L8apex Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Hi all, I'm new to Time Trials and the board, but I recently purchased a 2006 Miata that I intend to build for track days / TT. I previously drove a 1990 miata roughly prepared as a spec miata, but the NC miata is a whole new experience for me. My question is, how do people generally spend their points on this miata generation? It starts out with one asterisk, so 7 points right off the bat, which only leaves 12 for mods before jumping into the next class. I thought about running R-compounds and leaving the suspension mostly stock, but I really feel like the suspension should be beefed up in this car, so maybe do a full suspension upgrade (springs, shocks, sways), and run a less-sticky tire? What are some of your opinions / things that seem to work well for this car? Thanks and looking forward to getting on-track! Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbow Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Do NOT mod your car until you talk to the Mazda guys at the track. You may already have options on your car that will add points. Come up with a points and mod plan, go slow and learn to drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tstiles Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Hi all, I'm new to Time Trials and the board, but I recently purchased a 2006 Miata that I intend to build for track days / TT. I previously drove a 1990 miata roughly prepared as a spec miata, but the NC miata is a whole new experience for me. My question is, how do people generally spend their points on this miata generation? It starts out with one asterisk, so 7 points right off the bat, which only leaves 12 for mods before jumping into the next class. I thought about running R-compounds and leaving the suspension mostly stock, but I really feel like the suspension should be beefed up in this car, so maybe do a full suspension upgrade (springs, shocks, sways), and run a less-sticky tire? What are some of your opinions / things that seem to work well for this car? Thanks and looking forward to getting on-track! Richard I've got an 2008 miata street car & a 1995 ITA miata If I were you , I would put a suspension on the car before I considered any R comps ... The stock suspension is just not up to the task for R comps Some of the street tires are getting pretty good these days If you don't want to jump up a class , just do a great roll bar , seat , harness , coilovers , sways and run something like the Kumho XS ... You might be surprised ... You can always add the R comps later and move up a class Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboShortBus Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 The first thing you need to do is determine which TT class you want to compete in. Too many people throw modifications at their cars, some useful and some useless, and soon find themselves moving up classes until they aren't competitive. Pick a class, and work backwards with your available points. Make sure that you will have some competition in that class as well. For the Florida region, I set up a Google Documents page where all of our TT drivers' classification forms are posted for all other drivers to review. This makes it easy to verify the points that our competitors are taking as well as to compare setups. The Miatas down here are either TTD cars with a blower/turbo or TTE cars that pull double duty as Spec Miatas. We don't have any NC Miatas competing in TT down here, though. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8apex Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 Thanks for everyone's suggestions! I definitely want to try to keep my car in the base class, TTE, for now. I'm thinking about putting in the suspension since I want to use this car for other track events and I think the car would probably benefit most from that (plus make it more fun to drive around the track). I'll probably hold off doing anything else to it until I see what the TTE competition is like around here (Virginia - so I believe the Mid Atlantic Region). Looking forward to getting out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Just to echo what the others have said - beware of how your car is optioned as you may already be taking points as soon as it rolled off the lot. If you had to check a box for an option package to get that part, and said part is not listed as a free mod, its points. The good news is that upgrading beyond what is already there is usually (but not always!) the same amt of points. I'm curious to see how the NC fares in TTE. keep us updated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8apex Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 Thanks, kbrew! I bought the car used but, from what I can tell, there aren't any options on the car-- it's a base MX-5 (so no limited slip, etc). I do have a carbon fiber hard top for it, but it was made off of the OEM top, so it doesn't have any extra "aero" features that the new rule talks about...so I think it should be ok. I'll probably head up to one of the early NASA HPDE / TT events and talk to someone about my car to see if there is anything that counts towards points, but, after carefully going through the points sheets, I didn't see anything that stuck out. I currently have a hard dog roll bar w/ petty bar and harness bar options on order (not sure if the petty bar would add points, but it's removable). I'll definitely do seats and harnesses and suspension at this point and leave the rest as-is. I had a blast driving my old '90 Miata around summit and VIR and I'm looking forward to seeing what the '06 can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robnie0723 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Get the bar inspected early, I suspect they will want to see the petty bar installed for TT. The NC is a ton of fun -- enjoy! Here's Mike Skeen driving a Koni Challange MX5 at VIR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8apex Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 Will do - great video you posted there, Robbie. The NC looks like a blast to drive down at VIR! Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yakisoba Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 And just remember: You have to run Hoosiers to win Hoosiers. Take that into account when you set up your points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 800/500 springs, good dampers, swaybars, and you still have room for I/H/E. Do the math and see what tire you can run and go as wide as possible before you step-up in stickiness if you have points if money is a factor like it is for me. I'm looking at one set of NT-01 for the season or three sets of R6's which is out of my price range. 949 Racing is probably the best source for open-mod information on these cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I've done an imaginary build for my friend's NC. I would run sticky tires since they give great "bang for the buck". If you use 205 R6 Hoosiers, you use 10 pts but get back 7 since they are 30mm under the class default size (+3). I would also upgrade the suspension with dampers and springs (+5). Match your spring rates so that you have good balance with the OEM anti-sway bars. That takes you to +15 (+7+3+5), leaving 4 points on the table. An LSD and CAI might be the best use of those points. Maximize your use of the no-points modifications and go have some fun. I think a well prepped NC could be competitive in TTE, but that remains to be demonstrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8apex Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 All great ideas - thanks! I'm looking at a set of Ohlins coilovers (http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-0015RACE.html?id=MSBmXWjA) but I'm unsure where they fit points-wise. I believe they're single adjustable, but I'm not 100% sure per the rules (does height count as an adjustment?). Just wanted to try to be in the +3 points category with my shocks (+2 for springs). Also, the 40mm shaft diameter rule applies to the shiny piece, not the shock body, correct? (I know it's a dumb question...) Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 ride height is free mod E2 (though you must take points for any part(s) you use to achieve the altered ride height). And I believe you're spot on with the shock, its 40mm shaft and not the body, and if its just one "knob" then you've got one range of adjustment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 That looks like a very nice suspension kit. I agree with Ken, +3 for the shocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kubs Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Do the math and see what tire you can run and go as wide as possible before you step-up in stickiness if you have points if money is a factor like it is for me. I'm looking at one set of NT-01 for the season or three sets of R6's which is out of my price range. 949 Racing is probably the best source for open-mod information on these cars. I would do just the opposite of what you just said. Especially on a light car like the Miata, the compound makes way more of a difference than width. I know Corvette guys that run just as fast on a 275 tire as they do on a 315. The trade off is the wider tire will last longer, and will be easier to drive, but the skinnier softer tire will be way faster than a wider hard tire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboShortBus Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 STICKY > width We have some damn fast, boosted TTC and TTD Miatas down here that are running 225mm R6s. Another decent size is the 205/50-15 "Spec Miata" or "SM6" tire from Hoosier, and they are something like $170 each. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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