Matt's MY08 NC Roadster.

[rodent]

Nice looking knob Matt
It's not making very much difference to the shift feel on my 121 though hahah.

Just noticed you've been a member of this forum since the '04 reboot, and possibly even longer on the old system before that. Now that's dedication!

[CoffeeBoss]

Accessorise: luggage

So, already planning some trips away in the 5, pending time off from work (ha!). With this in mind, i purchased some luggage from this seller from NY on Ebay. The three bags are designed to fit perfectly in the boot of the NC (they make luugage designed for NA's, NB's and other small booted cars as well).

Very happy with the gear: good price, nice heavy zips, and fits in the boot while still leaving gaps on the sides. The JDM Style Roadster logos are a nice touch, too.

[CoffeeBoss]

Aye, i haven't dríven your car for AGES, Andrew... (might be time for a car swap me thinks )

Literature
Have been doing some reading.

The Roadster book came from Fazazz, The Motorists Shop, an awesome automotive store in Christchurch, NZ. It's an English (UK) translation of the original Japanese book the covers the story of the development of the original NA Roadster. Fascinating reading, most of the chapters are written by the members of the original team that brought the car to production.

Haven't watched the DVD yet, it arrived my the Hyper Rev (Volume 111) last week, from the Lindbergh Automotive bookshop in Japan.

[CoffeeBoss]

Seating:
So, this has moved to priority one - need to somehow get a lower seating position for track days. Hoping for a quick fix involving the standard seat, but may have to go to an aftermarket seat. Thread started here.

MX5 Mania Skid Pan Day
Thread here

Twas an interesting day. The first outing onto the skid pan we kept DSC on to see how well it worked. Interesting that it seems to engage quite readily on the road, but doing large circles on the skid pan, it just lets you go a little wider as you increase speed. Reached approx 80kmh around the skid pan with it on, it really does work very well.

Stabbing the DSC Off button, i then did the next few exercises like this. Power oversteer was possible but not very controllable. Mostly i was lifting off to induce the slide, but powering on would spin the car, or it would tuck back in.

It wasn't until one of the instructors, James jumped in the car. I hadn't worked with him until this point. We did one exercise and he kpet asking me, are you sure your nailing the throttle? I was, but it wasn't pushing the car out of understeer. Turns out James worked for Prodrive in the UK, and reached over and held the button in for 8 seconds. FINALLY! Power oversteer on command. I was a little miffed about this, but he reassured me by saying most of the dealerships in the UK were unaware of this. Still, it was great to learn what you can and can't do with the car in it's '3 modes'.

[CoffeeBoss]

MX5 Plus rear numberplate spacer added (Front one to be added):




Some random b-road sunset shots:

[PUR157]

I was a little miffed about this, but he reassured me by saying most of the dealerships in the UK were unaware of this. Still, it was great to learn what you can and can't do with the car in it's '3 modes'.

It's a common safety measure applied nowadays... between all car manufacturers there are some special techniques to "fully" disengaging the safety measures, the "DSC off" that you get told about is usually just to lessen the hold of the DSC as opposed to fully disengaging it... as for the general public, no assistance is definitely not in their best interests...!

Very nice pictures!

[JBT]

Interesting...........if I switch my TC/DSC off (with one press of the button) at track days, I get no interference from the system and can easily induce power on oversteer...........on a dry track.

[CoffeeBoss]

Interesting...........if I switch my TC/DSC off (with one press of the button) at track days, I get no interference from the system and can easily induce power on oversteer...........on a dry track.

I found the same. With DSC off only, i could power oversteer as well. But I couldn't sustain that power oversteer. The best i can tell, DSC off 'relaxes' the traction control - but it is not off entirely.

[JBT]

Well as far as I can tell it is O-F-F and not \"relaxed\".

[CoffeeBoss]

Well as far as I can tell it is O-F-F and not "relaxed".

Perhaps there are differences between our models - but you should have a DSC light on your dash, and to the left of that, a traction control light (the typical car with lines/skidz underneath).

DSC off illuminates the DSC warning light but not the Traction Control light. With this off, on a wet skid pan, oversteer can be induced but not maintained. Furthermore, i was getting lots of plough understeer if i didn't have enough steering angle when i was planting it. The instructor from Prodrive kept saying "Are you sure your foot is in it?" "Flat to the boards" was my response. At this point he asked if i'd held the button in for 8 seconds. The next run was like night and day - power oversteer on command, every time, no more understeer.

I've done skid pans before, although not in this car. My old car was more underpowered, but longer in the wheelbase. With the more ruimentary traction control in my old car, it was either on or off. On equalled lots of understeer due to limiting throttle during loss of traction (with an over-eager right foot).

With DSC off in the NC, it was different - there was loss of traction, but not sustained loss of traction. I can only conclude that the understeer was from the throttle being limited, certainly this is what the ex-Prodrive guy said.

Seems to me DSC off (TRC on) is ideal for the track because it allows some loss of traction. More (closed road) testing required. But there is certainly a difference - hold your DSC button in for 8 seconds and you will see both DSC and traction control lights illuminate. Furthermore, pressing the DSC button again does not switch everything back on - the ignition has to be switched off to re-enable everything.

[JBT]

There is a \"DSC OFF\" warning light in the tacho and there is a DSC/TC activation warning light (i.e the skidding car symbol) to the right of that.

DSC off illuminates the DSC warning light but not the Traction Control light

There is no \"Traction Control\" light.

Furthermore, pressing the DSC button again does not switch everything back on...

Incorrect. If DSC is off and you press the DSC button it will re-arm. The DSC will always re-arm after re-starting the car....unless it is broken or the battery has been disconnected and reconnected.

Read pages 5-22 to 5-39 of the Owner's Manual......or go and try it.

I can only conclude that the understeer was from the throttle being limited...

...or your foot wasn't planted and/or your wheel alignment/tyre pressures need checking.

[CoffeeBoss]

JBT, perhaps i was not clear, but you are not understanding me. Or perhaps are cars are different, incremental changes between model years are a common occurence.

There is a "DSC OFF" warning light in the tacho and there is a DSC/TCS activation warning light (i.e the skidding car symbol) to the right of that.

That's right, same in my car. So, for clarity, we will say there are two warning lights: DSC warning light and TCS warning light (as described in the manual).

In my car (2008 build year)

Pressing DSC off:
- only The "DSC OFF" warning light illuminates. DSC is off, and you can press it again and it will rearm. Note that a couple of times when i spun the car with DSC off, the TCS light (i.e the skidding car symbol) flashed.

Holding the DSC off button in for 8 seconds:
- both The "DSC OFF" warning light and the DSC/TCS light illuminates. Both stay illuminated even if you press the DSC off button again.

Read pages 5-22 to 5-39 of the Owner's Manual......or go and try it.

I think the above report and images show that i have tried this But don't take my word for it - hold the DSC Off button in in your car and see if you can get both lights to illuminate. The manual states that holding the button in for a second or more (in my car it's around 8 seconds) will cause both DSC and TCS lights to illuminate and the DSC/TCS system to be come inoperative.

...or your foot wasn't planted and/or your wheel alignment/tyre pressures need checking.

Standard alignment, all tires filled with nitrogen to 34psi. I can assure you, there's plenty of difference between 'DSC off' and EVERYTHING off! I'm no hero behind the wheel, far from it, but i think i have done enough track driving and skid pan/advanced driving days to have some idea about car handling at and beyond the limit.

I mean, how do you explain:
A. the fact that the car oversteered on command everytime after i had switched everything off
B. the fact that the instructor, from the UK, who worked for Prodrive was the one who leant over, held the button in for 8 seconds, and demonstrated what this does (both lights illuminated on dash). He has worked with the NC on Driver training and development days with Mazda (Mazda & Prodrive work together in the UK, which is why you can purchase Prodrive editions of some Mazda cars from Mazda dealerships in the UK).

It's not a well known or publicized fact, if the little info i can find on the web is any indication. Found thisfairly uninformative link which seems to suggest the same applies for the RX8. It also suggests that it writes an error code to the ECU log. I'll be asking the dealership about this to see if shows up at my next service.

[CoffeeBoss]

OK, new thread to explore this started here: http://www.mx5cartalk.com/phpBB-3.0.2/v ... p?p=410560

[CoffeeBoss]

Well due to the advent of the garage and the closure of this section of the forum, will start porting everything over there now. Hopefully the permitted number of images is increased!

Have started on the garage, and placed some meaningful updates (recent addition of TEIN Super Street Damper and Autoexe/GruppeM Ram Air Intake)

[CoffeeBoss]

Mmmkay.... apparently this section may be staying open now. Well, will update if and when it's called for

Meanwhile:
Review on the Autoexe intake is here:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=32655

Review on the TEIN Super Street dampers is here:
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=32663