mwest

I've just committed to buying a V8. Car is in Solana Ca. I've seen pictures and spoken with the owner as well as Martin Wilson (Monster Miata) he set the car up and is familiar with the owner. This car is not now nor will it be a street car. This is my track toy that will be replacing my 1.6 JRSC track toy. I've been letting my fellow Miata track junkies know of my new acquisition. I was surprised at the level of negative comments. Essentially, they are basically saying this car will not be as much fun on the track due to the power, short wheel base, narrow track etc. It will be a handful on track therefore cutting down on my fun factor. My track days are purely for fun. My 1.6 SC Miata is a lot of fun and fairly inexpensive to maintain. I realize the days of cheap rotor, pads and tires are over--and that's OK--as long as I'm not having other maintenance issues and find myself under the car more than in the car on track. That's not my idea of having fun.

So, I need some of you track guys to reassure me that I'll still be having fun on track--only at a faster pace.

Also, if anyone is in the Solana area and can take a look at the car for me, maybe drive it and let me know if it's all it's supposed to, it would help me out. I'd pay you for your time. Let me know.PM me.
Thanks.
Thanks.

irishvol

F*!k'um !! There's always somebody who wants to pee on your campfire. Some guys like to scream around the track with their 4s at 6grand doing 80mph......I like to scream around the track with my V8 at 6 grand doing 140mph. Whatever blows your dress up. Some of these girls like to hang on to the old trite ideas of what a "true sports car" is supposed to be. You know the type.....they wear silly little hats and driving gloves and somehow image themselves to be "Continential". Of course their "sports cars" are still air conditioned with power steering, brakes, windows, traction control, anti-lock brakes,AM/FM/CD players, etc. but for some reason anything to do with horsepower is anathma. **** on'um.....dump the clutch and GO FOR IT!!

mwest

Irishvol,
Sounds like you're another track junkie. I do about 20+ track days per season. I love being on track. I love the fact that my Miata is pretty much bullet proof. A few of my fellow track buddies have spent lots of cash modifying the engines on their vettes, mustangs etc. Now they've spent all this cash (way more than my car cost) but have never ending problems. Most of the time they are lucky to finish 1 or 2 sessions of a weekend. I don't want to become one of those guys.

It seems I can't find anyone that tracks these things more than 1 or 2 times a year. That has me concerned--are they a PITA on track, or is it just the numbers of these are so few and most people just don't have the desire to track them?

How many track days do you typically do? And what kinds of problems if any have you run into?
Thanks for passing on your grandma's advice. I like it.

rugger

Mine has been reliability. Most of it I brought on myself by doing my own front kit. The rear and the part that Martin has hammered out over the years is bulletproof. I've had radiator/cooling issues. I had an oil leak that took me out for awhile. I've had to rework my exhaust. All of these things have already been worked out for you. I think that you will be quite impressed by the reliability of a Martin v8 miata.

I want to track the hell out of mine once it is reliable.

mwest

Rugger,
Thanks, I needed that.
I have someone going to look at the car this weekend--to give me some re-assurance that I'm getting what I agreed to.

rugger

mwest, that's not a bad idea. I used to travel out to San Diego for work. On one of my trips I went up to see Martin. He gave me a ride in his car and showed me one that he was building that was on the rack. His attention to detail is amazing and the conversions are remarkable. I think that you were over on the .net site talking about this car, but I can't recall the numbers. Is is a stroker engine? How much hp?

mwest

Not a stroker. About 325rwhp. If you send me your e-mail I can forward you the details from the seller. This car originally had an engine putting out 425hp. That blew a rod on track. The owner replaced that engine with the 302 with 70K on it, I think primarily to have a running car to sell.

chpmnsws6

That looked like a fun track car. The essence of the miata is still present, so the price will follow it. Since its a near stock 5.0 IIRC from the description, it will be a bit quicker then an FMII, but still in the same general league of fast, but not stupid on the track.

rugger

I'm sitting at 300rwhp now, and I'd like another 100hp. I think that would put me in a "stupid" class. My car is not scary at all, and I'd like to have a scary position on my right pedal. You should be really quick on the track with that car. My issue on my home track is going to be that I top out at ~135mph in my 4 speed car, and most of the others racing have 6 speeds or 150+mph capability. I suspect that I'm going to run out of gear on the back stretch. That's a fast corner leading to a 4/10 mile straight. I'd definitely be redlined at 7000 rpm running down it.

mwest

Rugger,
Where is this track?
Judging by some of the corner names I'm guessing Canada?
Thanks again for the reassurance that the car will not be wildly uncontrollable.
Of the tracks I go to Watkins Glen and depending on the configuration used that day Pocono would probably let me hit the highest straight line speeds. That's OK, but what I'm looking for is getting to the corners quicker and getting out quicker. I am hoping to get through the corners as fast or maybe faster than I did with my 1.6SC Miata. For me this is all about fun. HPDE has no prizes no money, only self satisfaction and fun. That being said I was getting tired of getting into the corners catching that Vette or 911 and then have them run away from me coming out of the corners. I just want to be able to
hang with them throughout the whole track. I'm hoping this is the set up that will let me do that. That would be fun.

rugger

It's out east of Denver, CO. The track is new, and it's nice. Here's a lap description write-up.

http://www.rmcbmwcca.org/DrivingScho...escription.pdf

Here's the track website:
http://www.highplainsraceway.com/track.html

MRM331

Morris, last year at Pocono I got passed ONCE. It was a Z06 Corvette. It was my first track day. You will have fun.

-Jason

mwest

Rugger,
That track looks like it should be a blast. My other guess for location was Colorado, but I always picture it as mountains--I forget there are some plains there too. When are you getting on track again?

Jason,
I missed you last year at Pocono. That was with Delval. I got there after you had left, I think some thing minor ended your day. Will you be there with DelVal this July? Maybe we can get on track together? I am hoping to get this car here early enough to do a few track days before Pocono. I have 2 days at The glen then a few days booked with NASA end of this month at NJMP and then mid-June with PCA. Depending on how things go and if you've got time I may get the car to you after my Mid-June days at NJMP. After that I'm done till Pocono with DelVal.

rugger

There are some sweet elevation changes on the course. I can't wait. I'm not sure when I'll be back on. I've been fighting oil leaks, and I don't want to be the guy leaving oil on the track. I'm also considering what to do for brakes. Mine are pretty inadequate as they are OEM. I can't spring for big brakes right now. I can do a homebrew setup for about $600, but I need to wait until Fall to pull the trigger. I'll probably look at what some of the 4cyl guys are running and copy their brake pad selection. To answer your question: Hopefully I'll hit the track in a couple of months. The other thing that I'll do is run the spectator race at Colorado National Speedway. The track is a semi-banked 3/8 mile NASCAR facility. The race consists of two cars lining up at the starting line and drag racing around the track for one lap. It's a "run what you brung" race, and the only limitations are that you must drive it to the track and wear an approved helmet. It should be a blast!

MRM331

I'm on the list for both days and will need an instructor Monday. If you have a say in who you instruct it would be a great chance for you to drive two Ford V8's back-to-back in two days...

We'd love to look the car over for you. There's a couple of "small" areas where we've made a couple of improvements you may want to take advantage of. All in all buying a "Martin Original" is pretty much as good as it gets.

Big Congrats on your purchase!

-Jason

mwest

Sounds great. I'll put my dibs in to ride with you. Should be a blast.
I have a Ford V8 Miata guy from San Diego going to look the car over for me on Sun.
I'm arranging for transport now--should be finalized by Mon.

Hope to have the car by end of May.
Hope to get car to you after my PCA track days--if you have the time.

rugger

Transport? Heck, I'd have drove it there for you.

mwest

Rugger,
Thanks for the offer, but it would be a tough drive for you.
Car has no:
Side windows
Wipers or wiper motor
Headlights
Heater/defroster
You kinda get the picture.

mwest

Jason,
You got me at Pocono with DelVal.
One of our fellow MiataV8 guys in the San Diego area took a ride to get a look at the car for me. His exact words were: "You got a smoke-in deal, engine sounds great".
Hope to get the car on a transporter by middle of next week.

MRM331

Cool! Pocono this year is going to Rock!

My father and I would love to look the car over for you when you get it back here...and remember us when you feel the need to upgrade that engine (MRM331R maybe????).

-Jason

MRM331

Updates?

mwest

Nothing to report yet.
Will be scheduling vehicle transport P/U today. Hopefully, they can pick it up in a few days and get to me in a about 10 days after pick up.

mwest

Car scheduled to arrive Fri. between 1 & 4PM.
Heading to NJMP on Sun.
Looking forward to giving it and myself a shake down on track Sun.
May be back at track on June 6-7, then definitely back on track on June 14-15.
We'll be getting a bit of a work out the next 2 weeks.

chpmnsws6

Friday came and went...... lets hear it!