PROJECT ND: Parts Development, Testing, Measurements, DYNO

[Brian]

STR legal roll, aggressive but not near as severe as the 'flat up' we need on NC for 255mm tires for STR.

[Sean @ GWR]

Hot lap with Brian at Streets of Willow with our ND Project!

[njaremka]

what was that tinking off his helmet in the beginning?!?

[Brian]

what was that tinking off his helmet in the beginning?!?

A little rock...which is why you can get black flagged without eye protection.

[njaremka]

what was that tinking off his helmet in the beginning?!?

A little rock...which is why you can get black flagged without eye protection.

Yowzers!!!

[AndrewD459]

Hi Brian

Just picked up my brand new Ceramic (love the colour) 2 litre, manual ND this week is Australia and already have a ecutek tune lined up and a set of progress sway bars on order from Chris. My wife also recently got a manual ecoboost Mustang and the two cars are fantastic. The mx5 is far more tractable and easy to drive but the mustang is obvoiusly more powerful and noticeably more rigid. I can't help but notice the scuttle and shimmy of the mx5 compared to the fastback mustang. I was interested in your thoughts about how effective the braces (engine bay and underbody) are at eliminating the scuttle and shake issues. Keep in mind that this mx5 is going to be 99% road car with a few track days here and there. So the only other plans in the future are an upgrade in tyres when the factory one wear out (215/45/17 or 225/45/17) and upgraded brake pads and stainless hoses and maybe 2 piece discs when required.

[Brian]

The braces help, but won't make the convertible feel as solid as a hard top car. Mazda could have made it stiffer but they were more focused on keeping it light.

[Brian]

ND Top coming along nicely, had pics in rough on this ND over 6 months ago but didn't want to post until we got to this stage, which is the finished race shell. Hope to have it on our site in next 30 to 60 days.

More headroom than stock, I am 6'2 and still have 3 inches for helmet with this top.

Though you can't see it from the pics, it clears the roll bar by about 2 inches.

Fiberglass shown, will be UBER SEXY Carbon Fiber Option too.

Price not set yet. Race shell version shown uses front and side metal brackets and made to work with Blackbird Fabworx bars. This first one on the way to MiataCage soon for check of clearance to cage. Street version will get seals all around and likely be setup to use factory front latch and rear frankenstein bolts like classic NA/NB/NC tops.

There is discussion of molded rear lexan piece for street version that would not need the rivets. My crystal ball not clear enough at this point to say when that would happen.

[Nliiitend1]

[Brian]

Sneak Peak!

After much demand, more than a dozen prototypes, finally we can show the Super Street Twin Tip!

Drove it all day...yummy burble at light throttle you expect from single tip version, nice rumble as you wind it toward redline.

Still a good 30 days before they start shipping, but video soon....