MX5 Mk1 Track Day Prep

[VladD]

Hi all. I've booked my first ever trackday at Donington in November, so I need to get my MX5 up and running again and then get it ready for track. I don't plan to go mad with modifications initially, but the first thing I want to do is get some seats in that will support me better than the original leather ones. Sparco Sprint seats look like a good budget option and if I go for those I thought about some 6 point harnesses as they should help keep me planted in the car. I'm 5'11" and about 13 stone, so I'm hoping I'll fit in the seat snugly. Would I be able to use the original seat runners or would I be better off using side mounts to get lower in the car?

My car doesn't have a roll bar, but does have a pretty solid style bar that has a horizontal bar that could be used for attaching the shoulder straps to. From what I've read there should be virtually zero chance of me rolling the car unless I'm an idiot or very unlucky, so my current thinking is that the style bar should be Ok and I don't need to go for a more substantial roll bar.

Thoughts?

[Furyblade_Lee]

Mate don’t strap your seat belts to the style bar…..

[snotrag]

VladD said:

Thoughts?

Make sure the pads and tyres are half decent and the brake fluid isn't years and years old. Top the oil up.

That's it. Do not worry about seats, harnesses etc etc for a long time yet. Your over thinking it.

And especially DO NOT attach harnesses to a style bar.

[Furyblade_Lee]

There are lots of aftermarket roll bars like TR Lane for around £300, maybe less. And 4 point harnesses are plenty .

[snotrag]

There are, I even ran a a TR Lane on mk1 and they are good.

But that would also pay for 2 more trackdays.



Said it before on here loads of times - I know loads of people that are 'gonna do a trackday' once they've finished their build, fitted bucket seats, bought some new wheels, upgraded the suspension... How many of them have actually DONE many trackdays? None.

[VladD]

OK, so style bar a no go then.

Snotrag, the only reason for changing the seats is that the standard ones have almost zero support and I'm too old be to bracing myself all day.

[snotrag]

VladD said:

OK, so style bar a no go then.

Snotrag, the only reason for changing the seats is that the standard ones have almost zero support and I'm too old be to bracing myself all day.

Have a go at a foamectomy for free, makes a massive difference!

[VladD]

snotrag said:

VladD said:

OK, so style bar a no go then.

Snotrag, the only reason for changing the seats is that the standard ones have almost zero support and I'm too old be to bracing myself all day.

Have a go at a foamectomy for free, makes a massive difference!

That's a thought.

[Furyblade_Lee]

I have been around these for 20 years. Take your standard MX5 and :

Mintex 1144 pads. New fluid .

Uniroyal Rainsport / Rainexpert or Michelin Pilotsport tyres.

Service it. New oil and antifreeze. You won’t break it…..

Get 4-wheel alignment done.

Enjoy on trackday!!!

THEN……

Decent proper roll hoop with harness bar.

4 point harnesses, but you need seats with harness slots.

Seats? I have ( rare now? ) Mazda RX7 turbo alcantara seats fitted to original MX5 runners with a simple flat adaptor plate. Full movement, articulation, you dont slip about. Elise seats can be made to fit, or regular cheap competition seats. Just, if you use harnesses,make sure you have slots through the seats so they will not fall off your shoulders in an accident.

Suspension….. Decent suspension like Meister will transform it. Just don’t go too hard, will ruin the car on the road. I have HSD and it is not as nice on the road as I would like ( acceptable though ) but on track in the damp you really can’t crash it , it drifts and slides completely predictable and is hilarious!!

[VladD]

Furyblade_Lee said:

I have been around these for 20 years. Take your standard MX5 and :

Mintex 1144 pads. New fluid .

Uniroyal Rainsport / Rainexpert or Michelin Pilotsport tyres.

Service it. New oil and antifreeze. You won’t break it…..

Get 4-wheel alignment done.

Enjoy on trackday!!!

THEN……

Decent proper roll hoop with harness bar.

4 point harnesses, but you need seats with harness slots.

Seats? I have ( rare now? ) Mazda RX7 turbo alcantara seats fitted to original MX5 runners with a simple flat adaptor plate. Full movement, articulation, you dont slip about. Elise seats can be made to fit, or regular cheap competition seats. Just, if you use harnesses,make sure you have slots through the seats so they will not fall off your shoulders in an accident.

Suspension….. Decent suspension like Meister will transform it. Just don’t go too hard, will ruin the car on the road. I have HSD and it is not as nice on the road as I would like ( acceptable though ) but on track in the damp you really can’t crash it , it drifts and slides completely predictable and is hilarious!!

Thanks Lee, I'll have a look at those pads and tyres.

[ncjones]

Sensible advice on here!

I did my first track day last month in my mk3 MX5. I’d had the alignment done already and knew the engine and other key bits were good.

For the car I took:

spare oil (didn’t need any)
Tyre pressure gauge and pump
Duck tape (didn’t need it)
Small tool box (didn’t need it)

Took it out 5 times for ca. 15 minutes a time, over the day, lots of fun. I will probably add a decent set of coil overs later this year, but otherwise it did great.

[carl_w]

snotrag said:

Said it before on here loads of times - I know loads of people that are 'gonna do a trackday' once they've finished their build, fitted bucket seats, bought some new wheels, upgraded the suspension... How many of them have actually DONE many trackdays? None.

Totally agree. You can take any car on the track and as long as you don't overdo it you'll be fine. When you feel like the tyres or brakes are starting to fall away, do a cooldown lap, come in and leave it for 15 mins. Some "fast road" pads and decent brake fluid will help.

[jassihayre]

From what I can remember if you're going with bucket seats you cant use regular universal type bucket seat side mount plates as the mounting points in the car for the seat runners are longer and at an angle. You will need specific mounting frames like these

https://bofiracing.co.uk/body-styling/safety/seat-...

[VladD]

Without wishing to appear a dick, I see that TR Lane sell a harness bar which attaches to the seat belt towers. Purely from a harness attaching standpoint, how is that different from attaching harnesses to a style bar? Is the issue with a style bar it's inherent lack of strength or that it compromises the harness in the case of a rollover?

[brillomaster]

thats just it, a style bar is for styling, its not strong enough to fix harnesses too, unlike a harness bar which is designed for the job.

[VladD]

brillomaster said:

thats just it, a style bar is for styling, its not strong enough to fix harnesses too, unlike a harness bar which is designed for the job.

Thanks.

[Gilhooligan]

A style bar would likely collapse if you put the weight of the car on it.

Another thing to check is the brake callipers - make sure they are all working fine. Half the battle I had with my mx5 was just having them in normal working order. Made a huge difference to braking performance.

[Dave.]

You can fit sparco sprints to oem rails with these - https://www.jassperformance.com/shop/sparco_seat_r...

Depending on your leg/torso ratio, this might have you sat a bit higher than optimal.

I’m a few inch shorter than you and I wouldn’t want to be much higher. (I have a mk2 with a hardtop though, can’t remember if they give more headroom or less than the soft top.)

I find I’m sat a bit too upright with the sprint/jass adapters, but if I tilted the seat back on side mounts, I’d have to sit closer to the wheel so I could fully depress the pedals.

I’ve done a 3hr road trip each way and a track day and I was more comfortable than the oem seat, and no bruised knee from bracing myself.


Eta - please remove the tinfoil mousetrap before your track day.

Edited by Dave. on Monday 30th May 18:25

[VladD]

Dave. said:

You can fit sparco sprints to oem rails with these - https://www.jassperformance.com/shop/sparco_seat_r...

Depending on your leg/torso ratio, this might have you sat a bit higher than optimal.

I’m a few inch shorter than you and I wouldn’t want to be much higher. (I have a mk2 with a hardtop though, can’t remember if they give more headroom or less than the soft top.)

I find I’m sat a bit too upright with the sprint/jass adapters, but if I tilted the seat back on side mounts, I’d have to sit closer to the wheel so I could fully depress the pedals.

I’ve done a 3hr road trip each way and a track day and I was more comfortable than the oem seat, and no bruised knee from bracing myself.


Eta - please remove the tinfoil mousetrap before your track day.

Edited by Dave. on Monday 30th May 18:25

I think I want to get lower in the car, so will probably go for the seat mounts that Jaspal suggested above.

The style bar will be removed before the track day. It looks like it's better not to have one at all than than have one. I may put a proper rollbar in, just to be on the safe side.

That car's a bit of a mess isn't it.

[Dave.]

Not trying to teach you how to suck eggs etc…. (Or spend your money )

Those side mounts are fixed, once the seat is in you may find it awkward to get out, (especially in a hurry, or if you’re in a car park etc) unless you get a removable steering wheel.

You can get side mounts which fit the oem sliders, pricey though - https://bofiracing.co.uk/body-styling/safety/seat-...

Not preaching, I’ve been though similar recently so have hit/seen a few of the snags/issues/options you might not have thought of.