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MX5 Build thread - No hairdressing equipment left in vehicle overnight


longsh07

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Next thing I'm after is suspension and alignment, most likely BC Racing BR series coilovers. The car had a lot of roll when cornering so that needs addressing. I looked into thicker anti roll bars but from what I read I would be better off getting coilovers and a fast road/light track use alignment. The car is supposed to be fully adjustable from the factory and the company 'wheels in motion' have developed a fast road setup that has a good reputation among other MX5 owners.

 

Following that I found myself using my knee to stay put in my seat so a nice set of buckets will be the next thing. Don't want to go fixed back with harnesses as the car is to be used on the road as well. Having had a fixed back and harnesses in my 106 GTi it was a bloody nightmare. If you have them correctly tightened you can't move off the seat so forget leaning forward to see better at junctions! Some seats won't fit in MX5s due to their width. I'm probably going to get a pair of cobra Daytona seats with bride subframes. Will be fairly expensive but would rather do it that way than modify the stock runners.

Edited by longsh07
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I don't think coilovers will bother me on the road but I could just be used to stiffer suspension.

The MX5 has by far the softest suspension of the cars I've owned (expect my first car which was a 1.2 8v fiat punto :lol: ) so could end up riding like my 350 or my old MR2.

I decided on the BC's as I hear they are little bit more road friendly than meister-r's (on MX5's at leat, heard the reverse for 350's) plus I'm not running super low profile tyres I hope that will compensate enough to make it bearable.

Edited by longsh07
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Just out of interest, how comfy was the corbeu seat? I the bucket I had in the 106 was a Cobra Monaco Pro. I was a good seat but it got uncomfortable after a while. Then again it was a budget one.

 

Very.... I loved it, but I could not see anything around the head supports

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  • 2 months later...

Right, time for a bit of an update.

 

My exhaust was rattling so decided to pop down to Japex and have them fit me a Cobra System

Video of the rattle, sounds like its coming from inside the back box so expect it was a loose baffle.

 

Video of Cobra system (warm start and revs)

 

Photos

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Next, decided to fit the fire extinguisher. I didn't really want to put it in the passenger foot well as there isn't a huge amount of leg room as it is, so I decided to mount it where the CD changer used to be.

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Also finally fitted the front tow hook (on the left)

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And last but not least, removed one of the fog light blanks and made a cold air feed for the stock air box.

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Then fitted with a bit of paint.

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All ready for the next tray day :thumbs:

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I don't expect the feed will make any more power but it certainly helps bring the air intake temps down.

Otherwise the airbox is reliant of getting cold air from the wheel arch (which seems like a weird system to me but what do I know!)

 

Track day Sunday. Then need to decide if I then save for coilovers or a bucket seat.

I expect that might depend on if I need new brakes by the end of tomorrow lol

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I don't expect the feed will make any more power but it certainly helps bring the air intake temps down.

Otherwise the airbox is reliant of getting cold air from the wheel arch (which seems like a weird system to me but what do I know!)

 

Track day Sunday. Then need to decide if I then save for coilovers or a bucket seat.

I expect that might depend on if I need new brakes by the end of tomorrow lol

The cold air feed though will do exactly what it says on the tin so to speak, :lol: ...it will feed cold air in. B):D

 

Bucket seats will be good for a bit of weight saving and holding you more securely whilst your flinging the car about but then coilovers will obviously improve the handling especially in the corners, ..good luck with that decision. :dry:

 

Get some video of the track day if you can but more importantly enjoy it. :thumbs:

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Videos from Sunday:

 

Session 1 (10:45am)

 

Session 2 (11:55am)

 

 

Had a great time but, much better than the poor sod who wrote off his Porsche just before my first session! All OK thankfully.

(not my photo)

IMG_9542_zpsnjw0qjgl.jpg

 

 

Car has taught me a few new things too:

  • Brakes -
    I need new brake pads. The greenstuff pads hold up OK with just me in the car. With my friend, they were really struggling towards the end. I actually had to do a few slower laps to cool them down as I was getting a lot of juddering. After a few slower laps they were back on form and held up perfectly for the second session.
  • Seat -
    Bucket seat before coilovers/tyres. I keep holding myself in my seat with my knees. Realistically I cant improve the cornering any more without getting a bucket or ill be sitting on my passengers lap!
  • Tyres -
    The MPS3's are fantastic all round tyre and have handled the punishment of road and track driving really well.
    Highly recommend them if you cant afford two sets of tyres or dont fancy running track tyres all the time, but they are not quite up to a lot of abuse. Under hard cornering you can feel them flexing so I think it might be time to look at getting some track day tyres. Pictures below show the wear from 6 months of daily driving (every other week) and four 30 minute track sessions. Hightly impressed with how little they have worn down (although they are slightly melted :lol: )

 

16711817257_4d172a7cf2_b.jpg

 

16731483898_d97693244a_b.jpg

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Looked like a fairly nice smooth drive tbh in both sessions, ...I did skip a lot of the video though as they where pretty long. :surrender::dry::lol:

 

Feel sorry for the Porsche owner as that's never a nice thing to happen or see. :thumbdown:

 

Don't blame you, I skip through most of it too.

There's a nice smooth lap starting at shortly after 18:15 on session 2. The guy in the TVR which was much faster in the straights let me past and I managed to get round in about 1m 20s (timed roughly using the video).

 

 

Yeah poor Porsche owner. The session he crashed in was a Pistonheads Sunday Service track session too. Dont expect he's too popular on PH any more! :surrender:

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Haha fair enough! I'm a PC gamer mostly I'm afraid. I do have a PS3 but I don't think I've played anything but Gran Turismo 6 on it for over a year lol.

I'll look you up when I'm not online.

I haven't played GT6 for a long time now but do love that game. Never got into the PC gaming but then I never really had access to a good PC but have always had access to games consoles.

 

Add me still though if you like, ...Advanced Warfare is probably one of the best COD games in years. ;)

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Maybe it's just the picture but that disc look's pretty much f**ked. :scare::lol: Seems to have a massive lip on it & scored to buggery. :dry:

 

If you run your fingers over it is it scored then or smooth still?

 

If it was me I'd definitely be considering some Ferodo DS2500 pads (or similar) and some nice new upgrade discs. ;)

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Yeah they are on their way out. They aren't as bad as the look in the photo, the discs are slightly uneven but not scored. I had planned on replacing them after this set of pads was done.

 

Had a chat with Paul Roddison of roddisons motorsport, they actually have their own compound brake pads which get a lot of good reviews on MX5nutz so going to give those a go.

He also recommended sticking with plain discs (rather than drilled/grooved etc). Apparently that's what they use on their race cars so if its good enough for them its good enough for me!

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