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build diary << | show individual entries | >>August 10, 2006: One program that is available is Top Gear's Caterham challenge. Definitely more entertainment than education, but the fact that they actually get the car to the self-propelled stage in time is impressive. That one is on YouTube.
I took the Seven out this weekend to show it to my friend Werner from Germany. He's very familiar with my long-term obsession with these little cars and he's a fan of small, light cars. I wanted him to get a good idea of what the car was like so we headed out to the track near the end of the day. It usually gets pretty quiet at that point in the day, and with a little sweet talking we had the track to ourselves. It was good fun, running both forwards and backwards around the track. It's the first time I've ridden shotgun in the car with a quick driver and it's a pretty interesting experience. Also in the "interesting" category was the throttle sticking open twice when Werner was driving. No harm done, but it was odd. I've only had that happen once before when part of the mechanism was binding. That piece has been removed, however, and it's not shown any signs of similar problems before. I found a small cotterpin that seemed to be hanging up if you moved the throttles just right so hopefully the problem is gone. After a few "sessions", the car started showing a high idle and blowing some oil smoke when starting from a stop. Hang on, I've seen this before. I pulled the PCV valve out and it was broken and hollowed out - the exact same problem that I'd seen in Texas! This is truly bizarre, as we've never seen one of these break in a Miata and now I've done it twice in two months. Is it the heat? Unlikely, as turbo Miatas do a pretty good job at generating heat. Vibration? Possibly. Physical contact with something? I don't think so, as the valve goes into a baffled part of the valve cover and that's all stock. Annoying? Oh yes. I've replaced it with a brand new Mazda part intended for the 323 GTX so there shouldn't be any question of reliability now. We'll see what happens at the Open House. The Flyin' Miata Westfield now has a website. It might look familiar if you know this one! I'll be helping to build this one. We'll see what there is to learn from a "professional" kit. A broken PCV valve compared to a brand new factory unit from a 323 GTX.
Two years ago at the Open House, a driver named John Hunter with a turbo Miata set the fastest time of the day, 2.3 seconds ahead of anyone else and three seconds ahead of the Seven. It was a heck of a performance. He missed last year, but he was back this year and there had been a certain amount of smack talk. The difference? Two years of work on my part. Since we'd decided to run the track backwards, I didn't really have much of a home field advantage. My 10 laps or so in the reverse direction weren't much when I was up against a good autocross competitor. The first time out, I couldn't get the back of the car to stick. It was walking all over the place under power. Very exciting for the photographers, but not a fast way around. I pulled a 1:04.260, John came in at 1:05.542. The karters say the track is 1 second slower in this direction. The next session, John dropped a second and came in at 1:04.511. Thankfully, I managed almost the same improvement and clocked 1:03.516. That's only 2 tenths off my record in the normal direction, so maybe it's not any slower after all. I did have a bit of a secret weapon, though. There was a lineup of people waiting for rides, so I was out with other groups with a passenger fairly often. The handling of the car is quite different with a passenger as you might expect, but it did let me spend a bit more time playing with the line in a couple of corners - particularly the fun off camber, decreasing radius, downhill "straight" with the heavy braking zone at the end. It's a real gut check every time. After one passenger ride, I decided my tires were making too much noise. This is usually a sign of low pressure on these tires, so I checked them out. Their hot temperatures were similar to what I usually set cold! Now, this is a fairly fundamental piece of setup and not something I should have been neglecting. The car has been so bulletproof recently that I haven't even bothered to check them for some time. I stuffed another 7 psi or so into the tires to see what would happen, and went out with the clocks running. Much better. Session three caused a certain amount of excitement, as I came in with a 1:03.002. The timer came out to let me know in person - so close to a 1:02! And also a new track record regardless of direction. I'd been experiencing fuel starvation when pulling out of hard left turns so that was hurting me somewhat. John pulled off another half second, dropping to 1:04.095. There wasn't any secret to our very friendly contest either, with everyone in the pits checking times when we came in. In the next session with a full tank of gas, a poor setup on the entrance to the critical back section of the track was leading to much oversteer and a loss of entry speed. The times got about a half second slower. While running with passengers, I once pulled out on the track in front of a 270 hp Miata that was halfway down the straight. The Seven was able to squirt away quickly enough that he didn't get slowed down. In fact, he was able to take a second off his time because he was motivated to give chase! A couple of other memorable moments occurred when I ran up behind one of my friends. First Don in his S2000 got drafted around the track, then later I latched on to the same WRX I'd been harassing a few weeks back. I was on a cool-down lap, he was on one of his flying timed laps - but that didn't stop me from taking a good look at his back bumper for most of a lap. It's fun running on the track with these guys, as they enjoy this sort of thing as much as I do and we trust each other enough to do it. Back to the competition. On the final session of the day - at least, the final session when I was running solo - I concentrated on my entry to the back. I came in slower and was very careful to keep the back end planted on acceleration. My reward? 1:02.471. A new track record and one that floored everyone including myself. The car (and the driver) isn't perfect and there's more room left, but it was enough to make John cry uncle. He ended with a 1:03.713, a spectacular time when you consider the next-fastest car was again over two seconds behind. It was a very fun race. The next morning, I was sore from all the driving. That's a good sore.
As per its tradition at a new venue, the Seven fouled its plugs as soon as I went to start it. Cute trick - but this time I was prepared! Sort of. I stole a set of plugs from a friend's Miata ("Hey, why is my hood up?"), fired up the engine to get the cylinders warm and then popped the crusty plugs back in. Perfect. Not so good on the course, though. The car was running lean and I could only use light throttle, but I still managed a decent time. Why lean? My old friend altitude again. The course was no higher than the one at Aspen, but over the course of the various trips I must have forgotten to leave the fuel I needed in that vacuum range. I popped it back in and the car felt strong. On my next run I missed a cone so I looped around in a big circle to reach it - and put down the same time as the last! The big problem was gravel. Competitors had pushed it off the course, but if I got off line at all the Seven would just wash out in front and I'd be frantically adding lock. Not smooth, not fast. I had to basically the follow the same line as everyone else which wasn't all bad. The final run came in at 1:02.750, nearly 7 seconds faster than everyone else. It's hard to beat a Seven through the cones, no matter what kind of hack is driving! There are some good pro pictures online - this one is my favourite. I expect everyone who's a fan of homebuilt cars knows about the DP1. I've been reading the build log for a few years. Why do I mention it? Because the car made its first drive today! Click on the Recent Updates for the DP1 to see the latest. AWD, turbo bike motor - yikes. On the autocross course. There was a set of 18" wheels off a pimped-out Miata sitting in the shop, and the Seven was sitting nearby. Thankfully, I'll get some chance for some fun in the next few weeks. This weekend is another Corvette autocross. Then two weeks later, a Red Rock Racers autocross. The weekend after that, a two-day event at the local track as well as a one-day event in Pueblo. Oooh, that's a tough choice to make. Since we take possession of the new garage - sorry, "house" - a day or two before, I think an out-of-town trip is out of the question. If the rain lets up, I might have to go for a blat around my local roads just for grins. One of the local hidden twisties just got repaved. Hmm... Something that might be entertaining. I've become involved with the build and possibly sale of Miata-based Westfields. This means that I have access to all sorts of interesting details. One thing I've put together is an online configurator that lets you play with options. The kit is a bit out of Locost territory, but it's about half the price of the equivalent Caterham. |