander after brundle ;)
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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    FX_Munkee said:
    Glad to hear Nick is still doing OK. I remember him from MX5Nutz before he went into business doing it. There's not a lot he doesn't know about these cars. Polybushing is a real PITA but worth it. Did you push the old ones out or go for the pyromaniac approach?
    Good luck for next weekend.
    We borrowed a 6-tonne press from a friend and they all pushed out except one that we had to melt out with a blowtorch.
    The bushes weren't the worst part of the whole job but removing all of the camber/suspension bolts that had snapped in half whilst lying on my back, underneath the car, enduring flakes of rust dropping into my eyes every minute.

    Nick is such a knowledgable chap, we couldn't get the ME221 to connect to a laptop and he worked out that physically disconnecting the TPS connector under the bonnet (the ECU is meant to do this electrically) it suddenly activated the USB connection - incredible.

    Quite remarkable to see a tune being done on a Dyno, having to adjust fueling and spark at every throttle position for every point in the rev range. He even showed me in real-time what effect static timing changes had on the idle and harmonic vibrations  - this did show up that our engine mounts are knackered so we will be replacing those on Monday.

    What else? Oh yeah, going to replace both the gearbox and diff oils with new stuff, just in case we're getting any losses through the drivetrain owing to crap/dirty oil.



    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    Race Report - Snetterton


    Friday testing for difficult for us, firstly the weather was cold and wet so going out to learn the track in those conditions was interesting. Thankfully, the new chassis setup was incredible and the car just felt planted once we'd adjusted the damper setting and tyre pressure for the conditions. Quite surprised how much difference a few clicks softer can make and how much more confidence you have.

    The new engine/ECU setup also made a huge difference, Nick topped out at 105.1mph on the back straight but crucially got there much faster. The way the engine pulls through the gears now is how I'd always imagined it should do, just effortlessly.





    My second session was dry so swapped over to a dry setup and went out and completed 12 laps hovering around the 2:36 mark, with a best lap of 2:35.01.

    Our onboard lap timer shows if you're faster or slower than your current best so is a good gauge of how you're doing. With endurance racing, consistency is key so being able to bang in lap times +/-1sec of each other over a stint is a great feeling.

    Incidentally, the Class D lap record is 2:21 so being 14 seconds off that pace was quite disheartening until we saw everyone else's lap times and realized that the track was just very slow. Noone got near that time at all.

    At the end of my stint I saw that the temp needle had started to creep up again. We checked the car and found the Alternator/Water Pump belt was loose so tensioned it and all was OK.




    Nick was out next, took the car out and after 2 laps brought the car in as he'd lost power steering and the temp needle had skyrocketed. Opened the bonnet and found both the Alternator and PAS belts had disappeared! We drove out to the nearest Euro Car Parts, bought the replacement belts and then fitted them to the car. We fired it up, all running OK, topped up the coolant level and put her to bed.

    The next day we let her come up to temperature and all seemed great. I sat in the assembly area waiting to go out for Qualifying and no problems at all.

    Drove out onto the track, managed one flying lap before I noticed a big change in engine note. The car was still pulling great so thought maybe we'd just cracked the exhaust (we had - see below) but looking in the mirror I saw a massive plume of smoke coming from the rear of the car. It was thick, white, and turned the entire track into a winter's foggy day. I drove around to the nearest Fire Marshall post and pulled over. Thankfully no fire could be seen but lots of coolant leaking out at the rear of the engine block. Obviously, we'd blown the head gasket and both coolant and oil were getting into the combustion chamber causing the smoke.

    Our qualifying and race were therefore over. Gutted.


    Next is up Silverstone GP on Sunday 27th October so we've got two weeks to get the head skimmed and back on the car.

    This is motorsport, we're pushing the car to its limits and things will break often. I've just got to carry more spares in the van ;)




    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    I get the impression that this could make guitars seem like quite a cheap hobby!
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    Ouch - sounds like an expensive weekend.

    At least you had a better time of it than Dan Cammish...
    https://www.pistonheads.com/news/motorsport/btcc-2019-finale---time-for-coffee-/41116
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  • DanRDanR Frets: 1041
    I seem to remember there being a lot of bolt on supercharger kits for the mx5 as it generally suited the engine better than a turbo.
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24209
    That exhaust looks like it’s vibrated apart.  Can’t you stick a bit of flexi-pipe in there ?
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24209
    What about water injection ? Is that allowed within the race rules?
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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  • FX_MunkeeFX_Munkee Frets: 2477
    Exhaust looks like a non penetrated weld failure.
    As for the belts, Power streeing coming off can take out the alternator belt. I'd check for any play in any of the pulleys to see if something isn't running true. The Crank pulley is a vibration damper (rubber mounted) can't remember seeing one fail but yours is running at extremes so worth a check.
    Coolant reroute? Just thought I'd ask again ;)
    Glad to here the ECU is doing what it should, I always thought that would unlock quite a bit of driveability for you as well as top end.
    Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name. Not to mention archery tuition.
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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    Emp_Fab said:
    That exhaust looks like it’s vibrated apart.  Can’t you stick a bit of flexi-pipe in there ?
    FX_Munkee said:
    Exhaust looks like a non penetrated weld failure.
    The issue is two-fold, I think.

    Firstly, the stock manifold is very short - only 8" or so - and the downpipe is a separate unit. The manifold+downpipe assembly bolts to the side of the bell housing so it all moves/vibrates as one unit. These aftermarket one-piece units cannot attach to the bell housing so sit separately. Fitting stiffer engine and exhaust mounts are supposed to stop excessive movement and therefore prevent the cracking happening, but we've been through three so far despite doing all of that.

    Secondly, these aftermarket units are quite cheap with somewhat questionable welds anyway. Most likely OK for street use but in a race car, they're clearly not up to the job.

    We've decided to go back to the stock manifold/downpipe setup with our existing cat-back SS system. Fed up with it now!


    Emp_Fab said:
    What about water injection ? Is that allowed within the race rules?
    We can run an electric water pump if we want, but quite expensive.

    FX_Munkee said:
    As for the belts, Power streeing coming off can take out the alternator belt. I'd check for any play in any of the pulleys to see if something isn't running true. The Crank pulley is a vibration damper (rubber mounted) can't remember seeing one fail but yours is running at extremes so worth a check.
    We found that the Alternator belt tensioner bolt had slipped out of its bracket, so it was only held on by the locking bolt+nut. Most likely self-inflicted when we did the head swap before Cadwell Park. Amazed it held on for that long.
    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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