Current State of the Broke-Core LOHP Miata project

Whew. I've had so much to post nowadays.  I have many planned posts but I haven't gotten to them yet.  I now have two interviews pending, both of which I haven't written questions for.  I have the beginner how-to-guides that I promised, also which I haven't written anything for.  I was also a participant in an endurance race recently, and I haven't made a post about that yet either.  I have very near-term projects happening soon; I'll have to get to them as they happen.  I also have more testing to do to gather more data for the vortex generators I tested previously.

Anyways, lets recap whats been going on with the project and a short update on my life.

First of all, as you may have gathered, my winter job plans got canceled.  So I had a lot of time to work on my car.  As a result of that, you read that I finished my aerodynamic projects that I had planned, with the exception of the undertray.

Project goal recap
I don't know if I've ever made a post about this, but my goal, with sub-goals I've made such as my failed project OLDAZENIS, was to be the first sub 130hp car to attain a laptime of 59 seconds, without spending more than the overall value of my car.  Also, all of the mods must be able to be performed by the average enthusiast, or else the professional labor must be added into the cost.  And finally, power mods are discouraged as I need to keep the car sub-130 crank horsepower.  I am nearing the conclusion of that project, with the following planned mods. Wheels and tires included.

Right now, Grant's low time in my car is 61.3 seconds. My fast time is 62.1 seconds.  Can I make it? Lets see.

Major upgrades

I got new wheels!  I've been hunting for a good deal and a local enthusiast forwarded me a killer deal.  The wheels are going to be wearing Hankook R-S3 tires, which I chose for excellent grip and wear characteristics.  Even when it comes to tires, we gotta keep it Hi-Kick right?  With this new wheel and tire setup I should come pretty close to my goal.  A bit about the wheels and tires; the wheels are 1st generation 949 Racing 6UL wheels.  The wheel is 8 inches wide, which is an inch wider than my previous wheel.  That means whatever tire is going on there, it will have a better contact patch than if it were going on 7 inch wide wheels, as long as the wheel width is not greater than the tire width.  The tires will be 225mm wide.  Although a 9 inch wheel is more ideal for that tire width, I want to have the option of going back to a 205mm wide tire in the future, so these wheels will do. Incidently, either my R-package 14x6" hollow spoke wheels or the Konig Rewind 15x7" wheels will be up for sale.

My previous wheels are, despite being an inch narrower than the 6ULs, about 3 pounds heavier.  Also, although the RT-615s were 205mm wide, they are a pretty heavy tire.  But so are the R-S3s, especially since they are 20mm wider than the Azenis.  I am hoping the new package is similar or lighter in weight so my painfully low horsepower car will not have any acceleration penalties.

I have also purchased a 2D wing.  By 2D, I mean that the airfoil profile does not change throughout the entire width of the airfoil.  There are a lot of "crap" wings out there without any substantial development, but I think some of them can work well.  Even if they are really bad, as it is an actual airfoil and not just a panel, it should produce less drag and more downwards lift than my spoiler.  Plus, they will work much better with the Airtab® Vortex Generators.  I am really looking forward to the design.

Help fund my project! Stuff for sale
I also have a lot of excess materials up for sale.  I also have another spoiler design that I ended up not putting on my car for sale.  It actually works better than the one I have now, and will look much better on a car with a flat trunklid.  I'm thinking F-body mustangs can really use the rig.  If anyone is interested, please email me at the email address I have on the "about this blog" section on the right sidebar.

Please help me fund my project! As a gesture of gratitude for you reading this blog and parts, financial, and information support you readers give me, I keep no secrets and any projects I do will be published here.  You can help by making a donation of 4-5 dollars or more.  I will send you a waterproof vinyl decal.  Please check the "donate to Hi-Kick Racing" section.  I may be selling T-shirts in the future also, with FAST=CHEAP slogans on the shirts. Details can be found here: Hi-Kick Racing Gear

Personal life
As for me, my last semester ended with some mixed feelings.  I felt I didn't study all that hard, and on the class I did study hard for (mergers) I felt that I bombed the test.  Turns out I'd answered an entire question wrong and applied the wrong analysis.  I had been working hard to get good grades because my grades from my first two years were below average.  I was worried about this semester.  Winter job got canceled, and though I gained a mentor from my California trip, I hadn't gotten any further in getting a job.  But a few days go, grades came out.  I did just as well as my previous best grades, and I scored slightly above average on mergers!

I have also been working on some business ideas. It'll be on the web, and it is for car enthusiasts, so I hope you all stay tuned.  The service will be free or near-free, and I don't actually expect to make that much money from it.

Summary and budget
Modifications (some came with the car)
1992 Mazda Miata with hardtop
- Fuji Racing 8.4lb flywheel
- RX-7 AFM with hack inlet mod and resistor tuning
- Mazdaspeed comp exhaust
- No power steering (not sure if it was removed or didn't come with one)
- Automatic transmission radiator
- Cat converter removed, test pipe in its place.
- Hard dog hard core rollbar, double diagonal with harness bar
- Ebay coilovers (Toyota Celica labeled 2" coilovers)
- Bilstein R-package Shocks (mild machining work included)
- 1999 Mazda Miata front sway bar with heim joint endlinks
Aero:
- Splitter and Spoiler
Tires
- 15x8 6UL wheels
- 225/45/15 Hankook R-S3 tires

Weight loss:
Passenger seat removed
Sparco Sprint seat with custom seat mount
AC removed, Cruise control removed
Soft top removed
Factory undertray removed
Rear sway bar removed
Slight rear bumper cutout
Rear bumper cut out

Soon to be added
Replacing spoiler with rear airfoil
NB tophats for more suspension travel
1.8l brake upgrade

Total cost of mods added: $ 1335. After airfoil, tires, the price will be close to 1600. This is presuming my excess material from projects are being sold.  I have about 400 dollars left to spend.  Not really, but I won't spend any more than 400 dollars and try to achieve my goal.  Some other options I have is adding headers, offset upper control arm bushings, and better bumpstops.

Testing
Some of the testings I've completed, but have not posted about are as follows:
-Tufts testing with Vortex Generators and Rear spoiler
Some of the testing I am planning to do are as follows:
-Intake temperature measurements utilizing airflow from high pressure zone at the trailing edge of the hood
-Tufts testing with and without spoiler, with spoiler at different angles
-Tufts testing with airfoil

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