The Miata experience: his and hers.

I got to try something with Chuckwalla I'd never been able to do before...  I was able to run it on my sim rig before driving the track for the first time.  I downloaded the track on Assetto Corsa, and spent some time learning the track.  This both helped, and hurt... more on that later.

First session went well, and the sim practice really helped with what to expect.  Once I started to work out my references, lap times started to drop pretty quickly.  The track is nice and wide, and we didn't have an overly large run group so traffic was never really an issue.  3rd session was our first TT session, and I felt like I hadn't really been pushing as hard as I could, so I decided to really push.  It worked.

I found the car was happy with more speed in a lot of areas, and took a big chunk out of my best lap time.  Unfortunately, I was .060 second off the leader in my class, an E30 with a built M20 and around 200 rwhp, according to the driver.  My wife caught him in one picture, where he's pulling off as I went by.

In the second TT session, we were gridded by lap time, so I went out right behind the E30.  We only had two sessions, so I had to best the previous lap times, and anything we set in this session to win.  We got about three corners in before knowing we weren't going any faster than we did in the early session.  The track temp was way up and we were sliding around like it was wet.  The E30 nearly spun about 3 corners into the 1st flying lap, so I went by, and the next lap I almost spun and he went by.  I knew I wasn't going to post a better lap, but I was laughing out loud in my helmet having a ball chasing each other around the track.  Eventually, I pulled off to save some tire for Sunday...

Saturday night, I was looking at data, and considering where I could improve for Sunday and I realized that my sim practice was holding me back in a couple of areas.  There's one corner that is slightly off-camber, and it's the first part of a double apex where I'm on the throttle long before the second apex.  I knew I could gain time here, but every time I tried to push it on the sim, the car just understeered off the track, and it had given me a mental block.  I know the sim isn't real, and lacks critical feedback.  I know my real car handles differently.  But it still held me back.  

I was determined to push that aside Sunday morning and just send it through that corner complex.  And it worked.... another big chunk out of my lap time.

It was a great learning experience that will help me understand how to better apply sim training to my driving in the future.  And I was pretty sure I would have the BMW beat this time... 

Our first TT session came up, and it was already hotter than the first session on Saturday, but there was a slight cloud cover that was helping track temps.  I knew it was going to get hotter, and the winning times would probably be set in this session.  I gridded up behind the BMW again, with my goal being to give him some space and concentrate on closing the gap.  On the first flying lap, I was able to get right up to his bumper, and on the second lap we found someone had spread dirt all over the slowest corner on the track, right where you're changing direction and trying to put power down.  Both of us got nice and sideways through there, and he pointed me by on the next straight.  At that point, I just sent it, though I knew the dirt in that corner was going to destroy our lap times.  Fortunately, the BMW got smaller and smaller in my mirrors before we got the checkered flag.

I thought I had done enough to win the class, and when the times were posted, I had... the BMW had improved a few tenths from Saturday, but I had gone a full 3 seconds faster than my Saturday best, so I had him by a good margin.   It was a good thing we had that first clean lap!  The only question was what the conditions would be like for the final TT session.

Meanwhile, my wife had been really enjoying the track in her HPDE sessions.  The track is roomy, and there weren't a ton of entries, so traffic was light. 

The heat finally did her in, and she hung up her helmet early on Sunday.  I also decided I was done after my first TT session... I didn't think anyone was going to go faster in the afternoon.  And I ended up being right... in fact only one car in the whole TT group went out on track for the afternoon session, so I had the win for Sunday.

Did I mention it was HOT? 

Lots of cars were seriously hampered, or done in by the heat, but our NA just ran and ran.  The highest coolant temp I saw coming off the track was 191 F.  All weekend.  We were the weak point, and I think a coolshirt system will be part of the upcoming refit with the engine swap!

A little more about the track...

It's a really nice, flowing track.  Wide and fast.  Elevation change with blind direction changes in 8-9-10 and 11-12.  13 is banked and a blast!  The map says turn 4 is 1 deg banked, but it feels more like 1 deg off camber...

In our NA (NB 6 speed/4.10), the whole track is 4th gear except for a quick drop to 3rd for turn 9.  I was on the limiter in 4th on the front straight, but shifting to 5th was a loss of time.  By the time I was setting my fastest laps, I was just touching the limiter into turns 8 and 14.  

I've been fortunate that Spec Miata lap record times are a very useful metric for me.  Our NA has slightly more tire/suspension and brakes than a Spec Miata and is a little lighter, but the drivers at the pointy end of SM are faster so I'm usually very close to SM lap records and can use that as a benchmark for my driving.  Here, I ended up about a second slower than the SM lap record, but it was set in weather that was probably 40 degrees cooler.  I'm pretty happy with that.

The only thing we didn't like about Chuckwalla was the grit... sand/rubber/dirt grit was everywhere.  The car's a mess, and the windshield looks like it's been sandblasted.  Won't keep us from going back, though.  

To all my fellow StarWars geeks out there... May the 4th be with you!

NB is back together and driving.  Just did a couple of quick drives around the block to set the ride height.  Huge improvement over the worn-out stock parts, but a real drive will have to wait for the alignment and Thursday was the soonest I could get it in for that.

I've been on the hunt for a nice set of NB2 seats for a while, and I finally scored a set over the weekend, so I bolted those in as well.

They will eventually get re-covered in tan, but they're fine for now.

And a bunch of parts for the NA arrived today...

Subframe is being dropped shipped, so I was a little disappointed that hasn't showed up yet, but at least I have what I need to start prepping the K24 engine for installation.  Hopefully, I can get to Phoenix to pick up an engine late this week, or early next week.  Before I can do that, I need to do some re-organizing of the storage unit, and bring the engine stand and hoist home.

450 mile round trip today to pick up the last piece of the puzzle for our 'retirement plan' traveling roadshow...

Caught it yesterday, 17 minutes after it was posted on Failbook, and fortunately, the seller was a reasonable adult with a brain.  Made arrangements to look at it this morning, and made the deal.  First used ATC stacker I've seen for sale in the Western US in months, and a better price than any I've seen advertised recently.

Wow! That's quite a trailer.

In reply to CAinCA :

It's YUUUGE!  

Actually it's two feet shorter than our current trailer, just twice as tall.  We had about 100 miles of pretty heavy crosswinds on the way home yesterday, and even pulling with the dually things were 'interesting'...  probably would have been better if it wasn't empty.  Should be fine behind the motorhome with some weight in it.

It's been a busy week... I've been in the process of selling our truck camper this week, while running across the state to buy the trailer.  Today I delivered the camper for the new owner, since his truck wasn't quite ready for it.

We've had a lot of great trips in the camper over the last 6 years, and part of me wanted to keep it.  It just wasn't worth it for the 1-2 times a year we might use it to get into a smaller campground.

A little more on the stacker...

It's a 2019 ATC Quest 22... pretty much the smallest/lightest mainstream stacker.  Exactly what I've been looking for.  Over the last few months, this is only the second used one I've seen advertised West of the Mississippi.  I found a couple in the East, but with the costs of transportation, the only real option was to go get it, and the only way to make that make sense is to make a trip out of it.  And the timing was wrong for that.

Bonus was this one was advertised at a price considerably lower than the other ones I've seen in the last six months.  Fortunately, looking it over I found no issues that aren't easily addressed, and we made the deal.

The previous owner wrapped it in a design that matched his motorhome, so it's white underneath.  Removing the wrap may be the hardest/most expensive thing I need to do.  It also needs a spare, so I'm working on figuring that out.  Can't believe the guy towed it for 4 years without a spare!  Tires are good, but original, so they'll need replacement in the next year or so.

Now, the good stuff:

14 foot lift, and huge escape door...

Front cabinets and 'attic'...

It needs a good cleaning, but everything's in great shape.  

If I have time this weekend, I'm going to try to get to a CAT scale to get some weights.

Yesterday I got the NB aligned.  It really drives so much nicer after all the suspension work.  I'm still fiddling with damping settings, but very happy.  I took a couple of pictures at the new ride height, but accidentally deleted them from my phone.

Busy day today...

Got the title transferred and the stacker registered and insured.  Permanent trailer tags FTW! 

The tires are original and have 2017 date codes, so I ordered new tires.  Even though they look to be in pretty good shape and have lots of tread, 6 year old trailer tires make me nervous...

Ran around town taking measurements on tool boxes to try to find something that will fit on the counter top/ under the overhead cabinets.  It looks like I'm going to have to modify anything I can buy to make it work.  This is why I built the workbench in my current trailer myself.  I worked out a plan... more to come.

Got an estimate of $1000(!) to pull off the wrap.  Nope.  Started doing it myself.   Fortunately were in the right time of the year for afternoon sun being just about the right temperature.  What I've pulled off so far came off pretty easily... the tricky part will be reaching the higher pieces.

Made some more progress on the great peel... until the clouds came out.  Without the direct sun, the temps aren't high enough for easy peeling.

Still making slow progress on the great peel... weather hasn't been cooperative this week.

Also did some interior cleanup, and working on figuring out what to do with all the stuff that usually lives in our trailer.

A shot with the lift up...

Cleanup on some switches...

And it got new tires today.  Why do used trailers ALWAYS need tires...?

I have a toolbox arriving today that should work... though it's going to require some modification.  And I need to move a 110 outlet which will otherwise end up behind it...

Some more incidental work on the trailer today, but the main project was swapping the radiator in the NB out for a Supermiata cross-flow unit.  I also added a DaveFab overflow tank to replace the crusty stock plastic tank, a known weak point on Miatae.

The stacker will enable us to take both the NA and NB to FM Summer Camp next month, and my wife has informed me she wants to drive the NB on track this time, so this should keep things running cool.  It's also necessary prep for the NB's future hand-me-downs from the NA once the K swap gets done.

Work continues on the trailer...

The factory cabinets are nice, but lacked any useful tool storage.  I built a rolling cart for our other trailer, but it hasn't been rolled out since it was first rolled in so I've concluded a fixed tool chest was sufficient to my needs, but I did want drawers to keep things somewhat organized.

Of course, nothing I could find was a good fit for the space available.  So, I did the logical thing:  I bought a toolbox and immediately cut the top off...

Before:

After:

Actually, I just removed the hinged lid and supports, and cut about 4" off the top.  Then I reinstalled the plastic trim and covered the back with some edge trim.  One of the factors in choosing this particular box was that the latch for the drawers was a lever that was separate from the hinged lid.

Final step was welding on brackets to bolt it to the bench in the trailer.

Got it in the trailer but still need to drill the holes and bolt it down.

The great peel project progresses...   I borrowed a scissor lift at the storage facility where we keep the trailer(s) and motorhome so I could reach the top, and if I'd had another hour of bright sun, I could have finished... but the clouds started rolling in and shut things down.

I should be able to finish it up in the morning.

The NA is back in the garage to get prepped for FM Summer Camp.  This will be its last event with the Miata 1.8 engine... I thought that was going to be Chuckwalla, but now that we have the ability to take both cars, the NA will get one more trip to FM with Mazda power.

Trailer is finally unwrapped, and back to all white.

Spent the rest of the day removing a couple of seasons of track patina from the NA.  Paint still looks pretty good after a polish and wax, and when it's not covered with rubber and track goo...

I can't tell if it's your camera or reality, but the proportions of that trailer look really strange.....

In reply to docwyte :

Part of it is perspective and the cell phone camera lens (especially in the 2nd pic above), but it is a very tall trailer for the length... 22 feet long and 13 feet tall, standard 8.5 wide.  It's pretty much the shortest (length) stacker anyone makes.

Here's another pic with the perspective reversed...

I really thought you were wrapping the trailer with white instead of de-wrapping it.  I can be so dumb sometimes.  I like the all white version better.

Looking forward to K-powered goodness.  Such a great engine.