Hello From Sun Country
10-08-2015 | 03:16 PM
#1
Thread Starter
MFz Lurker
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 14
From: Tucson, AZ
Hello From Sun Country
I recently became the owner of a 2001 in Crystal Blue, fulfilling a lifelong desire to own a roadster.
While I'm new to Miatas, I am not at all new to Mazdas, having owned a 1984 B-2000 for 358,000 mies and the mechanically identical Ford Courier before that. Mazda hasn't made a pickup of its own in years and I've gravitated to Toyota for my truck needs, but it sure is good to be back to working on a Mazda again. The old B-2000 was virtually never touched by another mechanic besides myself and I have a lot of respect for Mazda'a engineering. The Miata is obviously related to my earlier Mazdas.
Unfortunately, decades of double-clutching through 4 and 5 speed gearboxes has left me with a left leg that aches with the mere thought of a clutch pedal. I close friend of mine is a physical therapist and she has helped to relieve the pain, but manual trannies are no longer in the mix for me. My NB is automatic and I'm fine with that.
I'll be adding to the journal (linked above) on the NB forum as I make progress with my NB.
While I'm new to Miatas, I am not at all new to Mazdas, having owned a 1984 B-2000 for 358,000 mies and the mechanically identical Ford Courier before that. Mazda hasn't made a pickup of its own in years and I've gravitated to Toyota for my truck needs, but it sure is good to be back to working on a Mazda again. The old B-2000 was virtually never touched by another mechanic besides myself and I have a lot of respect for Mazda'a engineering. The Miata is obviously related to my earlier Mazdas.
Unfortunately, decades of double-clutching through 4 and 5 speed gearboxes has left me with a left leg that aches with the mere thought of a clutch pedal. I close friend of mine is a physical therapist and she has helped to relieve the pain, but manual trannies are no longer in the mix for me. My NB is automatic and I'm fine with that.
I'll be adding to the journal (linked above) on the NB forum as I make progress with my NB.
Last edited by synchro; 10-08-2015 at 03:29 PM. Reason: Mistaken initial post
10-08-2015 | 03:56 PM
#2
Thread Starter
MFz Lurker
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 14
From: Tucson, AZ
Sporting Pretensions
Face it; an automatic is not usually the first choice for sporting driving; at least in the days before paddle shifted manu-matics. Nonetheless, my little automatic NB has obviously been owned by someone with an appreciation for the sporting character of its chassis.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has the sport suspension package including large brakes, and according to the V.I.N. it has the Torsen diff'. Somewhere along the line 245/45 Zr16s were installed on the stock rims and one thing is for certain; it does not suffer for lack of cornering grip. The rear end is delightfully loose on so surfaces, but on dry, clean pavement the back tires stay planted. Digging out of a tight corner and punching it causes the tockus to squat down and dig in hard. I know that there are better handling cars out there; but few in this price range.
The 245s are a subject of concern at this point. While my current skins seem to have plenty of miles left in them, it seems that there are not a lot of companies making tires in this size anymore. Toyo seems to have one summer tire and there are all sorts of DOT legal slicks for the weekend racers, but I've found little else. If this trend continues there will be a lot of Porsche 928 S4s up on blocks for the lack of rear tires.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has the sport suspension package including large brakes, and according to the V.I.N. it has the Torsen diff'. Somewhere along the line 245/45 Zr16s were installed on the stock rims and one thing is for certain; it does not suffer for lack of cornering grip. The rear end is delightfully loose on so surfaces, but on dry, clean pavement the back tires stay planted. Digging out of a tight corner and punching it causes the tockus to squat down and dig in hard. I know that there are better handling cars out there; but few in this price range.
The 245s are a subject of concern at this point. While my current skins seem to have plenty of miles left in them, it seems that there are not a lot of companies making tires in this size anymore. Toyo seems to have one summer tire and there are all sorts of DOT legal slicks for the weekend racers, but I've found little else. If this trend continues there will be a lot of Porsche 928 S4s up on blocks for the lack of rear tires.
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