Give Love a Chance - 1994 Miata

Keith Tanner said:

Some of those old fogeys got that way by driving Miatas for a quarter century

Other than the Fox chassis mustang and it's variants, there probably isn't any suspension that has had more development and variations than the NA Miata. Things have changed as tires have gotten stickier and shocks have gotten better and people have gone lower and stiffer. I feel like there is a lot of useful knowledge about lower grip multi use cars floating around and I'm hoping to try and sort through that and try some things. 

In reply to Stampie :

You're not the first person to say that, which is why I find myself here. I firmly believe that there are a lot of smart people that know better than I do. Given similar experiences, I find that I often agree with them. 

We've also seen forums push people into more and more extreme options.  There are online spots where a full race Miata is the only possible option for driving upon a track surface, and where not setting lap records is viewed as wasting your time. There's loads of knowledge on how to make a good dual-purpose car but it sometimes gets shouted down for not being the moar xtreme option or it's tagged as being for old fogeys. And of course, suspension is an area where most people plop down a chunk of money based on what they learned in a forum and spend the next five years religiously defending their decision.

Our FM springs were once derided for being too stiff. Then it was decided they were just right. Then, as track drivers gained influence and street manners became less cool, they were viewed as too soft for anything that involved performance. But the thing is that the springs never changed. Neither did the shocks they were mounted on. What changed is what the communities around the cars talked themselves into. One thing that has definitely changed is the willingness for people to put serious money into the suspension.

My personal DD Miata is a great all-rounder. I've driven it 5 hours across mountain passes, run at the track all day and driven home. This article mentions harshness in the suspension, but that's because the editors told the author he had to come up with SOME problems It's the same basic suspension that Mr Eddie has, but a different brand of sway bar although possibly the same sizes. And it has a hardtop with no soft top.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/mazda/1990-mazda-mx-5-miata-turbo-smurf-by-flyin-miatadriven-ar165034.html

The old fogey comment was kind of tongue in cheek. I'm past my youth too. But, I have a list of members on Miata.net who are on my ignore list due to spouting the same pontification every chance they're given.

I’ve got confirmation that the eagle has landed at home of the GrMer that I’m buying the Camaro from, ready to load Friday morning 

Woo!

Seth:

For nvh, theres some cheap and simple tweaks that make HUGE improvement. 

Step one is an adhesive backed sound deadening. I use McMaster carr mastic sheets. Good and cheap.

Over that, foil backed jute over the entire interior that is accessible.  (Pretty much everything but the firewall, back to the trunk) glued foil side down.

On top of THAT, the foil bubble wrap sold at lowes. I even use it inside the doors, and under all the plastics. 

The mastic dampens liw frequency paned vibrations (boominess). Jute takes care of the vast majority of the rest of the noise transmission.  The bubble wrap stuff acts an an acoustic decoupling layer, again limiting all frequencies. 

Its not perfect, and won't transform your miata into a Mercedes, but it will reduce interior noise and heat by 75% or so.

Just ask justjim, who got my miata done with this method. It works, and for a miata should be able to be done for under $200 easily. Probably closer to $100

In reply to Patrick :

I got that picture from moxnix. It made me happy. 

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

NVH will be an issue. The car doesn't have to be Lexus quiet, but I need to not hate it. I already know that I like to autocross and rallycross these cars. What I don't know is weather or not I can get excited about having one in my driveway with the keys hanging in the key rack. I need to want to grab the keys outside of event days. 

As you know, it’ll be what you build. It’s easy to build a nasty rallycross car, but a lot harder to build a multipurpose tool and not destroy it when you go rallycrossng :)

Keith Tanner said:

As you know, it’ll be what you build. It’s easy to build a nasty rallycross car, but a lot harder to build a multipurpose tool and not destroy it when you go rallycrossng :)

I thought that's what the 3" Paco lift was for?

I have it on good authority that the Miata fit where it was supposed to and is moving. I'm very excited. It also needs tires. I've got two choices for the time being. It has a complete set of 14" steelies with the car and the easy button is to buy a set of cheeeeeeeeap tires for those. I can get them for less than $40 each shipped and Patrick can slap them on and I'm good. Or, I could just do what I'm going to do anyway and track down a set of 15 inch alloys and put on a set of 195 RS4's. The big question right now is whether or not I want to spend the $150 or so on crap tires just to have a spare set around/a set of "travel" tires for times when I'm going to drive long distances but have no need for grip or performance. 

There’s a z28 and miata in my trailer with 7” to spare and I made it home at 2am.  Big thanks to the Nelsons, we were airing up the trailer tires for the extra weight because one looked low and Calvin heard a hissing and we found a nail.  Andrew sprung into action with a plug kit and we fixed it up and made it home with no issues.  

I’m going to take the miata for a ride today and see what feels like it needs done to drive to Houston.  

(Why you post while i post Seth?)

since picture 4 c5 wheels, 4 truck wheels/tires and a 9” center section were added around the miata.  Had one close call, on PA turnpike around midnight in single file nobody around long stopping distance gap construction zone, a hyundai suv saw a construction worker and freaked out and slammed on the brakes to almost a dead stop, leading me to hit them(my brakes) hard enough (on a damp road) to pucker up and lock up the trailer brakes and ABS the truck and prepare for impact.  I laid on the horn and they presumably freaked out and started moving again.  Got within 5 feet of them.  I am glad they moved.  

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I have it on good authority that the Miata fit where it was supposed to and is moving. I'm very excited. It also needs tires. I've got two choices for the time being. It has a complete set of 14" steelies with the car and the easy button is to buy a set of cheeeeeeeeap tires for those. I can get them for less than $40 each shipped and Patrick can slap them on and I'm good. Or, I could just do what I'm going to do anyway and track down a set of 15 inch alloys and put on a set of 195 RS4's. The big question right now is whether or not I want to spend the $150 or so on crap tires just to have a spare set around/a set of "travel" tires for times when I'm going to drive long distances but have no need for grip or performance. 

Our '16 co-driver has some boat-anchor borbet t's kicking around unused, iirc.  Don't recall the size.

otherwise, 15x7's are pretty cheap from TireRack

You probably want a sticky set for autoX/track work, and a set for rallyX/cruising?  

I think we can all agree that Patrick is awesome. Who doesn't want a friend who will pick up a car and hoon it for you? 

In reply to sleepyhead :

The car will need two sets. At least. Part of the issue is that steel wheels aren't suitable for RX at least for more than a couple of events. They flex and fatigue at the studs. We've had half a dozen steel wheels break over the years. 

Also I think half the rallycross course is in/on the miata so I’ve got to at least hose it down

I don’t know if these are still available, they’re about an hour away

https://mansfield.craigslist.org/wto/d/4-oem-15-aluminum-wheels-from/6685115944.html

We're currently brainstorming wheel/tire combos down here in Texas. Spacecadet has a pile of 15inch Miata wheels four hours away. I have a suuuuper cheap tire guy for mounting. Partrick has the car. This is one of those engineering optimization problems. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I have tire machines too

I have this set of ugly miata stockers with snow tires (3 of 1 brand and 1 of another).  I could bring em to the Challenge.  $150 if you’re interested.

Unloaded.  Gave it a quick italian tuneup and the lifter tick cleared up.  

I feared this may happen, but after a quick spirited drive, i finally get it.  I no longer hate miatas.  I’m broken.  I may put miata badges on the camaro and tell Seth that i v8 swapped it and see if he falls for it and keep the miata for myself

In the interest of it not being a disgusting place to spend time, before/after

Also the little guy just looked naked to me.

FTFY Seth 

in the interest of transparency, I really wish you had bought a worse example, because i’m going to be genuinely sad when it leaves.  

you should yank the hawk stickers too 

I'd be surprised if Seth doesn't have CarboTech's for this thing already on order 

Patrick said:

 

in the interest of transparency, I really wish you had bought a worse example, because i’m going to be genuinely sad when it leaves.  

I'm sure you can find a worse example if you want one 

Keith Tanner said:

Patrick said:

 

in the interest of transparency, I really wish you had bought a worse example, because i’m going to be genuinely sad when it leaves.  

I'm sure you can find a worse example if you want one 

I live in Cleveland, every one around here is a worse example and they all cost more than this one

In reply to sleepyhead :

I went to PRI last year, i could stickerbomb this thing and have some left.  

Those pictures make me so happy. Somewhat because I see them and I'm all "this is way better than the last few crappy cars I've dragged home" but mostly because Colin wrote his name in the dirt. Don't clean that off. 

And drive the E36 M3 out of it until I come get it. Have fun. Other people's Miatas are the best Miatas.