Miatatude

There It Sits

The front spoiler looks pretty much like the Mazda OEM unit that was for the 99-00 cars, but doesn’t fit the slightly modified nose of the 01 & up cars. This is perfect because that is exactly what I was looking for. It is sitting on the work bench in the garage. It is mocking me, I know it. Like the countdown until it arrived, I will now count up on the bottom of each day’s post until it is mounted on the car. I guess I will ask at the body shop where I planned on getting it painted about whether to paint it first and then installed or vice versa.

Love the 15″ wheels, but I think I may swap back (as long as Russ didn’t sell the car this weekend.) The tires are a bit too worn down for my tastes. When I first looked at them in the parking lot there seemed to be a bit of thread wear left there. Upon closer inspection, there is hardly anything left at all. He thought he would go until the first of next year before he would buy tires, but Russ is a very frugal person and would go until the tires are hitting every wear indicator. Me, I feel a lot better if there more rubber under me, especially when it comes to driving in the rain. There is not enough tire for me to go until the first of next year, when I could possibly swing the cost of new tires. The 16″ wheels have enough tread to last me until late summer next year. By then I might be in a better position to get some new tires and new 15″ wheels.

Comet Incubation Period: 2 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

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

FedEx

Well it is on its way. Almost. It hasn’t actually been picked up yet, but I have a tracking number. You can bet there is a shortcut on my desktop for this link. Expected delivery date: Friday, September 24th.

On what will be placed into the dictionary next to the entry: Fall Day, Perfect, the Miata sat unused in the garage all day. I went rollerblading in the morning while Donna went for a walk. Later we all piled into the MSV to take Donna’s aunt to Augusta Regional Airport (Fly Here Fly Home) for her flight back to NJ. What was supposed to be a short wait turned longer by the remant of Ivan pouring down rain and thunder onto EWR. Because the flight departure was delayed a couple of hours we piled back in to the Civic and went in search of lunch. We ended up at Waffle House where we dined in high fat splendor. After returning home one adult shy, we set about decompressing on the couch. Tried watching “Welcome to Mooseport”, but we couldn’t get by Ray Romano. Popped out the DVD at about the 10 minute mark. Now I remember why we stopped watching Everybody Loves Raymond, we don’t. We do love Monk and watched the last 2 episodes of Season 1. Now we wait until they release Season 2….

Comet Gestation Counter: 53 days

I Hope This Works Out

Tomorrow I’m going to call and set up the 15K service and mention about the clutch shudder and the TSB that covers it. It has done shuddered the last two mornings, not as bad as Tuesday, but more annoying than recent weeks. It used to be just mornings, but now it has been showing up in the afternoon too on the way home from work, so it is getting worse. From anecdotal reporting I’ve seen on Miata.net this latest bulletin which entails swapping just the clutch disc seems to do the trick.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted.

Comet Gestation Counter: 51 days

Ticky Ticky Ticky Ticky Ticky Ticky

There used to be a slight ticking sound that was coming from over on the passenger side. We could make it go away by moving the seat forward and leaning it back or pushing it back and leaning it forward or something. This last time I vacuumed the car I didn’t get it right because the ticking returned. No manner of adjusting has eliminated it. It doesn’t feel loose in any way. Smacking it hard while stationary doesn’t make the noise.

This Sunday while returning from the gap and Donna driving, I did a little troubleshooting and discovered where the noise is coming from. I think it is the seatbelt hitting the side of the seat. It stops whenever you lift the seatbelt up off your shoulder. If you look at the seat there is a slight black smudge on the tan leather where the seatbelt is rubbing. I say I think, because I am 6 foot and Donna is 5′-2″ so the location of the belt is drastically different for each of us, yet the ticking is there for both of us. Also the driver’s side is silent for either of us and that same black mark is present on that seat as well.

My first thought for a solution is a small strip of the fuzzy side of Velcro (in tan) glued to the spot on the seat. Anybody else got a different idea?

Comet Gestation Counter: 50 days

15,000 Miles

Sometime during the 5th run through of Deal’s Gap this past weekend the car turned over 15K. One of the other couples we were with had their 2002 Miata reach that milestone a few days before the trip. I got there at least a year quicker than they did, but to be fair our car is the Family Truckster and theirs is a weekend fun toy. I guess I’ll schedule a maintenance stop at Rader for next week. I’ll give them one more shot, but three strikes and they’re out.

The clutch shudder was very noticeable this morning backing out of the garage, so much so it was audible. As usual it is almost completely gone by about the 3 mile mark of the 6 mile trip to work. If it does it like that 2 or 3 mornings more before the service next week, I may just say something.

Comet Gestation Counter: 49 days