Category: HyperMiata Race Recaps

Superlap Battle 2017; the year-end finale of North American time attack.

With just an initial shakedown at ACS and a demo weekend at Laguna Seca to get the car roughly sorted out and work through initial teething, it was a race against time in the final weeks before Superlap Battle to finish and dial in as much as there was time for. I have huge faith in the recipe being built here, but always the realist, I kept expectations light because I haven’t yet had time to optimize so many areas of the car the way I have envisioned. To be in contention for a podium spot at the car’s first SLB would be superb. Also hovering in the shadows of this event was the chance to do something no Miata has done before; go sub-1:50 at Buttonwillow CW13. I know the car will be able to do it, but on the street tires we’ll be running for Limited RWD? That is a tall order. The long-standing Miata lap record has been a 1:52.2 – that from a 400whp car on 275 Hoosiers.

We had our share of snags to work through. Spent three full days on aero improvements that we ended up unable to finish in time, and then spent another day making “plan B” aero additions. With just days to go we discovered a critical issue with the spherical bearings in the rear suspension and had to swap to factory arms with factory rubber bushings. Then, a day before the event we were swapping clutch master cylinders still chasing clutch engagement issues. BUT we got things done and and showed up to SLB with a solid running car.

This year’s Limited Rear Wheel Drive lineup was stacked. SIXTEEN competitors – the most of any class this year. Porsche GT3s (yes, plural), Viper ACR, boosted S2000s, LS swapped M3s, great drivers, the list went on. This is the arena we built the HyperMiata for.

Day 1 was on old tires. With practically no prior setup time and running more aero additions here that we hadn’t had at the initial shakedowns, the race for us was to get setup dialed in quickly. It was game on during the open practice session – every time in off the track we did a full setup sheet on the car. Prior to the event I had also written up a download sheet for me as the driver to fill out after every session – this worked great, my girlfriend would hand me the clipboard while I was still in the car and I would take a minute to go over the previous session while it was vivid in my head and note the changes I needed both with the car and with how I was driving. As an amateur driver, this proved a really valuable tool.

I had early thoughts of perhaps sandbagging if it looked like we were in the hunt for a podium spot since the turbo guys could turn up the power if they were feeling pressure early. But first, I felt it would be wise to just go out there and get a good solid time on the board during the first session that counts, because you never know what might happen and what challenges you may face later on.

First time attack session, 1:50.9. Already broke the Miata lap record. OOPS, so much for sandbagging. Even better, we were sitting in first! Change of tactics then, let’s give it everything and let them chase us if they can. By the end of day 1 the sub-1:50 was in the bag with a 1:49.9!

Unofficial results at the end of day 1 had us in P1 with 2nd through 6th all scrambling for position in the 1:51-1:52 range. No point holding back now, for day 2 we swapped to fresh tires for the cool morning session, but I made the error of getting to grid late and had to go out in the back of the pack. I spent four laps carving through the field, and finally by lap 5 had clean track ahead but the tires were over temp.

Track temp was up substantially by session 2 but with good data from day 1 at these temps we dialed in what should work well and went out. I was still adjusting to what the car is capable of doing and beginning to feel comfortable with it. 1:48.7! Session 3, hottest and thus slowest of the day. Still found a cleaner line and another two tenths of a second. 1:48.5!

Session 4, the Superlap session. First flyer was feeling amazing – first time flat on the throttle from the exit of cotton corners through the right/left kink all the way to braking for bus stop. Nearly flat through the entire high-speed section of Riverside at 110+ mph. The car was magic. Then an Evo caught fire and the track was red flagged. That gave the tires some time to cool at least. We did a lap under yellow and then it was back to green. Another lap feeling better than ever, just flying – right until I caught up to another car at the worst time – in the middle of Sweeper where it’s nearly impossible to pass until after the esses. Another throw-away lap. I slowed to let that car go and went for it again. Tires were getting hot now and it didn’t feel as quick. Still set a 1:48.483!!!

Final results –
No other car in Limited RWD went under 1:51, my final time took the win by nearly 3 full seconds. Further, we were only hundredths of a second off from the fastest overall Limited class time. And the previous Miata lap record? Nearly 3 seconds below that, on the street tires.

On the podium, collected the champagne, big fake check and plaque and then yes, I yelled “Miata is the answer” to the crowd of (mostly) non-Miata drivers.

On top of all this, we had a ridiculous Miata turn-out at the event, with the largest number of one single car make represented there. While I was cleaning up in Limited, Emilio took the win in Unlimited! Moti and Aaron both set new PBs, and there were probably several more Miata achievements there that I’m not thinking of. This was one for the books.

Official results are up on the GTA site. I’ve just noticed this car beat the entire Limited AWD class as well, GTRs and all. Quite pleased with that.

Wow limited class is STACKED this year. 31 cars total in Limited.

Here are the RWD entries:

2017 Miatas @ MRLS! The final week of prep before the event there was a lot of crunching to get things done in time. Lots of little details here and there, and finished it up with completing the color scheme on the car which included wrapping the new hood and adding details on some other panels.

Made the pilgrimage up to Laguna Seca and had an awesome three days up there. In short, more confirmation that the car has lots of potential.. this isn’t the type of event for putting down fast laps, we’re mostly giving rides and making sure to play nice with all the traffic out there, but Sunday morning I did get one fun clear lap. I wasn’t pushing things, just having fun chasing Jess Heitman in his V8 Prod car, waiting a month between upshifts (because we’re still chasing the shifting issue) and still that lap was good for a 1:38.6. On street tires. I wasn’t even thinking it would be a quick lap until I crossed the start/finish and saw it come up on the AIM.

Pics!

Holy tire deflection batman!

And footage of a fun lap! The sound of that motor echoing off the pit wall going down the front straight is just rock and roll. But the best part was getting my dad in the car for a couple laps and his reaction at the end:

I did have a sound issue over the weekend. Car hit 107db in the cool morning air XD so a track-side fix was needed. Brian had the great idea to rotate the passenger side muffler on the V-band so the outlet was pointed at the ground instead of straight at the sound booth (which is located at right side of the track between turn 6 and 7). A little MacGyver action with a coat hanger and things were adequately suspended from the mounting points. Sound check confirmed this dropped output to 101-102 db at the booth and I ran it this way the rest of the weekend:

A couple clips Greg took from trackside:

Saturday: Mazfest 2017

Finally! Time to go stretch the car’s legs and see how it runs. This weekend was the first big shakedown. This is pretty much a completely fresh build at this point, and so you have to expect to discover issues and there’s a long teething process as issues are sorted out, items fixed and improved, etc. once it’s being used at the race track. This weekend was all about getting the car out there and running it as much as possible to discover those issues and to take home a long but focused to-do list for how to improve the setup.

Saturday was Mazfest at Auto Club Speedway and I had a great time showing the car when I wasn’t on track.

On-track was special, after this much time building the car it was great to just feel the thing doing what it is built to do. There is a lot of power on tap and the engine is super smooth and worlds better than the old turbo setup. Torque is just always there if you want it. I’m delighted to find the car is still very “Miata” with great balance and drives just like it should just with much more motor attached to the right pedal. That was the biggest goal with going with this engine package over alternatives that might weigh a bit more.

Here’s a run-down of notes on each system and any issues that did spring up.

– Engine (max temp 225 water / 265° oil): no issues to report. Ran like a dream, makes power everywhere. Currently running with no oil cooler, just the factory filter housing. Oil cooler will bring oil temp down a good chunk once I have that in and working.

– Transmission (max temp 200°): Grinding on upshifts. I believe it’s a pedal/rod length issue. Bled the system after 1st session with no effect. Drove around it the rest of the weekend by trying to be VERY patient on shifts to let the rpms drop to where they needed to be on the next gear… which was somewhat successful. Gearing is good. Used 3-4-5 at this track which has a really low speed ~50mph tight right at the end. 3rd pulled right out of it, I won’t ever be using 2nd on a road course.

– Differential (max temp 180°): puking fluid out of the vent on top. V8R says running a breather line will fix this. Otherwise, the limited slip characteristics feel great.

– Power steering (max temp 190°): leaking fluid from the cap. We’re suspecting it’s from high-G right-hand turns which effectively submerges the left/lower side of the non-sealed cap. I’m implement a fix in the next couple days. Steering feel with the NB power rack is good and I’m much less worn out at the end of a session than with a manual rack. I think I’ll be keeping the power steering for a while.

– Ergonomics: new seating position and controls are all perfect. I did accidentally hit the fuel pump switch to off when shifting once. Might need to move the switches or add a guard.

– Display dash: I’ve already forgotten how I lived without one of these. The dash is set up to monitor all the temperatures and pressures without me having to do anything. If something is amiss, it lights up a warning light and lets me know. Otherwise, I just drive.

– Suspension: the spherical bearings and Feal 442 shocks are butter. I haven’t even begun making adjustments here yet, just set compression and rebound to dead center of the available range and left them there while I focused on everything else.

– Brakes: The V8R/ST four wheel kit has some serious stopping power and is easy to modulate.

– Powdercoat: powdercoating has a “squish” in the coating that prevents proper torque on bolts. I lost a spindle to caliper bracket bolt on track which prompted checking every bolt on the car that was in a powdercoated surface. Several had loosened. The rest of the weekend I re-torqued bolts after every 2 sessions. Will be adding split lock washers to most of those bolts this week since the lock washer will cut through the coating.

A great thing about the temps listed above for steering, diff and transmission is this confirms what we suspected – these items are all way under-stressed in a small lightweight Miata. Zero need for diff or transmission coolers.

Joe working the pedal while I bleed brakes:

Chatting with Sean about something. Probably about how something tried to fall off the car:

It was great fun to see so many friends at Mazfest who were there for the track day portion or who just came up to check things out. Being back out on track in my own car with fellow Roadster Cup guys felt great:

Spent all of Saturday with a passenger riding along and sorting out issues, and got absolutely no clean laps without traffic but I still ended up setting the fastest time by a Mazda at Mazfest with a 1:11.x.

Quite honestly surprised by how much pace the car had out of the box with zero time spent on dialing things in. Since it was still running well I signed up for the Redline Time Attack competition coming up the next day and grabbed a hotel for the night.

Sunday: Redline Time Attack

Sunday morning first practice session in the cool air I went out with no passenger and did a 1:08.763. That is a new lap record for a Miata at this track (Auto Club Speedway Infield) by a gap of almost 3 seconds.

Time sheets after the practice session revealed that not only was it looking like I could take the win in my Limited Rear Wheel Drive class, I was actually within range of contention for the top overall time with the unlimited cars. There’s no way I could ignore that carrot dangling out in front of me so “I’m just testing things this weekend” went out the window at this point and it was game on. I did a little research around the paddock to scope out the cars that were at the top of the time sheets with me:

At the top of the sheets, this 500hp BMW M4 built for NASA ST1 competition running in Unlimited RWD:

Bulletproof Automotive’s 750hp GTR in Limited AWD:

Time Attack veteran Amir with a 660hp aluminum V8 swapped E36 M3 in Unlimited RWD:

In true Time Attack fashion, Redline has just two Time Attack sessions where it all counts. Only three laps in the session, do or die time. Cars are pre-gridded by lap time from practice so I was third in line behind just the GTR and M4.

That lap took 1st overall by a gap of just 0.08 seconds ahead of the M4.

By the second afternoon time attack session temperature had climbed a lot and some teams didn’t run because they knew they wouldn’t go faster. The GTR and M4 both went out to try to take the top spot. They both went slower. I did a 1:08.8 again, so that lap would have been even faster in the cool morning.

SO… first shakedown weekend with the car… fastest Mazda at Mazfest, 1st place Limited RWD and Top Time overall at Redline Time Attack, and a new Miata Lap Record.

We’re on the right track here. With some more track and tuning time this car is going to rip.

Had an awesome weekend at the track. If the shakedown was any indication, there are great things ahead. Jumped right back into another crazy work week here at GWR so I’m still working on getting a bit of a writeup together with pics/vid but will get things up as soon as I can!

Brett from TrackHQ posted this clip in my build thread over there. Sums things up.