decrobinson1999

https://www.timeattack.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ClassSpecSheet.pdf

for reference these are the time attack general guidelines

11 hours ago, Kieran O'Quick said:

If you want to drive on track a lot then the mx5 makes most sense. Its so much easier to work on and parts are so cheap. 60 quid for a gearbox for example. If you get a chunky daily you could trailer the 5 easily too.

The boosted Mazda is a shade quicker than the Zed but feels much crazier and like more of an 'event' when you drive it. But I suppose you could say that about a bike or a quad.  A lot of it comes down to what you prefer. I like the feel of the big car that pulls forever and handles better than it gets credit for

I probably will be getting a bigger daily that could toe another car however initially will probably drive the car to the track.

I really liked how my Z felt, i took it round some good corners and it handles well for a completely stock car, never really driven an mx5 but i can imagine it's a pretty different feel, but i have no real preference. i'm just not sure whether either would be competitive if i was to enter a few events a year rather than just general driving. 

1 hour ago, Ekona said:

There’s a running joke that it’s always a Scoob that’s the first to break down on any given track event... 

 

I had a blobeye DCCD STi PPP for a few years, and took that to track days both here and abroad. I also tracked my old 350 a few times too. I used to run a mk1 MX5 as a track slag, and I’ve just done my first track day in my mk3 MX5. 
 

I get what you’re saying about the Scoob, but the easy tunability and availability of parts is incredibly tempting. You don’t say here what you’ve actually got, but there must be more to do to it to get more out of it. To get a 350 to competitive levels in TA will take a fair bit of wedge, and I’m not convinced any cheaper or more reliable at that point than doing it to a Scoob. Now an MX5 on the other hand, immense fun and cheap as chips, but TA winnable? I doubt it. @docwra has it spot on when he mentions Elises as the way to go. 
 

If it’s cheap fun you want, then hell yes a boosted MX5 will have it in spades and be comfortably better handling than either of the other too. Competitive maybe not, but you could end up with something as quick for a smaller budget, and that chassis is immense regardless of year. 
 

I don’t have any direct experience of TA, so make of that what you will in my comments. Having tracked all three cars you mention, for fun I’d be taking a stock NA MX5 over the other two for pure driving thrills any day, plus less concern to your wallet if you bin it. A boosted one would be nigh on heaven. 
 

 

 

 

 

I really want a set of ITBs for mine  

Unfortunately I only have an 06 wrx so between the engine and gearbox it’s always a risk to take on the track (more than most cars) and tbh now I’ll have the space I’d prefer to have 2 cars so I’m never stranded if it breaks my Scooby has basically everything that can be done to it within the restrictions of the stock components becoming even more temperamental and tbh I want to get back in a rwd car again for the track 

im not even sure where a turbo MX-5 would fall in time attack or a 350 either (I haven’t officially entered an event yet and am still pretty new as I haven’t felt comfortable enough with a car to take that step yet) 

I would imagine a 250-275bhp MX-5 would be faster and more fun than a 350 but I can’t comment as I have tracked neither, however I would imagine the MX-5 to be cheaper to run and boosting the 350 becomes extremelt expensive, I think a SC or turbo kit would be the full cost of a built MX-5 but as you said I’m unsure how competitive either a stock 350 or boosted MX-5 would be

in hill climb I would be looking to be placed in the road going class, but I’m unsure what the TA equivalent is? 

Yeah i havent really seen any, and agree that the TT would help, however unfortunately like the elise and exige they are all out of my price range 

how do boosted mx5's compare to these cars? I loved my Z when i had it but i never tracked it so couldn't comment on real performance rather than street performance, and the only mx5 i have been in was a ride round the town in a friends 

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at getting rid of my subaru (its currently a daily and track car) to buy 2 cars, one being a economical daily driver and the other being a track car that I can also enter into a few events. It is becoming an issue relying on it getting me to work now i am working on and tracking the car more and a new house move means I have more car space. I have previously owned a Z and regretted selling it since.

The Subaru is too heavy on consumables as its pretty heavy (and not the most reliable transmission or engine), and also the AWD system means nearly everything is tripled over a 2wd car as it has more of everything component wise (diffs etc...) so i'm looking at getting back into a RWD car for track.

Currently I'm torn between a few cars, mainly a nissan 350z (as I've had one previously and know they are pretty nice to drive) and an MX-5, however I would like it to be boosted.

So my main questions are:

1. Has anyone who has driven both got a decent comparison between the 2 and which will be better

2. Best year to get as a track car (preferably the most reliable)

3. If anyone is in TA what class do these cars generally sit in and how do they preform (I has my 350 before i starting being able to go to the track)

Thanks for any input

56 minutes ago, ZMANALEX said:

Why are you planning on forged pistons?

 

 

Because inevitably if I go FI i will probably also get lower compression internals 

Hi, 

Just come across these long tube headers on both tarmac sports and torquen, was just wondering if the pass emissions as I'm not sure if they remove the cat, and do they bolt straight on to the stock exhaust?

Are they even worth it or are stock/aftermarket short header just as good?

Thanks 

I have been looking over the advice everyone's been giving me over the past few days, I did take my z out in the awful British weather we have had and I have to say that it has given me more of a reason to persevere with the car. I do however have a few more questions. 

What coilovers would everyone recommend?

What other breathing mods, as I only have a JWT popcharger filter, no pipework? What is the best thing to do regarding the intake plenum? And a good exhaust of choice?

What cooling mods can I do as the intake seems to get really hot?

And or is it even worth doing any of this on a revup car, is there no way i could solve the oil consumption problem such as a catch can (although I havent experienced these oil problems yet and do plan to get forged pistons)

As well as this I cant also think of any better looking of a car once I clean it up a bit and add some style 

1 hour ago, Ekona said:

*tyres

Hahahaha my bad, I was tired typing tyres 

i have fairly new falken tires on which should be fine for now

9 minutes ago, Payco said:

Follow this advice, do some breathing mods and exhaust and get H Dev to remap it. Will be more than enough for you at this stage.

Any suggestions on the best way to make it handle better? because coming from a gt86 this seems to be the biggest letdown for me, as well as throttle response. and for some reason under hardish breaking the car drastically leans to the left

So just build more of a lower hp 'grassroots' drift car and just revisit it when the time seems more right.

Also on a completely unrelated note, has anyone here every tried 'AWD drifting', just intrigued as I've seen the odd video but never really heard of anyone doing it

9 minutes ago, evilscorp said:

If you have the right mindset and don't mind throwing money down the drain then its a good platform. For me vortech S/C power is probably the cheapest way to make reasonable power but it wont give you much torque or the shove of a turbo so the standard car chassis can handle it IMO. An Audi S3 or BMW 135 will be faster in a straight line or on a roll race (and cost the same as your z +mods).

I'm not much into audis due to the 60 40 front bias they have, I like the option to drift, and am I correct in thinking the 135i is 3l turbo?

5 minutes ago, lmc said:

Just a thought but why didn’t you just turbo the gt86?

Because mainly I paid 15k for the car, and then in the year I'd owned it i decided to purchase a house and made the sacrifice of the z, since then I have had multiple upgrades at work and have managed to save while still owning the z (as it was 10k cheaper to buy), so basically at the time the gt86 was an expensive car and expensive to mod to get probably around the same hp the z starts at

Tbh I would prefer to stick with the z, that's just a car that came to mind, I have no doubt the z could hold more power but most people seem to say dont do it 

The main thing I want is my Z to feel similar to how the 86 did, it just seemed a lot more smooth and fluid, especially with burnouts/drifts as the Z seems to shudder and want to wheel hop and also seems to pull to the left in hard braking (still trying to see what this is)

10 minutes ago, evilscorp said:

If it’s your daily driver I will stop you straight away for points 1&2. Go straight to 3 and buy a faster car.

majority of guys that supercharge don’t keep them for long (some in this thread already lol) and the others crave more power and constantly think the car is going to blow up.(myself in that bracket) twin turbo or turbo will be out of budget unless you can fabricate and have ALL the tools to hand, and still be thinking the car is going to blow up.

Throw some money to make it handle and stop well then sell up and buy something faster from the factory.

it's my daily for now, i did plan on eventually building it into a drift car once i had another car, would it just be better to buy a car that already has a turbo from factory? turbo cars seem to be able to be tuned better than NA platforms (i could be wrong in thinking this)

i did think of something such as the 2.5l 2006 WRX which i know is slower from factory but can be tuned much easier to get gains (again i could be wrong)

however i do prefer the z as far as the looks of a car and have never owned a AWD car so couldnt comment on what they are like to drive in comparison 

3 minutes ago, coldel said:

You wont get to 350bhp with NA mods, unless you spend an utter fortune going beyond the usual exhaust, intake etc. mods. I had a DE and got an extra 17hp with sports cats, plenum spacer, exhaust, intake work and a remap. That cost nearly £2k on its own. 

 

For the brakes, chat with Alex about shims, they often get lost over the years but sticking them in with the pads can prevent the squealing. 

So if you were to suggest it you would say to prep the car with good driver feel mods and supporting mods to then go FI? As well as maybe some weight reduction, and i have noticed a few people saying the breaks make this noise, i never knew why

57 minutes ago, Ekona said:

Brembos are fine, but I’d change the pads, discs and fluid for sure. Falkens aren’t really what I’d class as performance tyres but if they’re that new you could sell them to offset the cost of new tyres. Bearing in mind they’re the only thing actually touching the ground, it’s worthwhile putting the best on there that you can imho. You’ll definitely want to put your money into brakes and tyres if you’re doing track days, although if you’re doing drift days too then maybe keep the Falkens to use as sacrificial ones on those days? 

Are then any pads and disks you would recommend, my pads are fairly new but for some reason seem to create a very high pitched noise when braking. Would you say i would be wasting my time trying to get to 350bhp area with NA mods to begin with rather than going for FI and also focusing more on the feel of the car

4 minutes ago, Ekona said:

First make it stop, then make it handle, then make it go. Old, but true. 

 

Go and sort your brakes and tyres first, then change the suspension and ARBs, then worry about power. A well driven NA Zed with the first two parts done will be quicker and more fun than one with just a blower strapped to it. 

would you suggest replacing the OEM brembo brakes? i have a revup GT, it has 18inch rays with nearly new falken tires (previous owner) in my position what would you do? i have a fairly decent budget for the mods, i do also intend the car to be used on the track/drift days also even after being my daily driver

1 hour ago, Eddie_r32 said:

I don't know what chassis and cooling mods you have but I would start with brakes, suspension, cooling and bushings as 400bhp will quickly find the limits of stock!  I've done power first before and its a great way to hate and resent a car. 

i havent got much in that respect yet, i have been looking at some coilover but in between moving houses atm so havent got around to ordering them yet. i do have stainless steel brake and clutch lines, RJM pedal, intake and some other things. 

would you suggest i better put my money into this area to start with to make it a better car to drive generally? the 350 isnt necessarily a slow car, i've just read in some places that its pointless and a waste of money trying to make power NA if you're going to go FI sometime in the future

I'm not in the biggest rush to go FI, i just want a car what looks great (or can be made to) and feels as good to drive

8 minutes ago, ZMANALEX said:

Will give you a shout back tonight when I am back on PC.

No worries, thanks

yeah i'm aware the figure is low for an engine swap, i would up it if needed for this route, however i do quite like the VQ engine so far so the engine swap was more of a last option if none other seemed viable. i would probably do the work myself along with some more knowledgeable people by my side who have supercharged a car before (not a 350 though) i would necessarily insist on a TT kit, would be happy with a single also.

I thought a supercharger would be best from my opinion as i do daily the car and would imagine them to be more forgiving in this aspect, however i have heard they are a lot more limited than turbos, is this correct?

insurance is a different thing i'm keeping aside, i currently pay 1100 for it, i have been quoted 2550 with turbo which isnt too bad considering thats what it cost to insure my GT86 a few months back.

Or would you suggest to just leave the extra power goals for a few years and just do other things to the car

for starter id say maybe around 400-425whp, i have a DE Rev-up engine, i wouls say around 4k maybe, that may be a bit unrealistic but i'm basing that on a second hand kit.

Or would it be better to get a HR as i am still unsure which the best Z engine is to be honest, i have heard pros and cons for all but would prefer to stick with my current car unless there is a big difference in the ease of modding and gaining power

I would like to keep my Z and dont really plan on selling it any time soon, i'm only 20 so planning a fairly long future with it and like the thought of building something rather than buying.

I'm not sure on the exact amount i want to spend, i have seen used kits for TT and SC at around 2250 GBP. I'm just looking for the best money per gains really, and i keep thinking when people say to buy a faster car it'll be a never ending thing because i'll always want to make it faster