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Ice mustache anyone? While this track day was on the colder side for testing absolute limits of our Koyo radiator, we didn't experience any hiccups or issues with the cooling system.The Koyo radiator made the cooling system bulletproof as well. Again, it was everything I could ask for from a dual purpose, street and track setup. In the drive up through the blizzard we had more heat than we needed and when we hit the track, the temperature never budged from its normal spot at just under halfway on the gauge. We ran the car hard all day, not shutting off the engine between track sessions so we could stay warm and there was never a complaint from the car. Koyo radiator 1, mother nature and track day, 0.
RaceChrono exports directly to VBox's Circuit Tools for analysis on PC or Mac. Interestingly, Circuit Tools creates different splits than the RaceChrono app on the phone. With 10hz datalogging rate on the GPS, it is plenty accurate for comparing brake zones and corner speeds.As the track dried, I became more and more comfortable with the Miata and lap times began to fall dramatically. 5 hours into the day, the best lap time was achieved right before the track closed with a time of 2:04.75. The optimal lap time showed a 2:04.08 possible from the best 4 sectors in that session. Just for comparison’s sake, the Professional Awesome Evo has the fastest production based car time at Gingerman with a 1:29.67. With a little more practice, I could see the Miata getting pretty close to that… or not. All jokes aside, the Miata is a different and fun challenge, requiring a lot of precision to make up for being over 50 mph slower on the main straight. It’s easy to have fun with, but tough to extract that last little bit of speed. Honestly, it serves as good practice for learning a track and what's required to get the best lap time before stepping into a truly fast car.
That was day 1 of the weekend, how about day 2? It rained all day and we decided to pack it up and head home early. The Miata ran flawlessly all weekend and we really learned the strengths and weaknesses of the car. All the modifications previously installed really enhanced the track experience with little, to no negative impact on the streetability of the car, just as had been planned. With a base lap time and hard data in hand, we will look to really speed up the car with no negatives on daily driving and honestly we think we can even make improvements to its street manners in the process. Stay tuned as this project is just getting warmed up!
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