Miata: Stiffness versus Weight Reduction

In reply to YoursTruly :

Thanks for following up with your results. Too often threads like this just trail off without any conclusions.

In reply to frenchyd :

Morgan flexibility is completely irrelevant to this due to the suspension design. You cannot compare a live axle with sliding pillars to 4 wheel wishbone geometry in any manner at all.

This statement remains true, but I should have looked at the date on the post I was replying to

In reply to obsolete :

I intend to follow up again with my results on track in a couple weeks. If nothing else, this can help me learn and defend my setup decisions with testing.

So, I have some good news:

I took First in TT5 over the weekend and turned a new personal best time (dropped a full second, in worse conditions). The car felt more planted than it ever had before. 

As previously posted, I ran with these changes:

• 1/16" rear toe-in (-3*/-2.5* camber F/R, no front toe, 4* caster)
• rear wing at -5* instead of -3*
• stock rear bar connected
• Racing Beat 1.125" front bar  - soft setting
• 75% stiffness on the dampers
• factory NB2 strut bar

Reflections:

• Rear toe-in is a great idea, I could comfortably rotate the car with the brake pedal at lower speeds, but transitions through chicanes were confidence inspiring
• The strut bar noticeably improved the way the car felt on the curbs and I heard less creaking from the hardtop when on uneven surfaces
• I won't be running the front sway full stiff anymore. I did not notice any increased body roll, lack of response, or different tire wear.
• Steeper rear wing was fantastic. It allowed so much more aggression in braking zones at the end of straightaways 
• I will be investigating additional front bracing and improved radiator ducting. I had more on-power understeer than I would like and proper radiator ducting will make my existing splitter work more efficiently for more front grip.