Mazdaspeed Protege5

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Previous owner ran it in Champcar, but he took the Multimatic suspension off in favour of some more basic coilovers. Either way, right now I need seat time more than I need to worry about being competitive.

This is why you inspect everything. I found all 5 spokes cracked on one of my wheels. Fortunately, the car came with 6, so I'm not stuck trying to get new wheels right now.

A little research led me to discover that the early FD RX-7 wheels were prone to cracking, and were updated during production to be stronger (and a bit heavier). It seems that I have 2 early and 4 late production wheels. Guess which 4 are on the car now...

Test fitting myself with my new Zamp RZ-36 helmet and Stand21 Club 3 FHR. Can't wait to hit the track next week :D

What track are you hitting and when? I know Shannonville has a cheap day on October 2 that is tempting but it's a long haul to there for me.

In reply to adam525i :

I'll be at Mosport (GP track) on the 30th.

Oh, so you're going all out for the first track day, nice! Extra glad you found the wheel cracks then.

In reply to adam525i :

Go big or go home, lol.

I like that under the heat shield it says CALLAWAY on the stock Exhaust manifold. 

In reply to N7Prime :

All cleaned up and ready to rock

Can I ask what price range it was to get started this way?  Say increments of $5000.  More than 15, less than $20000?

Less than $15k?  This looks like a way better way to do it than have to learn all the rules to build to and I'm guessing it was cheaper by a good bit than starting from scratch.  TIA

In reply to Justjim75 :

I don't mind sharing the price I paid. I got the car, with spares and delivery from 180km (about 120 miles) away for all of CDN$6500 (a bit over US$5k). The car needed all regular maintenance (fluids, tires, etc.) and items with expiry dates (seat belts, etc.), but was otherwise track ready.

So with patience and good car shopping skills (this is the home of the $2000 Challenge after all) its possible to have a "real racecar" for around $10k or less!  Now I have a goal, time to get to work.  Thanks

Thoughts on my first track day:

1. I am slow, lots of practice is required

2. I didn't find the limits of 9 year old Falken Azenis

3. I need a gym, or power steering

Lots of work to do over the winter.

In reply to BMWGeoff :

How was the group to run with? Was the day well organized? Other drivers courteous with passing and point by's? Lunch? It looked like pretty decent track time for the money but it's always good to hear first hand experience.

Also nice to see that it looks like the car ran well for you, I'm not sure there are a lot of $6500 cars that almost out of the box can head on track without any issues.

In reply to adam525i :

I ran in the beginner group, and it was reasonably well organized. No major issues with passing/point by's. Instructors are available at no extra charge, and the coaching helped a lot. Lunch was ok, but if you like to eat, bring snacks and extra water. There were 7 20 minute sessions per group (beginner, advanced and open), though I had to leave early due to prior commitments, I still got 5 sessions in. 

Overall, it was a good day for me and the car. I was able to exceed 175kph up the back straight, and was letting off well before the bridge, so I could've gone faster, but my balls aren't big enough yet... same applies to turn 1, 2 and 4 lol.

I just realized I never posted any photos from the lapping day here.

Offseason maintenance has begun. 

I finally got the tuning software for the piggyback ECU... now I need to figure out how it works

Well I think I finally have a complete offseason To Do list:

1 - fluids/filters/plugs other basic maintenance items

2 - disassemble and inspect all suspension, install AWR front control arms

3 - new 17" wheels and tires

4 - new brake pads and inspect rotors, replace if needed

5 - oil pressure and water temp warning lights

6 - replace eletric oil pressure gauge with mechanical one

7 - install front brake ducts

8 - replace "catch can" plastic water bottle

9 - corner weight/alignment

10 - install passenger seat and harness for coaching purposes

11 - install additional kill switch within reach of driver, fix wiring to existing switch

12 - install proper tow hooks/straps

13 - re-certify fire system

14 - new driver seat belt

15 - install rain light

And if time and money permits:

- additional weight reduction (polycarb/lexan windows?)

- coolshirt system

- rebuild spare motor

- investigate possible aero upgrades

Some late Xmas gifts arrived today, from a couple of Canadian retailers, Perry Performance and MSGear.

BMWGeoff said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Might try some Champ Car or Lucky Dog, but since I'm a one man team, that limits things a bit.

This car is sweet! And a great candidate for Lucky Dog.  They will not care about all of the special modifications that might exclude you from SCCA/Champ/other clubs. I race with lucky dog, and also a one man show. I'd say don't let it stop you, because there is usually plenty of drivers looking for seats at races that are glad to share the cost. 

My concern for this car endurance racing would be to keep the engine cool. Turbos generate a lot of heat. Also it'll probably burn a lot of fuel.  Is the tank 13ish gallons on the wagon as well? We raced a very slow protege sedan 1.6 for 10 years in chumpcar and lemons.  It handled very good and was excellent in the rain. I hear yah about the PS, that thing was miserable to drive without it!

Lucky dog has a spec tire, the RS4. If you want to race with them, they do have a 225/50/16 tire that you can run, and they guarantee them in stock for LDRL teams (you order direct from hankook motorsports). That is if you keep the 16's (I run the same size). 

Good luck!

MaxC said:

BMWGeoff said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Might try some Champ Car or Lucky Dog, but since I'm a one man team, that limits things a bit.

This car is sweet! And a great candidate for Lucky Dog.  They will not care about all of the special modifications that might exclude you from SCCA/Champ/other clubs. I race with lucky dog, and also a one man show. I'd say don't let it stop you, because there is usually plenty of drivers looking for seats at races that are glad to share the cost. 

My concern for this car endurance racing would be to keep the engine cool. Turbos generate a lot of heat. Also it'll probably burn a lot of fuel.  Is the tank 13ish gallons on the wagon as well? We raced a very slow protege sedan 1.6 for 10 years in chumpcar and lemons.  It handled very good and was excellent in the rain. I hear yah about the PS, that thing was miserable to drive without it!

Lucky dog has a spec tire, the RS4. If you want to race with them, they do have a 225/50/16 tire that you can run, and they guarantee them in stock for LDRL teams (you order direct from hankook motorsports). That is if you keep the 16's (I run the same size). 

Good luck!

I'm going to start with sprint racing in CASC, but I'm not going to limit myself to that in the long run. Lucky Dog Canada allows you to buy 1 hour sprint segments during their races to bring up the car counts/offset the overall costs.

I'm not sure how much I want to run 94 octane at our gas prices for 7-8 hour races, nevermind the heat and lack of power steering concerns. The tank is listed as 55 litres (14.5 gallons). I haven't had the car long enough to determine how long that'll last on track.

I'm upgrading to 17s this winter, so I'll have lots of tire options, especially if I decide to flare the fenders a bit. 

Tow straps and rain light installed

New fire bottle in place. Old one was due to be recertified in 2005, so I just replaced it.

And my son testing out the new Schroth harness.

New (to me) wheels arrived today :D