Joe's NA6

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:59 pm

The tyres on the 6UL's are well and truly shagged after the weekend's efforts. Through to the canvas on both rears! Pretty sure I got my value out of them.

Put my 14's back on tonight too. The car looks like a toy again

Apu · Postby **Apu** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:01 pm

Like the red stripe combo!

Postby **NitroDann** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:04 pm

That looks Bad Arse.

Dann

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 6:27 am

I like the bonnet, original GV?

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 2:53 pm

I put the strip on in platidip just to make sure that I liked it before going and ordering legit vinyl. It's been like that for months and I haven't been orgainsed enough to order some. Still only on the drivers side too.

I was told the bonnet was legit GV when I bought it but I haven't found that style on the GV site. It could be an old version perhaps or maybe it's something else. Either way, I like it.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 4:55 pm

Jeo wrote:I was told the bonnet was legit GV when I bought it but I haven't found that style on the GV site. It could be an old version perhaps or maybe it's something else. Either way, I like it.

http://www.vary.co.jp/wd.html here? I have one as well as I have to agree that they do look good and function well.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:33 pm

Yeah, not quite the same see.

vs mine...

Results are also in from the khana. 1st in class and 2nd overall! 13 seconds behind 1st place, but 2nd place all the same.

Interestingly I never managed to place higher than 5th on any individual test, so points for consistency rather than outright speed I guess.

Ian also manged to nab third so two spots on the podium for the MX5 Club of NSW isn't bad news either.

CoffeeBoss · Postby **CoffeeBoss** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:02 pm

Nice work Joe! Sounds like you're really enjoying Motorkhana, and also sounds like your driving style is well suited to it. I've always wondered why it seems so niche here as a sport. AutoX is a serious undertaking in the US for many MX5ers.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:24 pm

I'm absolutely loving them Matt. Nowhere near as much driving time as a track day obviously but it's such a blast. Can't recommend it highly enough.

On another note though I went out and took some photos today, so I thought I'd better share them.

Why the photos though? Because my NA6 is now officially for sale. It's coming up for my 7th year with this car; I've done a hell of a lot to it, a hell of a lot with it, but it's time to move on. I mentioned back in September that I was thinking about getting a Clubman and now it's official - I want a one which means this has to go.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Wed May 21, 2014 12:07 am

Another khana so another post.

Bought a new set of RSR's last week and put them to good use on Sunday. 1st in class, 3rd overall, and only a few seconds behind the winner. Ian Vickers also came in 4th so more kudos for the MX5 Club of NSW!

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:14 pm

Noticing a recurring theme here; had another khana on Sunday...

Difference was I brought my brother out for a run for this one too. I got him a CAMS licence and club membership for his 21st a few months back, with the logic of him being able to double enter my car for a year. So far so good! He had a ball and did really well for a first timer. No results out yet but I'm pretty sure I was towards the top end of the field, and he wasn't too far behind me. I did manage to beat him on each of the six tests yesterday, but only by half a second on one of them (will have to start playing with the valet mode on the ECU if he gets much quicker).

Also got talked into entering nationals in a few weeks so I'll be heading up to Nirimba to represent the ACT. Mildly scared of the reversing tests, as we don't do any of those in Canberra, but a few of us did get a chance to try a couple yesterday after the formal competition was over. So much fun having a nice flat tarmac area between just four people! We set up a few different courses and just drove around for a solid half an hour or so. Never more than a minute between runs and if you got bored of a test, you just went and tried another one. In particular I had about a dozen goes, in immediate succession, at J turning into the finish garage. So weird to do a full launch in reverse, drive straight at a flag, then try and spin the nose into the garage, but god it was fun.

Out little cars are so well suited to this stuff and I'm really surprised there aren't more people involved. If any Sydney people have nothing better to do on the long weekend, come out to Nirimba in Quakers Hill for a look. Free practice is on Saturday, with the formal competition on Sunday.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:56 pm

Yeah buddy. 2nd outright, 1st in class.

Scary thing is that my brother came 4th outright, 2nd in class. Not bad for a first timer in a car he'd never driving before.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Wed Nov 05, 2014 7:20 pm

Little bit of a delayed posting but Nationals! Hosted by the Mini club of NSW on the 4th and 5th of October, the weekend was a world of fun. End results saw me 5th in class, 16th on handicap, 15th of production cars, 32nd outright, and team "Not quite ACT" came second in the team competition.

Saturday practice was a little slow to start but those who were keen still got plenty of track time. I managed a couple of runs practically back-to-back and only stopped around 3pm when a power steering hose went pop. I now also know that my bonnet vent has yet another practical purpose - when the PS hose split, it sprayed straight through the vent and covered the windscreen in fluid. Somewhat of an unnerving event at first but far less so once I got it off the track and figured out what it was. I then put the call out on the forum and a few different FB groups if anyone had a spare hose lying around and Lou came to the rescue. We did the dodgy on it using electrical tape and a hose clamp which was good enough to get me to Lou's. Unfortunately, once we got there, we realised that neither of us had bothered to check the model in question; me having an NA6, Lou having the hose for an NB. Damn.

Oh well. Had another go with the electrical tape and a hose clamp, running with the logic that it will hold as long as it holds, and if it lets go I'll just remove the PS belt and have a functioning, albeit manual steering car. Made it back to my mates place where we were staying, and back to the track the on Sunday morning with no noticeable loss of fluid. Ran all day Sunday, 12 tests in total, in stupidly hot conditions, and the tape almost made it. On literally the last throw, of the last test, my windscreen was showered yet again. Eh, stuff it, we're <10m from the finish garage, nothing I can do now, slammed it back into first and powered home. Then pulled it off to the side to assess the damage - yep, same as before, fluid everywhere. Took it back to the pits to wash it off as best we could, then reapplied the tape to get us back to Canberra. Logic being that if it survived the torture of a khana, I'm sure the tape would cope with a run down the highway. I was right - lost practically no fluid on the trip home and still haven't lost any sitting unused in the garage for a month. All in all, a pretty great weekend.

Got back from my honeymoon last week and called MX5 Solutions this morning to track down a replacement hose for me. Hopefully we've got that sorted before the next ACT khana next weekend!

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:52 pm

Posting in dot points today. Very exciting.

Power steering hose - fixed
Busted shifter bushing - fixed, and feels about 8 billion times better than before
Dodge wheel alignment - at ACDC today, will pick up this afternoon

Khana - this Sunday, dual entered with my brother again. Will report back shortly after.

Jeo · Postby **Jeo** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:33 pm

Whoa... delayed postings apparently.

So at that khana back in November my car actually ended up being triple entered. Reece has been toying with the idea of picking up an MX5 and wanted to have a go in one in anger ahead of that possibility. Net result was that my little black car came 1st, 2nd, and 4th outright! ...and I wasn't even close to Reece. Jerk...

A little bit of basic maintenance between now and then saw new fluids throughout, new air and oil filters, and a new shifter bushing. My brother and I then entered in the club's driver training day at Marulan. The new extended track made for a nice change and saw about 10 laps in the 49's, with my best as a 49.73. Unfortunately that day was cut short by my diff finally packing it in. The stock 6" had lived a hard life and started making a pretty horrible noise during my fourth session (the car's 7th that day). A quick inspection in the pits and we decided to call it a day.

Silver linings though! She spent the day with Dave at MX5 Solutions last week and came back with a shiny new Mazdaspeed clutchpack LSD. Initial thoughts so far are good, but I'm looking forward to having a real go with it next weekend. More khana!