Year: 2004

Der Komet Ist Gelandet

Which if Babel Fish is correct in its translation, means “The Comet Has Landed.” The spoiler arrived at work at 3:20pm. Trouble was that I had the afternoon off with a ton of things to do so I couldn’t get back to the plant to pick it up. I called buddy Russ up who I was to meet later and asked him to bring it with him. The spoiler made the trip from Germany to Canada to Aiken inside a heavy plastic bag which was wrapped in bubble wrap and then covered with a layer of thin cardboard mostly unharmed. There is one little scratch on it, but it is no matter as it is getting painted body color before mounting anyway. Speaking of mounting, I put the Mazda OEM front lip and rear skirt on my ’95 and they used numerous screws and clips, but for mounting this one, the folks at ATH have given me hot dog sized tube of some sort of adhesive. I wonder just how secure that will be? Well if worse comes to worse I’ve got a nearly full roll of burgundy duct tape…

I was meeting Russ later where I could pick up the spoiler from him because we were swapping wheels. I now have a set of Mazda 15″ wheels with some fairly worn out Michelin Pilots and he has a set of Mazda 16″ wheels with some half-worn Bridgestone Turdanzas. Amazing the difference in looks of the automobiles. I’m thinking that maybe it would be cool to work a wheel swap every 3 months so you could get a fresh look. You would have to work it out so that everyone had about the same kind of rubber, otherwise someone (probably me, with my luck) would be buying a lot of tires. While we were swapping, Russ went and got his bathroom scale at my request, so I could weigh the different wheels. First I weighed myself, 195lbs. Then I stood on the scale with the 16″ wheel and the total read, 227. Then I hoisted the 15″ wheel and the scale blinked back and forth between 223 & 222. Best guess is I lost 4-1/2lbs of unsprung weight. My sophisticated butt-dyno tells me the car accelerates a little quicker, I haven’t had around any turns at speed or had it long enough to feel a major change in handling yet. I get the feeling that this change to the car will be just like when I added the Strut Tower Brace on the ’95. The change in the characteristics in the car was very noticeably positive right up front, but after a few weeks they melded into the overall feel and were quickly gone. Not that meant it was all for naught, it just meant that you got used to the increased performance and took the new found road prowess as a given.

You Want How Much?

$183.15 is what Rader Mazda charges for a 15K service on a Mazda Miata. My owners manual says that at 15,000 miles you change the engine oil and filter, you inspect and clean if needed the air filter and you inspect the A/C level and compressor. I guess my mistake was going in and just asking for a 15,000 mile service, because then they were free to do the Rader designed service and not just the plain old Mazda recommended one.

This sounded a little high to me so I called around to a few other Mazda dealers in the area. Andy Jones Mazda, which is about 15 miles closer to me wants $169.88. When pressed for what they did for that much I got the Mazda list, plus rotate tires, service the (maintenance free) battery, and some other quasi unnecessary stuff. Next up I called Wray Mazda in Columbia which is about 20 miles further than Rader and the quoted me $133.00 for the 15K service. Cheaper, but still sounds like a lot. Then I tried one in Orangeburg, SC, Whatley Mazda. When I got through to the service department the woman who answered the phone said, “Oh that’s an oil change and rotate the tires, $40.87.” She forgot the other inspection items, but even when you add those in it is going to be well less than $100. Guess who might get my business when 22,500 miles rolls around?

Enough negatives, the good news is they agree that my car needs the TSB for the clutch shudder and will replace the disc at no charge to me. (It was so easy that it is probably costing them less to do it than Mazda reimburses for the work.)

Comet Gestation Counter: 58 days

15″ Wheels

I’ve mentioned several times here that I want to get some lighter 15″ wheels to replace the stock 16s. I’ve mocked up about 4 or 5 different styles to see what they would look like. This is all in anticipation of when I wear out the OEM tires next fall sometime. Well I have a line on some 15″ wheels now that the price is right (free) and I know they look good on a Miata. Russ, of new Boxster fame, is trying to sell his Miata and he has agreed to a do a trial wheel swap this weekend.

Donna is not too sure of this, she likes the 16″ wheels (I do too) and can’t figure out why I’d swap tires with 15,000 miles on them for some with 25,000. I want the, minimum, 2-1/2 lb drop in unsprung weight at each corner. The fact that I might be getting some Toyo T-1S tires sooner is just a bonus. I know Russ is just being nice, but I don’t know whether the bigger wheels will help or hurt his trying to sell the car. I’m getting something for nothing, I’ll be OK with that, as long as he doesn’t lose anything in the deal.

Comet Gestation Counter: 57 days

Only in…

Only in Aiken (or Lexington, KY or Ocala, FL, etc.) would they name an apartment complex Trotters Run. In a horse town, both of those words can be seen in a horsy context and not as two words that can be mistaken for a couple of euphemisms for diarrhea.

Only in South Carolina. I remember where we first moved here, I was totally perplexed by the meaning of the front novelty tags on so many cars that read “GO COCKS.” Now after 15 years I no longer think of the male member and visualize the banty rooster mascot of the University of South Carolina, a gamecock.

Safety Warning – Hard Candy Can Cause Choking

Who knew the sugar, corn syrup, cream, artificial and natural flavors of a Creme Savers candy could be so dangerous? What is our government doing standing by idly while the folks at Kraft Foods of East Hanover, NJ are manufacturing potentionally lethal objects of singular destruction (OSDs)? I hope both candidates address this issue in the upcoming debates.

Arrrr. Avast Mateys, I Missed It

Yesterday was International Talk Like A Pirate Day and it totally slipped right on by. Had I known I probably wouldn’t have talked like one much. Mainly because I pretty much used up all my known pirate talk in the title of this post. But I might have watched the Pirates of the Caribbean on DVD.

Captain Barbossa, I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal.
There be a lot of long words in there, miss. We’re naught but humble pirates. What is it that you want?
I want you to leave and never come back.
[crew laughs]
I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request. Means “no.”

Ooooh, That Was Fun

Not enough to make me really want one, but I can certainly see how one could be seduced by that siren’s song.

Russ came in to my cube right after lunch and said, “Want to take it for a drive?” We headed out into the lot and after he clicked the unlock button on the key, he handed it to me. First thing that is totally weird, is the key is on the dash to the left of the steering wheel. After the car is running, to lower the top, you undo the center latch and hold down a button until the light goes out. It doesn’t take too long, but it is longer than flopping the Miata’s top. To be fair, when the process is complete, you are done, as the top becomes it’s own boot in combo with the power half-tannau cover. The clutch engages higher than I’m used to but I didn’t stall it. It is not as smooth engaging as the Miata and is a bit stiffer to boot. I just took it for a spin around the long block, all of maybe 5 miles. When you step on the gas the gets up and goes compared to the Miata. Lots of torque and when you get the revs above 5K the sound is just so sweet. Not so much the exhaust tone you get with the Miata, but with the engine right behind your seat, there is this wonderful mechanical whir all the way to redline at 6500.

It was a short drive without any real curves, but I bet it would be fun to take it through some. The shifter is longer than the Miata, but not ungainly and it felt nice and tight with a good spacing. You can’t really put your elbow on the door like in the Miata and I got the feeling you weren’t supposed to in this car, you are supposed to be driving, not cruising. The interior seemed a little fussy. Not unpleasant, but there were a lot of little buttons. Having driven a Z3, a Z4 and now a Boxster, I think the Miata has the nicest looking interior. The exterior of this car takes some getting used to, I don’t find it very attractive, but it does say Porsche. Of the BMWs and the Porsche and Miata, I think the Miata exterior looks better as well. Of course if I was a couple steps further up the corporate ladder and my salary was about 60% higher it would be hard not to go for one of the German sportscars. If I could have the Boxster sound in a Z4….

Comet Gestation Counter: 55 days