What have you done to your Miata today?

I picked up one of those when I got the RX7 running last year. Definitely one of the better investments lately!

Do you see a noticeable improvement with the Water Wetter? Opinions are mixed in the rotary community. Many are of the opinion that at least some ethylene glycol is necessary to lubricate the water pump. Although I haven't seen the source there's a claim Mazda Motorsports recommends a 90/10 water/glycol ratio.

Water wetter, or something comparable, is a must for engine longevity. Nearly-pure water is superior to 50:50 for heat transfer capacity, but you need a little lubrication and corrosion inhibition to have it last! My FSAE team, and Lemons team, both transitioned from pure water to water + waterwetter after observing significant corrosion using pure water. My Lemons team also observed superior water pump life after the addition of waterwetter.

Interesting data:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethylene-glycol-d_146.html


I bought this one a while back but never had the opportunity to use it. MAN it makes life easier.

Right? On my MR2 it is the only thing that makes bleeding that insane cooling system tolerable.
 
Water wetter, or something comparable, is a must for engine longevity. Nearly-pure water is superior to 50:50 for heat transfer capacity, but you need a little lubrication and corrosion inhibition to have it last! My FSAE team, and Lemons team, both transitioned from pure water to water + waterwetter after observing significant corrosion using pure water. My Lemons team also observed superior water pump life after the addition of waterwetter.

Interesting data:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethylene-glycol-d_146.html
I remember seeing that a while back. It jives pretty closely with the recommendations the Mazda FSM gives regarding minimum ambient temperatures: 35% glycol by volume is good to around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm running 33% gycol because it's convenient to mix 1 gal glycol with 2 gal distilled water. My cooling system seems adequate so far but I haven't raced the car yet or run it hard during the Summer. The hottest it's been is around 210 when I had it on a dyno without a fan. Even then temperatures dropped quickly once the radiator fan kicked on (195 F) and we stopped doing pulls. I've contemplated going down to 25% by volume but that's only good down to 12-13 F and we do occasionally get that cold in VA. I do have an insulated garage though...
 
Yep that all seems to check out with my experience as well. Definitely not running straight water, but as it's a full on race car, I really don't like running a bunch of glycol in the system in the event that something were to rupture. It makes the course cleanup SO much harder.
 
2nd overall today behind an E Mod car with 3x the horsepower and several hundred pounds less weight. I'll take that any day of the week.

I took about 75#/in of spring rate out of the rear of the car. So far, I'm VERY happy with the change. I'll likely bring the stiffer ones with me to the Hill Climb later this month just in case I want to mess around with that, but for autox softening the rear just a touch seems to work really well.

 
2nd overall today behind an E Mod car with 3x the horsepower and several hundred pounds less weight. I'll take that any day of the week.

I took about 75#/in of spring rate out of the rear of the car. So far, I'm VERY happy with the change. I'll likely bring the stiffer ones with me to the Hill Climb later this month just in case I want to mess around with that, but for autox softening the rear just a touch seems to work really well.


You da man! Nice work!!!
 
Wow, that course is so open...

Great driving. I must admit that I giggle every time I see the 8-ball shift knob. :D
 
Wow, that course is so open...

Great driving. I must admit that I giggle every time I see the 8-ball shift knob. :D

The driving was decent. There was at least a half second more in my botched entry to the big sweeper at the bottom of the course. I love an open flowing course like that. Just now getting back used to them after having a couple of years at our very small, asphalt oval site.

It amused me that the guy who designed the course is one of our corvette drivers, and wasn't able to best me until fun runs afterwards. I'm actually surprised, he' was in the podium positions at Nationals last year. Dude can wheel.


And yes, I still friggin LOVE that shift knob :D
 
Hill Climb prep has begun. Seat back brace installed (I don't need it for autox, and it makes adjusting the seat for different height drivers a pain), I nut-and-bolted the suspension, pulled the ballast, pulled the exhaust so that I can swap the diff later this week, and will install the turn-down in place of the muffler (both because it's easier, and because it's a hill climb... hill climb cars must play you the song of their people!)

So, 10 days to go, and this is the current state of affairs:




Friday I should have some help over to swap the diff, and get it up on the scales to corner balance and align it w/o the ballast (and I'll be noting what gets adjusted where so that I can very quickly get it back to where it was afterwards). After that, it should just need a fresh set of boots swapped onto the wheel, and then it'll be ready to rock. I'm SO excited :D
 
Got home last week and made it in to the dealer on Saturday. Guy went right back and got the last shim. On vacation now but will be posting more next week so stay tuned...
 
Hill Climb prep has begun. Seat back brace installed (I don't need it for autox, and it makes adjusting the seat for different height drivers a pain), I nut-and-bolted the suspension, pulled the ballast, pulled the exhaust so that I can swap the diff later this week, and will install the turn-down in place of the muffler (both because it's easier, and because it's a hill climb... hill climb cars must play you the song of their people!)

So, 10 days to go, and this is the current state of affairs:




Friday I should have some help over to swap the diff, and get it up on the scales to corner balance and align it w/o the ballast (and I'll be noting what gets adjusted where so that I can very quickly get it back to where it was afterwards). After that, it should just need a fresh set of boots swapped onto the wheel, and then it'll be ready to rock. I'm SO excited :D
Looking forward to the video! Have fun and win!!!
 
Not today, but this past week, ND work.... HKS exhaust Progress springs, carbon miata grill and the sto n sho plate bracket (gotta run a from t plate in MA) JBR front sway this week.
 
I’ve said it over and over, these aren’t mods, these are fixes for things Mazda should have done from the factory! (lol2)(lol2)

Those are the excuses you use for your wife. We all know better. (cabpatch)
 
Haha....
396f722eeca969555311e407bd5bf180.jpg
 
Finished prep for Chasing the Dragon today. Ballast removed, shorter diff swapped in, lighter exhaust (mostly because it's way easier to swap and it needs to come out to drop the diff...but also because hill climb cars should sound rowdy (lol) ), and the car got scaled (hit the mythical 50.00% cross weight!) and aligned the car. Fresh slicks mounted up yesterday.

Let me play you the song of my people :D

 
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