In this post a Spec Miata driver drives a stock Miata for the first time.
The plan had been to race the Formula Ford this past weekend but as I was getting ready to load it in the trailer I noticed an oil spot under it. A closer investigation revealed a crack in the cast aluminum oil pan where someone had previously made a welded repair. It was just a tiny drip and I was tempted to run it anyway but after some consideration I decided that wasn't such a great idea. The crack was likely to open up more on track and it sure as heck wasn't going to get better.
So, what to do? The Miata was still in the trailer where it's been after being picked up from Anthony. I hadn't really looked at it very closely. Maybe, I thought, this is an opportunity to see what I purchased. I went out and checked the fluids (yes, it had some and they looked pretty clean) and the tires (yes, it had some and they were round, apparently held air and even had tread on them). Excellent! There's no cage, or even a roll bar but assuming the scrutineer didn't find any issues when he looked it over it was legal for our HPDE sessions. I could make some laps in it and get some idea of what kind of work it might need to be a race car.
On race day the battery was dead when I went to pull the car out of the trailer. I don't know if I left the key on or if there's something else going on but the car fired up with a jump start and a quick voltmeter check showed it was charging so I let it idle while I checked tire pressures, cleaned the glass and mirrors and figured out how to put the top down. It was while putting top down that I realized that while I have a bunch of time in, and around Spec Miatas I've never spent any time around a stock Miata. The car had the typical "I've been sitting a long time and don't like it" Miata lifter clatter but otherwise it sounded good.
The car passed tech without any issues although the inspector, having seen me drive, felt it necessary to remind me that there's no rollover protection in the car and that it had stock seatbelts. Fair enough. I was concerned about that as well.
I checked the tire pressures. They were at roughly 32 PSI all the way around. Not knowing what pressures were appropriate for skinny all season Czechoslovakian radials on a race track I decided that was good enough and hit the track.
Several things were immediately apparent.
- The stock pedal placement sucks for heel toe
- If your foot misses the gas while doing a heel toe downshift, trail braking into a hairpin corner even a Miata will step the tail out
- Stock roll bars are really soft. It wasn't too bad on corners where you load the chassis up gradually but on rapid transitions from one direction to another it seemed to take forever for the body to roll over and take a set
- There's a significant difference between the 4.1 : 1 stock gears and the 4.3 : 1 gears we run in the Spec cars. None of the upshift points that I've used for hundreds of laps around Sandia Speedway were correct.
- All season Czechoslovakian radials are not an ideal tire choice for track use
- Stock Miatas are a blast! I can see why road tests from the time used words like fun, playful and joyous to describe the driving experience.
- This car is in really great shape! Good oil pressure, coolant temp right where it belongs, shifts great, runs great and no alarming rattles or other noises.
I ran 15 minutes of a 20 minute session and came in to check fluids and adjust the throttle pedal location. Most of the lifter clatter was gone and the fluids were all right where they were before the session. The tires were showing significant feathering but otherwise looked OK so I bleed the pressures back down to 32 PSI.
I ended up spending the rest of the day coaching so I didn't get anymore track time on Saturday. I stuck the car in the trailer at the end of the day with the battery charger on it.
Sunday I ran a full 20 minute session having fun figuring out where the shift points are with this rear gear and where I could save time without abusing the tires or the now smelly stock brakes too badly. It turned out that I wasn't doing a very good job of avoiding tire abuse because just as I got to the apex of turn one after taking the checkers the nose of the car washed out and I picked up a vibration that hadn't been there before. Apparently 32 PSI isn't the optimal pressure for skinny all season Czechoslovakian radials on a race track. Or, more likely skinny all season Czechoslovakian radials don't belong on a race track. The whole outer tread of the right front tire decided it didn't belong on a race track and jumped off into the desert.
In any case, I had fun and found out what I wanted to about the car so I loaded it up for the day.
My plan now is to run the engine and gear box as is for a while. I'll probably build a fresh motor to go in it but I'm not in a hurry to do that. I'm definitely going to switch to a 4.30 : 1 gear set. Otherwise I just need to do all the Spec Miata things. Cage, suspension, seat... I'm a happy camper
