| MIATA BUILD |
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 | |  | January 2, 2009 - The shocks are back from being rebuilt.
After a long rest on the jack stands, the car is going back on the ground shortly. The reason the bumpstops failed during the race was because they were not properly supported on top. These blue cones are the solution. After testing on the bench, they've improved the function of the stops nicely. I'm also going to try a few different kinds of stops along with these, mirroring some testing I'm doing on Janel's street Miata.
The rear shocks were also rebuilt with an extra inch of extension. Just because! I'm going to reassemble everything with stiffer springs, going to 450/375 instead of the previous 375/300. Why? To see how it works and to keep me from working through all my travel no matter what. Now all I have to do is find a road that's as bad as some of those ones in Newfoundland. And that's bad.
Oh, and some wheels and tires I can use in sub-freezing temperatures.
entry 644 - tags: suspension | | | January 12, 2009 - The Targa Newfoundland TV schedule has been set!
Watch TSN at 11:30 am (Eastern, 1 pm Newfoundland) on February 8th to see the hour-long show. It's unlikely you'll see much of the Targa Miata because, well, we just weren't that dramatic! Unfortunately for those in the US - such as ourselves - TSN is not available south of the border. We'll have to wait until it gets shown on Speed, probably at 3 am on a Tuesday. Another option is to buy the DVD after the air date. Pay attention when you order, at the time of writing the only DVD for sale was the 2007 running.
In other news, the car is back on its feet with the new suspension installed. I'm working my way through the fairly short list of jobs to do, little things like fixing the wiring for the air temperature sensor and - apparently - the fans. Since the Toyo race rubber is at risk of cracking when used in sub-freezing temperatures, the car is confined to the garage for the time being.
The next outing for the car is the Miatas At MRLS 20th birthday party. That's a two-day track weekend at Laguna Seca, and I'm going to be there as a speaker, book signer and track weenie. If you can make it, drop by and get a ride on the track!
entry 645 - tags: announcements | | |  | January 14, 2009 - There was an announcement of a tire rule change for the Targa in 2009.
R compounds - such as my Toyo RA1s - are no longer allowed. In fact, the tires must have a wear rating of at least 200, which gets rid of a range of popular sticky street tires such as the Falken Azenis and the Bridgestone RE01R. There's an exception for cars built before 1950 and those with stock 10" tires. The number of tires available to be used for the event has also jumped from 6 to 8, although with the harder required rubber that's not a big deal.
This means I'd probably end up running on a Hankook Ventus R-S2, although I haven't done a big search for other options. It would also make it much harder to meet the target times, which is probably the goal. Is it an improvement? Well, it's certainly a change.
entry 646 - tags: tires, regulations, 2009 | | |  | January 18, 2009 - Out of the garage!
It's been a long hibernation, but the combination of sunshine and warm(ish) temperatures meant that I was able to pull the car out today. It was the first ride with the new spring setup and new bumpstops. I wasn't impressed at first, but after a couple of adjustments of the AFCOs I got my supple ride back. Next step is to find a place to open it up and see how it works at high speed and high bumps.
Before it went out, I spent a bit of time fixing little things like the air temperature sensor and the fans. For the latter, I started by hooking up the laptop and changing the fan "on" temperature to 10C. As soon as I hit enter, I could hear relays click underhood. First, that's cool! Second, that tells me that all of the difficult-to-reach wiring was working fine.
Next step, I decided to trace the power. And voila, one blown fuse. I'm running both my fans in parallel, and the startup surge must have been just too much for the fuse at some point. The Hydra has the capability to trigger them one after the other, looks like I'll have to take advantage of that. The car was getting warm while waiting to start the second stage in the Prologue, I wonder if the fans were out then? For most of the race, cooling wasn't a problem.
Boy, it's nice to get back behind the wheel. It's such a fun car.
entry 647 - tags: suspension, fans | | | January 20, 2009 - A beautiful day outside, so I headed for the Targa Simulation Road.
It's the first time I've driven it since the race. It's not a perfect simulation, mostly because it's fairly tight. And it is rough because of road slippage, not because of frost damage. So the bumps tend to be more undulations instead of sharp hits, although there are a couple of good ones that really test how the car deals with a dip mid-corner. So it's a reasonable test. And since it's about 5 minutes from my house, it's a lot more convenient than Newfoundland!
I took several runs through the worst section, playing with the shock settings. A couple of tweaks to the rebound and a big crank on the compression knobs, and the car's livened up a bit and able to deal with some really weird pavement. How will it work at Laguna Seca? Excellent question. I'm going to have some spare springs with me just in case the smooth, high-speed track needs a different setup than my battered back-road tune.
Really, this is just an excuse for tearing up and down a twisty, empty road on a sunny day. But can you blame me?
entry 648 - tags: suspension | | | February 6, 2009 - I took the car in to work yesterday.
It's been too long since I drove it much, I keep forgetting how much grip it has and how light it feels. What a riot.
It needs a bit of work before the Laguna Seca event, though. The windshield cracked at some point on the way home, so I need to get that replaced. More worrisome is a noise that sounds like it's coming from the rear of the car. My initial thought was "wheel bearing", but it's fairly noticeable and it just started. So something's rubbing or moving - possibly a brake dust shield on a rotor, for example. I can make the car make a weird noise about once per tire rotation by simply pushing it across the garage floor. I'll get underneath and have a look. I suspect it will be an easy fix if I can stop working on Janel's MG long enough to get under the white car.
I'm really wondering if I should keep these springs, too. The car feels very eager to turn and is fairly flat, but it's lost the suppleness it had. Maybe I'll play with the shocks a bit more and see if I can come up with something that will deal with cratered roads but still keep the ride fairly plush. I was happy with the 375/300 combination until we hit the really rough stuff in Newfoundland, but the car should like the stiffer springs at the track. So many options!
entry 649 - tags: suspension | | |  | February 8, 2009 - During the race, we discovered a need for a bit of comfort padding on the rollbar.
I put something together using memory foam and tape. The foam doesn't like being bent like this and it's been coming apart. So I took the opportunity today to clean things up a bit and put a bit of pipe insulation in its place.
I know, I know. Pipe insulation isn't roll bar padding. This stuff isn't meant to be for major impact protection, just to keep me from getting a sore knee when I brace myself against the bar.
Of course, as soon as I was done, I discovered there was some soft roll bar padding in the Camaro donor car for the MG. So I'll probably redo this. Although really, the non-SFI padding basically is pipe insulation.
entry 650 - tags: safety, comfort | | | February 8, 2009 - The Targa TV show aired today.
In Canada, anyhow. I haven't managed to see it yet, but I'm told we do make an appearance a couple of times. If you're able to get TSN, set your VCR (or DVR if you're one of those people who lives in the 21st century). TSN.ca says it's showing again at midnight on Monday (technically Tuesday morning, I suppose) and 3:30 am on Thursday, Eastern.
entry 651 - tags: TV | | | February 11, 2009 - The TV show has been scheduled on Speed TV.
Sunday, March 15th at 3:00 EST. Details. Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
In unrelated news, I think I found the noise in the back of the car. The first thing I did when investigating was to put a wrench on the lug nuts. Whoops. I'm usually very, very careful about the lug nuts so I can't come up with a good explanation. Heck, there is no good explanation. I haven't driven the car yet, but it would explain the nature of the noise. None of the wheels were actually loose which does explain the lack of vibration though.
entry 652 - tags: TV, suspension | | |  | February 16, 2009 - Part of the preparation for the Laguna Seca event is a new windshield.
When I took the car out of the trailer on the way home from the race, I discovered a crack at the driver's A-pillar. There was no big impact mark, but the glass installer did discover a very small mark that may have caused the initial damage. Regardless, it needed replacing. So now it's super-clean!
I also spent some time with Janel fitting her in the car. No, not in the navigator's seat, but in the driver's side. She's proportioned differently than I am (much to her relief, I'm sure) and she needs to sit higher in the car. We originally thought she needed to sit further back as well, but the first test showed this wasn't the case. A bit of work with the leftover Backsaver foam and now she has her own booster seat. This means she can come out to Laguna Seca with me and get a chance to drive the car. The intercom will make it easy to coach her.
This is going to be fun. I want to do pace notes for the track. "Over crest into hard left over crest into medium right..."
entry 653 - tags: laguna, ergonomics | | | February 19, 2009 - Road trip!
Not only am I travelling to Laguna Seca with the Targa car in a month, at the end of April I'm making the trek out to the GRM Speedfest at the Walter Mitty Challenge held at Road Atlanta. More details to follow, but I think the car will be displayed with a number of significant motorsport Miatas. How cool is that?
entry 654 - tags: events | | |  | February 19, 2009 - We finally got to watch the show thanks to a shadowy benefactor who shipped us a copy!
And I'm all giddy. It's more of a motorsport show than previous years, focusing on the race up front. Only about a dozen of the cars that ran the race got much airtime, either because they were leading or they suffered failures of the serious or humourous kind. But we managed some decent coverage without resorting to leading or breaking! The announcers were very flattering of the team, saying we looked good all week and using some of our in-car footage. Plus, I got to show the fun way to take a corner with some light gravel on it. Sure, it's only a bit more than 30 seconds, but it's a good 30 seconds.
Don't forget, March 15th on Speed at 3 pm Eastern. Or, if you can't wait, the DVDs are for sale on the Targa site. The DVD is simply the hour-long TV show, nothing else.
entry 655 - tags: tv, media | | |  | February 21, 2009 - Ever wonder what my Targa Simulation Road looks like?
Very little like Newfoundland, let me tell you. It's not a super-fast road, but it's fun to play on and fairly lightly used. I would recommend driving it slowly first so you get used to the scenery!
entry 656 - tags: testing | | |  | February 21, 2009 - A better look at the surface.
These patches are actually similar to those I remember from Newfoundland, but thinner. Still, it's enough to toss the car around on corners, especially when combined with a number of creases and lumps. In the winter, this road gets a fair bit of grit poured on it so it's a nice substitute for the gravel that gets thrown on to the roads in the race. Plus it's only a few minutes from my house!
I was up on the TSR testing a couple of video cameras. One is a cool little unit called the Motorsport Hero that comes with a suction cup and a fisheye lens. I'll put some of the results online - it's really fun to play with. The other is a cheap HD unit I picked up that records to SD cards. Unfortunately, while the video quality is okay, the sound quality is abysmal. The car is simply too loud for it. I'll have to see what I can do about that.
The car's working well. I'm pretty happy with how the suspension is working. It's going to be so much fun to get it back to sea level where it'll see a 20% power increase.
entry 657 - tags: testing, video | | |  | February 24, 2009 - I investigated the blown fan fuse a little more, and check this out.
That's some crispy wiring. A wiring expert was trying to tell me I'd used too small a connector, but I reached down and tried to spin the fan by hand. No go. It was seized solid. I figure the motor must have locked up and the resulting load melted the wiring and tripped the fuse. Based on how the car was behaving, I suspect this happened right about the time I got to Newfoundland.
There was nothing to do but to replace the fan. Luckily, Flyin' Miata has them on the shelf. A new fan, a couple of new connectors and it's sorted.
I've been driving the car to work the last couple of days. It was raining today - I'd forgotten just how happy the car is putting down power in the wet. The suspension's working pretty nicely, so it's all just about ready for the long trip out west. I just need to fine-tune the toe settings on the car, and I might give it an alignment just to make sure nothing got battered out of position during the race.
entry 658 - tags: cooling, fans | | | March 6, 2009 - I spent the afternoon at the local track, playing with the car.
It wasn't a completely satisfying day, as I was having trouble getting the handling just the way I wanted it with the stiffer springs. I'm really torn as to whether I should use the current setup or the Targa setup at Laguna Seca in a couple of weeks. Really, I need the extra stiffness for the track. And I probably could have used it in Newfoundland as well. I'll probably take it as-is and then stick the extra springs in the truck for a Saturday evening change if desired.
My biggest problem was getting the balance right. I think if I put the thinnest rear sway in my collection in the rear, that will do the job. The car was a little tail-happy with the current 14mm bar hooked up. My lap times were inconsistent, with a fastest of about 1:05.2 - a half-second slower than at the Open House just before the race. An ambient temperature in the 50s instead of in the 90s may be a contributor, as is the fact that the track isn't getting used much at all in the winter. I did spend a bunch of time trying to get that right rear wheel to hook up on corner exit. Again. Not liable to be a problem at Laguna though.
Janel took the wheel for a bit. She's not a huge fan of driving the car, it turns out. She's happier in the navigator's seat. The Targa car is just a bit overwhelming. The amount of information was a bit of an overload and the car was just too responsive. Her turbo Miata (which I compared to the race car back in August) is a little softer and a little mellower. Everything happens a bit more slowly and gradually, and that's more to her liking. At least, right now it is.
At one point, she was back in "her" seat watching my feet to see how I heel-toed on downshifting. She didn't feel the need to look up at all, as she was totally relaxed despite the fact that we were circulating the track fairly quickly. This is the result of the Targa.
And on a similar note, I have to say the Targa has spoiled me. I've got hundreds of laps at this track. I know it pretty well. And today it was all just kinda blah. The same dozen corners, over and over again. After you've come over a blind crest at 100 mph with your foot pinned to the floor because your navigator says it's clear, or changed your approach mid-corner because there's gravel at the apex, circulating around the same track over and over just doesn't carry a thrill. I'm sure it would be different if I was running wheel-to-wheel with someone, but we have to get back to the Targa. Janel feels the same.
entry 659 - tags: testing, suspension | | | March 8, 2009 - TV time update!
Speed TV has a listing online of when the show will be aired, including a back-to-back airing of the 2007 and 2008 shows.
Details
entry 660 - tags: TV | | |  | March 8, 2009 - At the last track day, I entered the 21st century.
Traqmate sent along a loaner data acquisition system, so I stuck it into the car when we headed to the track on Friday. It's a small box with accelerometers and a high-precision GPS unit in it and a display unit that can be mounted in the driver's line of sight.
On the track, the display unit can be set up to display a timer along with a predicted lap time - whether the box figures you're ahead or behind of your current best time. It's great immediate feedback, try a slightly different line and see if the computer says you're going faster or slower than your best. Make a mistake and it immediately tells you how much your screwup cost you. Hanging the tail out on turn 4? Not the fast way around this track! It can also show you instantaneous g loadings but not in the easiest-to-read format.
Once you come in, plug the display unit into a computer and it'll spit out every dirty little secret from the entire session. Your lines, exactly when you braked, how early you lifted off the gas, friction circles - everything. You can isolate one or two laps and see how they differ, or overlay a whole bunch and see how consistent you are. Get a datalog from another driver and you can compare lines, braking points and the like.
Data porn: the Targa car can corner at over 1g, sustained. I see peaks as high as 1.3g. I can brake at 1g as well. Meanwhile, acceleration peaks at about 0.5g. As I expected, I can't accelerate as hard in a right turn as I can in a left (there's that inside wheel spin) as there's a little dent in the friction circle, but looking at other cars it might be how the track works - a couple of the left handers have downhill exits, so you get get more acceleration out of them.
I pulled up the new lap record put down by a turbo Westfield. The big difference? Max acceleration of 0.9g. Holy cow. Slightly different lines (ie, he can't straight line the chicane like certain cars with rally suspension can) - but it's interesting to see where I'm actually carrying a little bit more speed or braking more agressively. Also, minimum speeds in the really tight corners aren't much different, and you can see how I'm keeping the throttle pinned all the way down the back "straight" while he has to feather it much earlier as he hits his peak cornering speed about 400 feet sooner. It's fascinating stuff, and with Janel's cool little netbook we can do analysis while the brakes are still cooling.
I was helping evaluate to see if Flyin' Miata should carry this doodad. And after this, I'm a big believer. Now I just have to see if I can use it to peel some time off my laps. The real advantage will be getting a datalog of a fast driver in a slow car.
The container of home made cookies is optional.
entry 661 - tags: datalogging | | | March 18, 2009 - Time to hit the road!
The car's packed up in the trailer along with a bunch of spares and tools. Not necessarily for me, but with over 100 Miatas pounding around the track I expect someone's going to need a bit of help at some point. I'm looking forward to this event simply due to the number of cool people involved. And I'm still using the same tires I had on for the race - which means they've travelled from the edge of the Atlantic to the edge of the Pacific. Cool.
I have some other news, but it'll come later. Right now, I'm trying to finish up my work so I can get out of here.
entry 662 - tags: Laguna | | | March 25, 2009 - A great weekend at Laguna Seca.
I drove out to California expecting a two-day track event, and ended up with quite a bit more than that.
Of course, there was a big track event. The Targa car spent around 7 hours on the track. I was playing with the fast guys in the A group. The open passing and chance to play tag with some of my friends in close company made the track far more interesting. Partway through the first day, circulating alone, I was sick of the same 11 corners over and over. But once I got into a chase with a few others, it added a whole new dimension. I can see how wheel-to-wheel racing could be addictive, although it's a different sort of game from the open road. I did notice that my peak speed on the track was only about 160 km/h.
During the Targa, our top speed on the Leading Tickles stage was 190 km/h. With trees and rock walls lining a bumpy road that we'd never seen before.
In the rain.
The car was handling perfectly. I'd nailed the balance with the new springs and sway settings, and I didn't touch the setup all weekend. When my good friend - and ex-pro driver - Rick Weldon took the wheel, he came in laughing and completely in love with the car. He didn't want me to change a single thing. It's good to get his stamp of approval, as it's always a bit worrisome to think that maybe I've adapted to the car instead of getting the car right. He really felt the car was prepared well and the handling was bang-on. Another fast driver commented on how it was impossible to get the car upset. No matter what I did, the car just ate it up and came back for more. Naturally, this seemed to be in context of my habit of making full use of the berms. "The track is wider for that car", one other driver noted. The hearty engine came in handy as well, even holding off at least one turbo Miata down the long front straight. Rick went out with Tom Matano in the passenger's seat of my car and got into a big scrap with one of his Spec buddies, everyone coming in with big grins.
Janel was also there, getting friendly with the driver's seat on the car. It was the first time she's really had the car up to temp and she was much happier than she had been at our little kart track day a few weeks back. As soon as she discovered how well the brakes worked, she started using them in earnest - she's always had the habit of coasting up to corners, so that's a big step. And more importantly, she discovered that all that information coming from the car is useful. As she described it to someone else - her Miata will do the same thing whether she takes a corner well or takes it badly, but not tell her. But the Targa car will let her know if she takes a corner well, giving her the feedback to improve. She can feel the tires working. She figured out turn 10 almost immediately, and I worked with her over the weekend to take what she was doing on that corner and apply it to others on the track. We worked our way around piece by piece - 6, then 4, then 5. It turns out she likes fast corners best. The Corkscrew wasn't her favorite as she had to muster the nerve to go over that blind drop. On her last session, she went out with Rick and he managed to coach her best driving ever out of her, including figuring out the Corkscrew. She was overjoyed and Rick was bubbling over with praise about how well she takes instruction. She's got a good feel for the car, and after this weekend I think she likes the driver's seat almost as much as the navigator's! She was nervous that Rick would be disappointed, but it was the exact opposite. Was I proud? Oh yes.
The only downer to the weekend was that, in a remarkable and extended spasm of incompetency on the part of US Air, she arrived 24 hours late and our planned mini-vacation in Monterey didn't happen. We'll be avoiding that airline in the future.
There were lots of fans of the Targa car there. I don't think Janel ever believed me about how many people know about the car and followed our race, but she got a chance to see the enthusiasm first-hand. Thanks to everyone who came up to introduce themselves! I was also surprised at the banquet on Saturday night when I was honored with an award for my contributions to the Miata community. Wow!
The car saw about 7 hours of track time. It was almost perfect, with only a couple of hitches. The first happened when Rick was driving the car, the check engine light came on and the car lost power. That's the Hydra Nemesis dropping back to the safe spark map to protect the engine. I haven't been able to figure out just what happened there, although the fuel level was getting low. I tossed in a bit of gas and some toluene (causing some real confusion in the pits, seeing as how I was pouring it out of a paint shop can) but the problem happened again. A full tank of 91 "competition" fuel and it cleared up. Weird. I'm going to change the fuel filter, as I don't know what's gone through that tank with all the small Newfoundland stations. Then, in the last couple of sessions, the high-rpm stumble from the last day of the Targa came back. Again with the puzzling problems! I'm going to brainstorm this one with my coworkers for a while and see what they say.
I also got the chance to drive Elvis, the LS1-powered Miata I autocrossed a few months back, on the track. Yee hah. The thunderous rampage down the straights was to be expected, but on top of that the rest of the car worked very well. It put down power far better than it had any right to do, and the overall balance was still very good. As it should be, because Elvis was running the AFCO suspension developed on the Targa Miata! When another car pointed us by, we didn't just pass them. We evaporated them. It would be an awesome Targa weapon, with huge acceleration, a wide powerband and the ability to dance in the twisty bits. Unfortunately, it got coolant into the cylinders and the car got parked. The current theory is that the modified heads were ported too far and got into a coolant passage. Whops.
Now, Elvis had been driven to California while I towed the Targa car out. So, other than a quick stop to change to street rubber in Reno (after going over a 7500' snowy pass on race rubber alone at 11 pm!), I drove the race car home without changing a thing. 7 hours on the track, 17 hours on the interstate. I've always said that a good Targa car was a good street car, but I never thought I'd have to prove it in this way. I averaged 30 mpg and 70 mph on the run from Sacramento to Reno, which is nothing to be be ashamed of. How's that for a dual-purpose machine?
entry 663 - tags: Laguna, skills, testing, handling | | |
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