Housey's MX-5 Race Car Plans!

Well, we have a race car!

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You'll notice the white stripe on only one side...hmmmmm

Well it seems one side had a white sticker, the other side had white paint! Plan to spray over the white side as I think it looks all ace n shiny in red. Trying to get it out on track ASAP now but it was fabulous fun around the yard today, like a little go-kart! Of course if I had taken it down the road for a quick blat when no one was looking I could have course tell you all about it, but that never happened. Needs to go on the roller this week to see what bhp she is carrying and with me in it's a bit over weight so we will be looking at weight reduction and we already know where we can find 15 kilos of reductions. Fully corner weighted and set up and I promise you such epic fun little car that will go sideways easy yet is so easy to catch it makes it childs play.

Can't wait!
 
Engine:

K&N Race filter, new lightweight radiator, new leads and pipes but other than this is standard. Other cars have had full rebuild but at £2K I decided not to bother as it's my first season. See how it goes and then take a view.

Body:

Stripped out top to bottom, full safety devices FIA approved cage, Cobra Monaco seat, Momo steering wheel and quick release (fitted after the pictures above were taken as I was not sure if the wheel would be to close to me with it, which it wasn't). Carbon fibre insert with electrics cut offs, fire extinguisher and start button.

Suspension:

New lightweight exhaust, Avo dampers and full suspension replacement, new bushes and generally a rebuild. The car came from sprinting so standard discs but red stuff pads. Full corner weighting and bespoke geo settings.

We are restricted as to what we can do but it should scale around 930 kilos with me in it (and I am over 100 kilos!) and today it felt bloody excellent!
 
Housey said:
Engine:

K&N Race filter, new lightweight radiator, new leads and pipes but other than this is standard. Other cars have had full rebuild but at £2K I decided not to bother as it's my first season. See how it goes and then take a view.

Body:

Stripped out top to bottom, full safety devices FIA approved cage, Cobra Monaco seat, Momo steering wheel and quick release (fitted after the pictures above were taken as I was not sure if the wheel would be to close to me with it, which it wasn't). Carbon fibre insert with electrics cut offs, fire extinguisher and start button.

Suspension:

New lightweight exhaust, Avo dampers and full suspension replacement, new bushes and generally a rebuild. The car came from sprinting so standard discs but red stuff pads. Full corner weighting and bespoke geo settings.

We are restricted as to what we can do but it should scale around 930 kilos with me in it (and I am over 100 kilos!) and today it felt bloody excellent!
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Thanks, wow, not a lot then. Are you not even allowed to add extra bracing?
 
Testing went really well thanks, I just got back actually as I only did the morning session, but the car ran well bar a small water leak at the end of the session and running out of fuel as I coasted into the pits! The petrol station at Donington no longer seems to open so people were having to dive off to get petrol and I'm glad we filled some cans before we got there.

I spent time getting seat time really and running some different settings but I was running the same times as our other car at the end of the morning which is lighter and more powerful and with a much more experienced driver, so I have to be happy. Still more time to be found as some of my lines need work but looking at the telemetry the fundamentals are good. Need to book some time with Maxx now to get my lines better but happy as this is my first serious run since my early 20's. Looks like my first race will be Donington next month...
 
Housey said:
Engine:

K&N Race filter, new lightweight radiator, new leads and pipes but other than this is standard. Other cars have had full rebuild but at £2K I decided not to bother as it's my first season. See how it goes and then take a view.

Body:

Stripped out top to bottom, full safety devices FIA approved cage, Cobra Monaco seat, Momo steering wheel and quick release (fitted after the pictures above were taken as I was not sure if the wheel would be to close to me with it, which it wasn't). Carbon fibre insert with electrics cut offs, fire extinguisher and start button.

Suspension:

New lightweight exhaust, Avo dampers and full suspension replacement, new bushes and generally a rebuild. The car came from sprinting so standard discs but red stuff pads. Full corner weighting and bespoke geo settings.

We are restricted as to what we can do but it should scale around 930 kilos with me in it (and I am over 100 kilos!) and today it felt bloody excellent!
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Apart from an engine rebuild, is there much more you could do to improve performance? Or are mods quite tightly regulated (to keep it competitive) as you've alluded to before?
 
Well we need to take weight out of the car, we can see 15-20 kilos of weight loss from what we have done on the other cars so that will be something we do. Removing internals of bumpers, hinges on boots, insides of bodywork to name a few things and they all add up. I can also remove 10 kilos but that will be harder but at the end of the day we want to be on the limit not under it. My engine was pretty good on power today, I was following another car with our best engine in it and he probably made 3 yards at most down the back straight so I shan't be rushing to rebuild it. That engine was 139bhp so I suspect mine is around 120bhp but also that car was carrying less weight and both the drivers weigh as much as my shoes! :D There is no a lot you can do really as it's a budget championship and they try and restrict the big cheque book brigade.
 
Housey said:
Well we need to take weight out of the car, we can see 15-20 kilos of weight loss from what we have done on the other cars so that will be something we do. Removing internals of bumpers, hinges on boots, insides of bodywork to name a few things and they all add up. I can also remove 10 kilos but that will be harder but at the end of the day we want to be on the limit not under it. My engine was pretty good on power today, I was following another car with our best engine in it and he probably made 3 yards at most down the back straight so I shan't be rushing to rebuild it. That engine was 139bhp so I suspect mine is around 120bhp but also that car was carrying less weight and both the drivers weigh as much as my shoes! :D There is no a lot you can do really as it's a budget championship and they try and restrict the big cheque book brigade.
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That's a good thing in my book, otherwise it just becomes a case of who can throw the most money at the car. When will you be entering the championship?
 
Looks awesome! Bet your heart will be racing as you line up for your first race! Good luck :)

Would you be able to give us an insight into the costs of getting your car done?
 
Thanks.

Car build with donor car is around 7K. A weekend racing is around £700 with our teams economies of scale (entry, fuel, tyres, support) and then you need to budget for around £2K for 'stuff'. If you bend it the stuff goes up but I can't afford a full season really so will be dipping in and out. Went to Donington last week for a shakedown and the first problem is my head above the roll cage so we need to work that problem and more than likely change my seat to something lower and knowing my luck, more expensive. Racing tomorrow at Rockingham but I am not out but might pop along.

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