Birth of a Race Car

[Cool Cat Racing]

This is our R&D car we have used for several years now to develop ways to make miata's go faster and better setup the suspension. Since the motor finally let go after nearly 6 years of abuse we figured its time to step up the car and make it perform in the level we need it to. Well it was already a very competitive car as it was but its time to take it from a good track car to a race car. The car is now moving from a dominant autocross setup to a serious Time Trial car. With the new round of work we are focusing on balanced power of 300-350whp and aerodynamics. The car will now have the power to see speeds high enough that improving the aero will start to see major gains in both times and stability. The motor is being built here by myself with Wiseco 9.0:1 1mm overbored pistons, Carillo H-beam rods, ACL bearings, Supertech valvetrain, ATI damper, BEGi intake manifold and coolant reroute to keep the rear cylinders cooler, Flyin Miata 2871 turbo setup with 740cc injectors, BEGi 3"exhaust, Bethania Garage full roll cage, and the list continues. All this is added to the already long list of current modifications to the car. I'll keep updating with new pics as I build the motor which should be back from the machine shop today. Here's some pics of the undertrays I'm making to keep the air traveling smoothly underneath to lower the drag and reduce lift. We're also using Wheeler VG's on the roof to pull the air down the glass and reduce drag on the rear end which will also reduce lift on the rear end.

[00CelicaGT]

very nice cant wiat to see it finished. should be a very competitve car.

[ranj]

why not just go with a v8 swap? wouldnt it have the same power that you are looking for say and ls1?
just out of curiosity, i'm no expert with miatas so i apologize if this sounds stupid lol.

[Cool Cat Racing]

why not just go with a v8 swap? wouldnt it have the same power that you are looking for say and ls1?
just out of curiosity, i'm no expert with miatas so i apologize if this sounds stupid lol.

Actually that is reserved for the other car. We're building one this off season which is exactly that. I wanted one that uses a built turbo setup and 300-350whp that is still somewhat streetable that I can test some of my other stuff on and get some real world mileage on some of the parts before I start selling them. The next version is getting a slightly massaged LS2. With the way it goes in the motor sits in nearly the same location as the 1.8L and has a surprising amount of room around it. The extra weight is more central than the 1.8L so it will be slightly heavier but have a better bias since all the stuff I can remove from the car is behind the rear wheels which gives the car a slight nose heavy bias otherwise. The LS2 setup will only push it up one class with NASA because of the extra power, otherwise the cars will be similar in suspension but the LS2 version will have slightly large wheels/tires.

[iloveboost]

Neat. I can't wait to see both finished cars.

[STI101]

Its gonna be a beast.

[Lucky DAWG]

Its gonna be a beast.

you don't happen to have green underglow on your jeep and grace Barrett Parkway on the weekends do you?

[FasTech]

I deff. wanna see more of this project!

[JITB]

That motor is gonna be bulletproof!! cant wait to see the motor.

[J-ROCK]

this is gonna be a bad ass build! cant wait to see the finished product

[fawk_you]

Thunder. Get slideways. WORD! CCR f0 LYF3.

[yogi08]

how come CCR doesnt have a drag car? regaurdless, if this miata is anything like riding in yalls lotus... itll be a BLAST

[Cool Cat Racing]

how come CCR doesnt have a drag car? regaurdless, if this miata is anything like riding in yalls lotus... itll be a BLAST

None of us really see the point in drag racing. I do that every time I come onto a straight except at the end of those few seconds I don't have to go park in the staging lanes for 30 minutes just to wait to do it again. It just doesn't compare to flying around a road course wheel to wheel. This car I would imagine would easily run a 12 even with our non drag racing selves driving, some others would certainly be able to squeeze more time out of it but its not worth the time. The LS2 car will see the drag strip just for sh1ts and giggles since that will blow the minds of the rednecks around here. Lea Anne, you're one of the few who remembers where this car started. I still have the T-shirt with the pic of that car sitting in the ditch all mangled up. Lord its come a long way since then.

[AFSil80]

None of us really see the point in drag racing. I do that every time I come onto a straight except at the end of those few seconds I don't have to go park in the staging lanes for 30 minutes just to wait to do it again. It just doesn't compare to flying around a road course wheel to wheel. This car I would imagine would easily run a 12 even with our non drag racing selves driving, some others would certainly be able to squeeze more time out of it but its not worth the time. The LS2 car will see the drag strip just for sh1ts and giggles since that will blow the minds of the rednecks around here. Lea Anne, you're one of the few who remembers where this car started. I still have the T-shirt with the pic of that car sitting in the ditch all mangled up. Lord its come a long way since then.

Jimmy asked if it would be ok for him to pull the chute on the drag car at the end of an auto-x...I told him that I didn't think people would care so much about that, but picking up EVERY cone on the course b/c of the car's lack of a turning radius, haha.

Like I said on MR, I'm interested to see how this car progresses!

[Elbow]

Cool, looks good. I am doing similar with my car, except leaving it NA with itb's. I am working on a full rear diffuser right now out of a diffuser from a Ferrari F430 challenge car.

[fawk_you]

Lea Anne, you're one of the few who remembers where this car started. I still have the T-shirt with the pic of that car sitting in the ditch all mangled up. Lord its come a long way since then.

Yes'em! You gota remember ive been there pretty much since day one.
Still got my haynes that Cindy made for me too. Fmaily.

[Cool Cat Racing]

Yes'em! You gota remember ive been there pretty much since day one.
Still got my haynes that Cindy made for me too. Fmaily.

I made that thong, you were standing right there. In a bit I'm going to post some pics of the motor as it went together.

[fawk_you]

I made that thong, you were standing right there. In a bit I'm going to post some pics of the motor as it went together.

Thought Cindy did it. Oh well either way I got it. haha

[BUGMAN]

None of us really see the point in drag racing.

Until you put a car on the back bumper for 100 feet or so you never will.
To each his own but I like racing of any kind whether it be road course, drag racing, dirt track, ATV, Motocross, asphalt, etc..

Hey WTF is the chrome moly looking part in the box? I am not very educated on the Miata's but it does appear to be chrome moly in that pic.

Good luck with the build.

[BUGMAN]

Hey WTF is the chrome moly looking part in the box?

Not sure what moly piece you're looking at. If you're talking about the NACA duct under the diff its actually made of plastic. Its job is to pull air from under the car to blow on the diff since it won't get any airflow with the paneling under it.

I see the gauge boxes, another box, a black hose maybe and then the only thing that resembles chrome moly to me.

[OTG Signs]

Does that thing really need 70lb injectors to push 350whp?

[YokotaS13]

Does that thing really need 70lb injectors to push 350whp?

man i was thinking the same exact thing


regardless
****s pimp
i cant wait to see the progress which is walways way better thanjust seeing the end product

[Greddypacked]

Nice looks like a fun build.

[Cool Cat Racing]

No, it definately doesn't need 740's for that level. The setup is honestly sitting at the lower power levels I'm shooting for. Depending on where my adjusted HP/Weight ends up for TTU I will set the power level then. I've got way too much power for TTS and I don't want to overshoot TTU. Here's some pics of the progress of today. Waiting on my oil pump which will be here in the morning and then I can get the timing components, main girdle, and oil pan on. Once I do that it's coming off the stand for the tranny and then back in the car. I'll take some pics as we go tomorrow, if I'm going to be ready for next weekend the motor has to be in the car and nearly done by the end of Monday.





I really love this motor, I had to make sweet lovin to it down by the fire.



Temporary factory manifold to run at CMP till the new hotness from BEGi arrives. The turbo setup won't be here in time either so it will be supercharged for this last race, then the sexy time begins.

In this last one you can see the groovy coolant reroute which helps keep the rear cylinders from burning up. This setup will actually use 2 thermostats to help regulate flow through the motor, one up front and one in the rear so everything should stay as even as possible.

[OTG Signs]

It's definately better to shoot higher with fuel rather than to risk it running lean. I did on one of my past cars, and it was a ***** to get it worked out.

[josh green]

Reminds me of the time attack Miata that SCC did a while back. It was black and blue and hade some money put in it. I loved the fneder flares.

[Elbow]

Reminds me of the time attack Miata that SCC did a while back. It was black and blue and hade some money put in it. I loved the fneder flares.

Yeah I remember that, it was quite sexy

[green91]

Gotta love closed deck blocks, that thing looks tough!

[IndianStig]

niceeeeee

[00CelicaGT]

^^x2

[green91]

Im not a huge fan of the miata itself but that motor is very enticing.

[slostang]

this looks ballin!!! I might have to ride down and take a peek.


quick q, are we (FCC) still sponsored by you guys? or did that drop when Galen and shane left? just need to know bc I need tires soon.

[Cool Cat Racing]

Nope, that discount is valid to the club, not just those members so its still there for any current members. The next race we are attending is at CMP in Kershaw, SC this weekend which is why I have to put in some extra time on this one. I still have to do all the gauges once the motor is in and realign the new suspension bits and break the motor in by thursday night since it goes on the trailer friday morning. We kept saying that when the motor died it was coming back crazy and plenty of aero to keep it stable and fast. I didn't think it would happen less than 2 weeks before a race though. The turbo and ubersex setup will hopefully be ready before Road Atlanta in August. Can't wait to see the faces of the Z06's that can't seem to leave that pesky miata behind them. They will be able to pull a little down the straight past the black flag station but that will evaporate very quick. This car should be able to top out fifth gear on the back straight which will only put it about 150mph while the Z06's can crest 170mph.

[FasTech]

Looking good! Thats all I can say.

[Cool Cat Racing]

Well here's the progress for today. It was a late one seeing as we had some issues with some of the new stuff wanting to fit already on the motor. After I got it in I realized it wouldn't have been so bad to put on with the motor in the car, next time I will just put it in while the motor is in the car.

NACA duct from one of my spares for the Elise. I made a diverter that sits just behind it to direct the air up onto the diff fins for better cooling.

The front section of the engine undertray. The splitter will attach here to provide a smooth transition under the bumper.


Motors in and nearly ready to start. Not happy about the supercharger still being there but its only for a one race.

Here's the preliminary positioning of the VG's. Still debating running 3 of them down the sides of the top. I'll probably do a few more calculations before I worry about it. Won't do a whole lot till the wing is on there anyways.

[fawk_you]

Looking great Ryan! So nice to see Thunder come so far.

[yogi08]

Looks great, but are you building this car for a track like roebling?

[Elbow]

What event is at CMP? NASA in August?

[Cool Cat Racing]

Both events are NASA events. Joey, this car is being setup for a general track setup that I can adjust as needed for the different tracks. Roebling, CMP, and Barber will be the three tracks it will be best suited to as they don't have really long straights. I'll just give up a bit at RA on the back straight no matter what I do.

[yogi08]

Awesome man... cant wait to see it. Whens the next time youll be down here? wasnt sure if you were still datin that girl here haha.

also left you a blog comment via myspace homie.