MG ZR: Cams & Maps

[lolsteve]

It's pretty much the same car though the only score that counts is the most recent therefore MG > PUG . Science has spoken!
Well done to your 1.8 though for doing you proud though, was a nice send off for it

[Dum-Dum]

So your quest to be better than a GTi6 has got as far as being better than a 5dr 1.8

[procta]

So your quest to be better than a GTi6 has got as far as being better than a 5dr 1.8

dum dum, steve needs a lighter shell than the posh rover to beat the gti6

[Piggy]

oooff that was close to the barrier!!

[Poodle]

That is rather close, well saved mate, little bit of poo..? Well done beating Rowell, now try it with somebody who can drive.

I thought you had nice new discs on, what brand are they?

[lolsteve]

5:45 for the action  see the car shaking when I try to brake? But yeah poop a plently 
Discs are EBC grooved, theyre second hand but they were in good condition when i got them. Used them on bluey last year as well i think , pads are the pagid(?) ones that came with the car. was looking at different pads last night such as yellowstuff even though they get loads of hate 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk_BantPNCE

Well I was told by a few people during the day it was pulling well. even some strangers came up to me which was really quite nice. 
With some decent tyres and confidence inspiring brakes feel like i could carry the speed better. Also bought a cold air feed on the day as during one of the cool down periods i touched the inside of the air intake and it was very hot. turns out the aircon fan in directly in the way (had my aircon on for extra comfort) so it was blowing hot exhaust manifold air into the intake XD however I didnt spend much time fitting it so the intake fell off within a minute  

As it is though I wouldnt expect this to outdo a gti6 with decent tyres, although the coilovers have helped massivley with body roll road tyres are just not up to the task 

[Poodle]

Oh fair enough, they've taken a few beatings then, for some reason thought you'd only recently bought new ones, which would suck lol. Does look like it's going well there, holding some good lines. Are you one of those that went for the nankangs?

[lolsteve]

Yeah but they feel/look as if they have life in them. Not much of a lip but then tbh I've just changed discs when warped never when theyve reached the end of their life so wouldn't know what to look for
Im running Dunlop sport maxx SP road tyres, better than the nankang ns2s that bluey had but im not running the semi slick nankangs. Think I'll be putting the semis on my spares 16s as the 17s are quite heavy

Thanks, I do wonder if im being too aggressive with the steering wheel though on the esses

[Eeyore]

That braking and coming off is pathetic lol. Just looks as if you cant be arsed to make the corner lol

[procta]

Christ steve! that was a close! you cannot beat the sound of the k series engine.

[lolsteve]

I cant really remember what was going on as it was over in a but a few seconds but i would have been full on the brakes at that point..and they obviously did not perform and the speed i was doing/bad mentally made it not feel safe to turn the corner

Was thinking during the day how good the k series was sounding. Almost vtec-y

[lolsteve]

First session, went straight onto the track with a cold engine had to limp it about for a bit
4:00 before engine is warmed up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC-SWFC4L3U

[bashbarnard]

Saw this on track. Hate to say this butt was going pretty well for a rover.

[Pebbles167]

Don't believe the hate about EBC pads. I'm using Red Stuff, and with some decent fluid they are spot on.

[lolsteve]

Saw this on track. Hate to say this butt was going pretty well for a rover.

Thanks man  It's nice to feel satisfied after a track day rather than disappointed. Also good to see the work/money is making a difference
 

Don't believe the hate about EBC pads. I'm using Red Stuff, and with some decent fluid they are spot on.

Red stuff are a step down from yellow yea? Was thinking of the yellows as I want to go do the 'ring soon, done combe quite a bit so would like to change it up a bit. Once I've got some semi slicks to go with it though.  But yeah was thinking yellows so they last longer than just a "fast road" pad 

[Pebbles167]

I've used yellow as well, and found no difference. I think yellow are supposed to be race pads, and red fast road, but I'll go with red for the £30 - £40 saving. You won't need too much on a stock car.

[lolsteve]

There's only about £5 in it between red and yellow pads
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-ZR-1-8-160-...19d33e0cf5
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBC-Redstuff-U...5411c945bc

[7057sam]

I use yellow stuff plenty good actually with decent fluid.

Steve the rover was a beast on track,you differently get ever drop of power out of it.

Now less weight more grip

[Pebbles167]

If only £5, go for yellow

[welshpug]

price should not be the deciding factor between red and yellow!!

they are different type of pad.

[Pebbles167]

Yes yes, yellow work better from cold, red have a better endurance etc etc... I've used both and there is little difference in light track use. Leastways not in a medium powered hatchback such as we all drive.

[Dum-Dum]

I've used red stuff on the GTi6 set up on my old HDi and you have to be really aware that they are terrible from stone cold. I used to pull out of my parents drive and get to the end of the road to brake for the main road which slopes down at maybe a 1 in 30 slope so nothing and I'd put my foot on the brake and glide gracefully into the middle of the main road that or come up a motorway slip road after an hour on the motorway and put my foot on the brakes and have a little "oh shit" moment.

They don't need much temp to work, one good stop round town will have them up or 15 yards ish at motorway speed but they do need some.

Don't take this as me saying not to buy them though. I like them and am considering red stuff again to go on the rallye.

[lolsteve]

Thanks Sam, hopefully it's getting closer to my target now. With some decent pads and tyres I should be able to carry the speed better and stay on the power more

Minimal price difference means I'll be less tempted for the cheaper option
Looking over though I'll think it'll be yellow stuffs as they seem to be a better all rounder from what people say. Plus not keen on terrible pads from cold, northern winters/summers are harsh

Developed a clunk noise now when braking, only happens after accelerating say from the lights and then when pressing the brake pedal it makes a clunk noise. The noise wont happen again until I accelerate. Checked wheel nuts last night but theyre all good and took the offending corners brake pads out but they seem okay. Nothing visibly broken either

[lolsteve]

Got a another side project with this at the moment. Although I love the k series for its sound, revvyness and easiness of jobs one of the bits I dislike most is the way it looks. In it's defence it is effectively an 80s engine however when I'm at shows I never open the bonnet because there's nothing worthwhile to look at. Most people either go the route of chrome everywhere   or painting the metal cam cover which still doesn't float my boat

Now say what you like about honda engines but they have alot of customisation available of the engine covers (b series in particular) and look stunning. Even if the 1.6 16v TU engines look good imo.

With that in mind and remembering Rowells center caps I thought perhaps 3d printing might help solve my problem. So here's a quick bash using the spare covers in my room as reference points. 

[lolsteve]

So ive had a bit of a knocking noise from the front drivers side suspension ever since getting back from FCS. it would come about after pulling away when applying the brakes for the first time 
So i checked the pads, seemed fine.
Then it started making knocking noses over bumps and when pulling away.
So I jacked car up and shook the wheel, no unusual play. Put a bar under the wheel and lifted it, no click or knocking noise.
Then i noticed a knock when turning the steering wheel, so put it down to top mount bearing.
Got old bearing out and it was very stiff and took alot of work to rotate so replaced and greased all the top mount/top of the coilover. Also checked drop links and apart from looking a bit old they didn't seem particularly perished and didnt make any noise when rotating them. 
Back on the road and the knock is still there although not as aggressive and seems to be coming and going. 

Got a bit of a shaky wheel at high speed too but think that might just be wheel weights 


Any thoughts? Should I have coated the top mount and the bearing in lithium grease?

Also sorted out the cold air intake, decided just to use the oem intake. After refreshing myself on about static pressure, dynamic pressure vs velocity i thought perhaps rover knows best

[Eeyore]

i hate odd noises you cat trace. Steve that looks like sketchup... bin it and get 123d Design. Thats what I used!

[lolsteve]

Well I've ordered some delphi drop links in the hope that helps
123d was terrible, poorly optimised, bad controls sketch up is much more fluid

[Eeyore]

Well I've ordered some delphi drop links in the hope that helps
123d was terrible, poorly optimised, bad controls  sketch up is much more fluid

what? I thought it was great! Used for doing the centre caps. Maybe your laptop is slow. I can understand it being poorly optimised but you get used to the controls. You cant do half the stuff in sketch up as you can in 123D. Also have you looked at what formats sketchup exports in? Unless its the paid for version im not sure there is one that is accepted by most 3D printing sites.

[lolsteve]

It was on my triple core desktop, properly struggling and very tricky to get it to do anything apart from the simple shapes
Granted Sketch up does have its limitations, having trouble with one of the bolt holes on the curved front. A lot of the 3d printing places accept sketch up but you can also download "extensions" which let it export in STL which is quite an accepted format. Hopefuly I can optimise the design so it wont cost an arm and a leg

[Poodle]

Mmm rocker cover looks like shiny. Your random noise sounds like a balljoint to me.