Miatatude

Walking back to the car, with the way the sun was hitting it, it made Donna notice the black lower body pinch seam and it looked ugly to her. It kind of does to me too, there is a spot where the flat black protective paint was kind of globbed on, so it is shiny, and a spot where the seam is bent slightly from sitting on jack stands, so it doesn’t look at all even under there. When I said that I could fix that by getting some side sills, she just collapsed from the weight of all the hints and said, “Buy them.” Called Trussville this morning and they will be here within the week.

It took about 5 years of modifying for me to get the ’95 Laguna Blue customized to my liking (and I was still tweaking it when I traded it in.) With this last modification it will have taken me just 11 months to get this car right where I want it.

Went for a walk in the woods this morning. We haven’t been on a hike in Hitchcock Woods in so long I can’t remember when, but finally getting back in there will hopefully get us back on the every weekend Sunday morning hike. It is definitely becoming fall, as the morning was crisp and cool, but not many leaves have changed color, so it still looks very green.

Off to Augusta Regional Airport (Fly Here Fly Home ^TM) in the MSV to pick up Aunt Mary. She flys direct from Newark to Augusta and vice versa on Continental Express and seeing as they are ceasing operations in Augusta at the end of this month, Mary returned for one last visit while the non-stop flights fly.

This afternoon Donna and I ran some errands and stumbled on a low-key car show in downtown Aiken put on by the Aiken Horsepower Association. We wandered up the street , stopped in for ice cream and then wandered back.

Tonight I’m listening to what could be the last Red Sox game of the year on MLB.com.

The Miata is kinda dirty because we actually had some rain this last week. The Peachtree Miata Club is coming into town for the weekend, but Donna and I will only be spending a bit of time on Saturday afternoon with them. Should I do the whole wash thing? Or should I just use the Californina Car Duster and some Meguiar’s Quik Detailer ?

I can still sense that the car feels slightly quicker and lighter on it’s feet because of the smaller, lighter wheels and their new rubber. I know my Budget Director might disagree, but I think the swap and money spent was definately worth it…

As my co-worker Brian remarked this afternoon, “The spoiler is still on there.”

On the way to Atlanta on Sunday Donna and I were in the middle of the pack, with us, the lead car and the caboose all having CBs. After clearing the Augusta area and getting into the part of the Interstate where there are 10 miles between exits, John in the lead car calls out, “How fast are you going? I’m showing 72 MPH.” To which I replied, “Seventy-five.” Rudy from the back said he was showing 72 as well. John said he would bump the cruise up to 75. After settling in at that speed (the limit is posted as 70) he asked for another check. Once again Rudy was right in line with John at an indicated 75 MPH. My speedo read 80. Why the difference? I’m riding on the same size wheels and have the exact same tire model as John, while Rudy has 17″ wheels & tires. Was my speedometer calibrated differently because my car came from the factory with 16″ wheels while John’s 99 came with 15″ wheels and Rudy’s did come with the 17 inchers?

Yesterday I asked Russ to bring in his GPS so we could take a lunchtime run and see how far off my speedometer is. Back towards the end of last year when Russ first got his GPS he brought it along on a lunch trip to Hardee’s while I drove. He showed me one of its neat tricks was that it could calculate your speed when moving. Over a portion of road that is marked at 55 and my speedometer was reading 60, his GPS said I was going 57 MPH. Today’s drive produced some interesting results. Just like last year on the stock tires when the speedometer read 60, the GPS said 57. We then got on the Interstate from our secondary road. At 70 indicated the GPS told us I was actually traveling at 66 MPH. And just like Saturday, 80 MPH on the speedo translated into 75 MPH. To get an actual 80 MPH ground speed the speedometer was reading 85. While we where going that fast I put the pedal to the floor just to see what it would do. Unfortunately it was up a slight grade to our fast approaching exit, so the GPS reported a max speed of 96.2 MPH. At that level the speedometer was one tick over 100 or 102.5 indicated.

Using today’s figures I show that my speedometer is reading about 6.5% low. If I use the Miata.net Tire Size Calculator, going from 205/45 x 16 (tire diameter of 23.3in) to a 195/50 x 15 (tire diameter of 22.7in) results in a 2.5% low reading. Was the GPS accurate? Are my 195/50 x 15 tires actually 22.7 in diameter? Did Mazda calibrate the speedometer differently for different wheel sizes? What is their tolerance on the speedometer readings from the factory? Does anybody really know what time it is?

*An unprofessional driver on an open course. Don’t try this at home!

Called this morning only to be told that the spoiler would go on today as it was still too tacky to be mounted yesterday afternoon. Liza didn’t say, but I bet it was still too tacky because they didn’t paint it until Tuesday instead of Monday afternoon when I dropped it off.

Arrangements have been made to get Donna’s mom transported tomorrow so we can use the Civic to get to work. The nice neighbor across the street has volunteered to drive her. He is retired and it will be a nice change for him, he said it would get him out of some chores too. So now the plan stands to get off at noon, go get the car from the paint/body place and drive it to the tire place and drop it off so they can mount the tires. Drive home in the Civic and then return to get the Miata later in the afternoon.

Comet Incubation Period: 13 days

Next Sunday is the Rspeed Open House and some of us in the Club will be making the trip over to Marietta for the party. I’ve got a spoiler sitting in the garage that would be nice to have on the car before going. According to the FedEx site my new tires will be delivered tomorrow and it is imperative that I get them installed before the trip.

The tires will get done for sure, I’m just trying to figure out how to work in leaving the Miata overnight at the paint place in between the normal shuffling of the week (Donna’s Mom’s Mon-Wed-Fri afternoon dialysis and Donna’s Mon-Wed evening Pilate’s classes) and the extra this week only specials (5 days of all morning training for me, an afternoon Dr.’s appointment for me and the Miata Club meeting Thurs night.)

Last word on the clutch shudder issue (unless of course it returns): The transmission is not in the exact same spot or orientation as when it went in. We are talking millimeters I’m sure, but while taking the 30 mile long way to the 3 mile away store this morning the 2 to 3 shift seems a bit long. But the real telling point is when shifting from 3 to 4 straight back, twice I bumped into the neutral area instead of right into 4th. As I said, it is very minor and I’ll adjust, of course it could have been just me…

Comet Incubation Period: 9 days

When the day started I said what the heck and dumped $15 worth of gas into the Tribute, Rader sure wasn’t. Besides if I was going to have to wait on a reimbursement I might as well make it worthwhile. Service department hours are 8 to 12 on Saturday, so I waited until 9 AM to call. Kellie said the tech got in at 8:30, but hadn’t looked at my car yet. He was going to do a couple others first, because they were there waiting. She said she would call when the car was done. As I’m always a little slow on the uptake, it wasn’t until Donna reminded me that I had been waiting since Thursday for my car, that I got a little upset, after all, it should have been a ten minute fix. Its kind of like getting to the counter in a shop ready to pay or ask a question and the phone rings. The clerk immediately answers the phone and starts to help them, ignoring you. Maybe everyone figures you are content because you have a loaner car.

Kellie calls at 10:45 and says the car is done and I can pick it up anytime. The service department closes at noon (the techs probably go home at 11:30) but she would leave the key to my car with Scott as the sales crew will be there until 5 or 7 depending. Scott is an occasional reader of The Diaries (everybody say, ‘Hi Scott!’) and having noticed my car sitting on the lot all day Thursday, checked in here to see what was up and how bad I was beating up his place of employment. So when Kellie gave him my key he took the car for a little spin, for two reasons; 1) make sure the repairs were really right and 2) fill it up with gas. I needed more than a half a tank and because the car requires premium we are probably even on the gas front. I don’t know what they are paying him over there, but it ain’t enough. Why could Scott do this and Kellie could not? In my entire experience at Rader, Scott has been busy trying to cultivate a long-term relationship while the service department has been trying to sabotage it.

The Miata sits quietly in my garage tonight, home again and happy. I just hope it lasts. I’m sorry, it is my nature. There are stories on Miata.net of folks having to get the TSB done a second time, because the shudder returned. Most of those were early on in the process and Mazda supposedly has an updated disc that seems to do the trick. I’m sure after a while I will forget about the shudder and go about my way, but my subconscious will be worrying on the issue, so if it does return, I won’t be surprised.

Comet Incubation Period: 8 days