Ilivfor6

It will be coming with a twin clutch DSG transmission similiar to that in the new Golf GTI. If you saw the articles on the preview drive the media was given in a prototype with the IV body then you will know the X's handling will be far superior to the IV. I find that scary to think about!

Hey Carlo the MX5 and myself will be up for it. Danielle might join us as well in her Ralliart Colt!

That's one thing most do not realise... The wetter it gets the more compliance/softer you want the suspension to be. The one thing that is really fun on the track is the way the RX8 and MX5 can really monster the much more expensive performance cars in the corners. The Porches may pull away on the straights but boy do they look unhappy when we sit right up their coiters on the bends :D

In regards to a stivo compared to a new MX5 I can say in a 1/4 mile drag Stivo wins unless the driver really screws up, but the margin will not be huge if both equally driven. If it's in gear acceleration the MX5 will pull hard on the Stivo if the Stivo driver is out of lift. The new MX5 is producing most of it's torque from as low as 1500rpm's so to pull away the Stivo really doe's need to be in lift, but in lift it will pull away! Around a track the Sportivo will loose by a large margin if equally driven. My first time out at Winton in the MX5 my lap times were 3-4 seconds quicker than the the 2 boys in their stivo's were able to manage with the Oz mazda boys a couple weeks ago, but remember on track the drivers skill is by far the biggest factor. Around Winton the new mx5 appears to be about 2 seconds a lap quicker than the previous model so I would say the previous model will be beaten by the Sportivo in most things except around the track. Just remember the MX5 was never intended for any kind of real performance in a straight line, it is all about corners... As lucio previously said! Without corners the Sportivo will win every time!

I would advise you if you are concerned go and do a skidpan day organised by a company teaching skid control. Best to learn skid control (meaning cause,effect and how to rectify) at 40-50km/hr on a skidpan with only witches hats to hit than on a race track doing 160km/hr. Here in Melbourne the group I drive with are on the track 1 to 2 times a month with quite a few of our track days under the tuition of qualified instructors including Allan Simonsen (British GT's, Le Mans Endurance), Matt Coleman (Carrera Cup), Will Davison (Minardi F1 test, Australian A1GP driver), Alex Davison (2004 Carrera Cup Champion, V8 Supercar driver), Jamie Whincup (V8 Supercar driver), Paul Stokell (Team Lamborghini driver), Dean Canto (V8 Supercar driver). On these days we learn how to driver faster and smoother on the track but they do not teach us skid control. They teach how to be smooth and avoid it. To learn control in understeer/oversteer they advise go to a skidpan with qualified instructors. So thats what we have done, and are currently doing a skidpan day with a qualified instructor each month in place of 1 of the track days. With our group having already completed a couple of advanced skid control days I can tell you the very first thing you are taught is when you skid the only reason you are skidding is because you have exceeded your tyres limit of grip. The basic fundamental rule is 'The foot that gets you into trouble is the foot that will get you out of trouble'. If you have entered a skid while going through a corner then the skid is caused by the speed and angle of turn have added up to exceed you tyres limits. To bring the tyres back within that limit you must reduce the things that caused it to exceed it. As you are going through a corner you cannot really reduce your steering input (unless there is safe run-off) so your only option is to reduce the speed component by easing up on the gas gently not jumping off it - you do not want to quickly change the wait bias of the vehicle. Unless you have great skill behind the wheel trying to power out of a skid will only end in more trouble. If you are out of control are you better adding on the power and losing it at 100km/hr or reducing the cause of the skid and possibly losing control at 50km/hr. When it comes to counter steering you should only ever steer (point the wheels) in the exactly where you wish to go. Never point the wheels somewhere you do not wish to go. What I have said is very simplified but it is what they teach on the skidpan. They also teach the theory behind which tyres in a situation are still within their limit of grip and why, and how that knowledge will enable you to take the correct action to bring the vehicle back under control! As the chasis moves around (changes its weight through acceleration, braking and cornering) the total grip level of each tyre changes with it. It's that knowledge that will enable you to avoid the skid in the first place and if worst comes to worst enable you to get out of it. If you truly want to learn what to do in understeer/oversteer situations I strongly advise you go out and learn from qualified instructors in a safe environment. You will not learn reading someones posts on a forum and all you will get is contradicting information. If you would like to learn properly under experienced qualified tuition here are a couple companies to contact. In Melbourne: Kevin Flynn's Driver Dynamics Pty Ltd Advanced and Precision Driver Training Worldwide Precision Driving Service PO Box 572 Niddrie Victoria 3042 Australia Telephone (Australia wide) 1300 652 693 Telephone (International) +61 413 540197 Email driverdynamics@optusnet.com.au Web www.driverdynamics.com www.driverdynamics.com.au In Sydney: Events Oniell. www.eventsoneill.com (They run both track days and skidpan days in Sydney) Sorry for the long post but it is a very important subject and may in fact one day save your life! My advice is spend a few hundred dollars (it will be the best money you will ever spend) and go learn from a qualified instructor! Cheers

Well done Bryan & Michael. You both posted a pretty good time and did the Sportivo proud. The results will certainly have a few people sitting up and giving the Sportivo a little more respect!

And it also handles like a corolla could only ever dream about. How was it on Top Gear when the bloody thing had so much grip and chasis rigidity that it was lifting wheels as he through it around. Have to wait to see the price though! Replacing the family car SP23 with it has crossed my mind a couple of times!

The 26th would be much better for me and probably Taka as well as he is in Honk Kong early Feb

Yes my mistake Taka I should have said 19-20th of March. So we are good to go on any other date. I could only dream of a dyno figure higher than yours... Not going to happen but oh boy could I have fun with that :D I have corrected the list below. 1 negatron 2 eddy_torrez 3 IZZ-FE 4 BlkZR 5 motoman 6 gOODbOYz 7 lucio libre 8 omn1potent 9 Bangn 10 E-gene 11 Danz 12 Ilivfor6 (yes if not 19-20 March) 13 Gascan 14 ktse1881 15 FLAMEBOY 16 Otaku??? 17 spec_black 18 2fst4U 19 TAKA (yes if not 19-20 March)

I have actually played with these types of filters and found I received an improvement in HP until the higher revs and then it fell off below the stock power curve. I found they had a tendency to starve the engine of air through the lack of ability to flow the high volumes needed up in the high rev ranges! This was on Honda VTEC engines so I hope it doe's not do the same on yours!

I'll be in this too as long as it's not March 10-12th as I will be up at Winton. Yay for track days! See what the new MX5 puts out at the wheels. Will be interesting

An achor he throws out the drivers window

I'll be there. See you at 8pm :D

If you have a CAI and your stivo starts running rough or dies it can also mean it's time to give your maf sensor a clean. Peekay and myself both experienced this long ago after we had run the CAI's for a while on our old Stivo's. Even the slightest drop of oil from the filter on the mAf does seem to upset the readings. For our cars the issue was not constant and the issue would just show itself every now and then. If it happens again mate it just might need a clean like ours. Once we cleaned them the car ran perfect again!

Go to this page and have a look. SWEET :D E-Gene mate you never looked so good ;) Pictures of Egene

My concern with the Ethanol blended fuels is not that my engine will run on it, but it is the fact the Ethanol is corrosive. On my new MX5 Mazda has said the engine is safe to run a 10% blended Ethanol fuel in one sentence, but then in another they say although the engine is safe to run on this blended fuel they do not encourage it as the rubber fuel lines are not designed for its use and thus cannot guarantee the lines will not corrode long term. For me that's enough to give it a miss! 98 Octane will do for the time been!

Go on Taka bring out the Black beast. No need to be shy We all could use an alright photographer there

The RX8 is a brilliant car but real expensive to run if you do a lot of driving. Doing over 100km a day driving just getting to and from work at a fuel economy of 16-18L per 100km and my fuel bills were getting close to $200 a week. Plus running it on the track was expensive especially tyres, brakes and brake rotors. Since track days have now become a real hobby (more exciting than model planes) I want to be able to afford to track my car more often and the new mx5 fits that bill perfectly so I decided what the hell I'll do it!

Now that is a fun Drive thats pretty relaxed but keeps the grin wide and bright. I'll be in this one! Yeah ditto regards the black spur. Watched e-gene surpass the limits of his stivo there as he said. Ask him his dry cleaning bill from that little incident before you go! :o

Yep... It's my 2nd mid life crisis. Not bad for 33 And yes this car is destined for many, many laps of Sandown, Winton & Wakefield. Next day at Sandown is already booked for later this month :D Sorry about your finger Lucio, but then I guess you should not have put it in that tight dark place :o Now that should get them talking... But in all honesty I do hope the finger is alright! Hey chompies, I enjoy driving my wifes SP23 and enjoyed the RX8 but the fun factor of this new MX5 is just out of this world. A superb car for on the track!

Yep count me in too. Traded the RX8 on the new MX5. Now I can afford to do a lot more trackdays! :D 1. BanGn 2. BanGn (RSX-S) 3. Bangn (DC2R) 4. BanGn (ZZR-250) 5. Corolla_2004 6. BigBum 7. Teknoman 8. spec_black 9. spec_black (integra turbo) 10. spec_black (r33 GTR) 11. eddy_torrezz 12. Lucio 13. Lucio's Boss 14. Bangn (TX3-TURBO) 15. Bangn (180sx) pending 16. 2FST4U 17. Bangn (S/CHARGED DC2R) 18. BlkZR 19. E-Gene 20. Corolla_2004 21. Chompies 22. Chompies (Flameboy) 23. omn1potent 24. BanGn (CBR1000) 25. BanGn (CBR1000) 26. Peekay (Euro) 27. BanGn (LEXUS SC430) 28. BanGn (DC5R) 29. Ilivfor6 (New MX5) 30.

I am heading up to the wakefield track weekend with Taka. I'll come along to the Dyno day but wont be putting the 8 on the Dyno. Besides the RX8 dyno's low because of the games the ecu plays. If the front wheels are not spinning it will cut revs to avoid heat build up through the exhaust system (as the car works out it must not be moving) and the cars DSC computer also chucks a little bit of a fit because of this difference in rotating speed between the fronts and the rears, so it tends to cut timing as well. The electronics are too smart for their own good at times! But as I said I'll be there to say Hello ;)

Hey Lucio I am happy to come out with you, just don't know if I want to put the RX8 on the 1/4 mile strip. I just cannot get the thing off the line quickly. When I try I smell the clutch for an hour. The 8 is also a little too well known for blowing it's tranny on quarter mile strips. Then again you may be able to convince me I just need to launch it gingerly. With a soft launch it is only capable of a mid 15. A hard launch will show a mid 14. It's just not a 1/4 mile car, it likes the circuit. The last track day at Sandown modded WRX's, porsche boxsters, FTP Falcon GT's and HSV's all lapped slower than me, but damn would they kill me on the strip. Taka who recently joined this forum for the Dyno Day might also gowith his 8. His crazy enough to drop the clutch at 9500rpm off the line.

HEY MARCUS, any details yet mate :D Lucio you coming to test out the new beast!

Well I had better watch Ghostbusters before we go... Just in case :D :D :D