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Another month, another dollar spent keeping my girl on the road...
I found some tranny fluid seepage on the transmission case last week, and after some fiddling about I found that the RTV sealant where the intermediate housing connects to the extension housing. I took the car to Clint and Kevin at GHM and they confirmed that the leak was on the seam where the two parts of the tranny connect.
To repair it properly, you would need to pull the tranny out of the car and tear it apart and re-seal it with RTV Grey, and the whole operation would be about $600 dollars.

Well, no point in doing this job if you're not going to go ahead and do a clutch and flywheel at the same time, and frankly, I don't have the cash on hand to plunge into this car right now (see the Kiryu blog for details on that).
So I took Miyoshi home, cleaned the tranny case until it was spotless, and put RTV grey on the leaking seam (which I dried thoroughly) then scraped off and re-applied a second coat.
So far, this make-shift repair is holding well.

To test the repair, I took the car to the Miata club meet last night and thoroughly beat the hell of the poor thing, redlining on every single shift and oing everything I could do to get it to leak.
To my surprise, nothing!
To my dismay however, Miyoshi hasn't been running 100% smoothly... A tad rough and not at all like a properly maintained 1.6 engine should run.
Plus she had lost a little bit of oil (maybe a 1/4th of a quart at most).
On a hunch, I replaced the PVC valve this morning and the car started running smoothly again.
I also found the PVC valve filled with oil (never good) and it wasn't jiggling inside the casing like it should.
At the moment everything appears to be ok, and I'll be keeping an eye out for the inevitable return of the tranny fluid leak.
Once Kiryu is back on the road I'll dock Miyoshi and prepare to send her back to Clint and Kevin to have the transmission job done and the clutch and flywheel replaced.

Jeff Goji

What was supposed to be a simple AC belt change became another repair bill over the $50 dollar mark, as I looked up after replacing the belt and found the water temp sensor had broken due to plastic fatigue.

Two days later I was at my local Mazda dealer picking up my new temp sensor and the 6 disk CD player in the MSM decided to stop working, and won't eject the 6 CDs I have in it.
The MSM has been scheduled to go into the dealer Monday to have the CD player replaced under warranty.

Complaints and talk of the money spent out of the way, Miyoshi recieved two "free" modifications this week, the first being a timing bump to 12 degrees to help give the car back some of that long-lost torque that the tall geared 4.10 Torsen diff took away from me.
So far I'm liking the improved drivability a great deal and the gas mileage has actually improved a bit thanks to being able to lower my shift points due to having more low-down torque on tap.

I also dropped the tire pressures to 26 psi, and I'm now enjoying a much quieter, smoother, and calmer drive without taking a hit in handling or absolute grip.
Could it be Mazda knew what they were doing when they went about setting up the tire, shocks, springs, and swaybar settings on the chassis during development?
I would have to say that they did, and my lower back agrees as well. ^_^


Jeff Goji

I bet you weren’t expecting to see another entry in this blog were ya?
Well, the simple truth of the matter is that I just can’t bring myself to part with this car.
I could try and sell it, but I would never get back what I put into her, and it would be a waste to give away a paid-off Miata in these tough economic times we are living in.
So it looks like I’m keeping the old girl around for a bit longer. And to prove my new found devotion, I spent the day working on her (of course!)
I completely bled and flushed both the brake and clutch hydraulics, and then proceeded to try and repair some leaks that had formed in the soft-top.
Unfortunately those repairs didn’t turn out so well, and the soft-top started leaking worse then ever when I gave it the water hose test… Oops.
So I did what any performance minded Miata owner would do, and promptly removed the entire 40 pound soft-top from the car and put the hardtop back on.
The result was rather surprising, the car was just as light and as nimble as running without the hardtop, but the NVH levels from running the hardtop in place were much improved.
I’m amazed how many squeaks and rattles are no longer present now that the soft top is gone, I had no idea just how noisy that thing can be!

Personally I like the “hardtop only” look on the car, but I’ll eventually get a NB top to throw on the car.
In the mean time, I have the Mazdaspeed and its soft-top only self to make me happy on those days where having a convertible is an absolute must.
As is, the car is still a delight to toss around a corner, but I still yearn for more power… I guess a turbo kit or a full fledged V8 swap is in the cards for the future…. Hmmm, a V8 powered Miyoshi…

Jeff Goji

Finding a good series of twisty roads in Texas is hard to do.
Finding a good series of twisty roads that have varying surface conditions of smooth as silk to as rough as the shell of a snapping turtle, that’s even harder…

Fortunately for me, I know of such a road, which we in the Miata club have lovingly dubbed as “The Anderson Loop.”
The Anderson Loop is a nice 75-mile long series of twisty and semi-deserted roads.
These roads are perfect for testing the merits of the suspension on just about any sports car.
If there is any fault in either the chassis or the suspension, these roads will quickly seek them out and shove them right in your face, just before sending you off the road and into a ditch…
Absolutely perfect for testing Miyoshi’s new 99 Sport/FM swaybar setup then! ^_^

I organized a nice small Miata club run on the loop, and to my luck, our former president and pro driver Jay Jackson came out to play with us.
He offered to lead the run, and I just couldn’t say no… There is that damn competitive streak again…

We set off early to try and beat traffic, myself, Jay, and another 7 cars in tow behind us.
Taking the first few corners at speed, the first thing I was struck by was just how flat Miyoshi was cornering.
I had set the FM bars to full stiff front and full soft in the rear, and it feels like more then enough roll resistance for the crummy all-season tires to handle (set to 32.5 psi all around).

The handling balance took a little getting used to…
If you try to grab the car by the scruff of the neck and fling it in typical haphazard Miata fashion, all 4 contact patches quickly loose traction and the car begins a lurid tail-led slide towards the outside of the turn.
Give the car a momentary dash of opposite lock and keep the throttle down, and the car pulls out of the slide just as quickly as it entered it.
Now if you leave your ham-fisted driving style on the last corner and adopt a smoother and more precise driving style, Miyoshi will dance with you rather then against you, and put a BIG smile back on your face.
Turn the wheel gently and with a lighter touch at the turn-in point, with just a hint of throttle lift or brake if needed, and the chassis responds immediately and with no complaints.
The nose of the car responds perfectly to throttle inputs, tightening or widening your driving line mid-corner is only an ankle-flex away.

Overall, Miyoshi is a bit trickier to drive fast then she was before, and I would be hesitant to run her on the autocross course as is.
But she holds the road with more tenacity and exhibits a great deal less body roll under hard cornering, plus the ride quality is a tad bit better then before, and with more ground clearance as well.


Jeff Goji

It’s been a whopping 7 months since my last update, and as you can imagine, allot has happened since then.
For starters, I have recently acquired a new Miata!
It’s a 2004 titanium gray Mazdaspeed Miata, which I’ve named “Kiryu.”
More on that car later on…

The latest news in Miyoshi’s life is that she is now sitting on the suspension of a 99 Sport Miata, which I bought (complete assemblies no less!) for $200 bucks.
Attached to that suspension are the limited edition 15” BBS wheels off of a 95 M-edition Miata, which I bought from my pal Freddy for a very reasonable $800 dollars.
Like an idiot however, I foolishly went and wrapped these wheels with a set of 195/50/15 Falken Ziex 912 all-season tires instead of my usual high-performance choice of rubber.
My bad…
The Ziex 912s aren’t “horrible” tires, but they certainly leave allot to be desired when you start trying to drive in a spirited fashion (mine start over-heating badly after 20 minutes of driving around 7 or 8/10ths.)
Ride comfort is decent however, and the rubber has proven to be very resilient to hard use. Despite my best efforts…

I also had the transmission fluid changed out on her last visit to Gas-Head Motorworks recently as it was well overdue. And I had them perform an alignment since I had swapped in the 99S suspension.

There are a few little things going on here and there with the car, like I switched form Amsoil 5W40 to 10W30, swapped in a set of brake springs, and so on and so fourth, but recounting all that little stuff would lead to an overly long entry, and I still have to construct the blog page for the Mazdaspeed, so I’ll have it for a later entry.

Jeff Goji

So you might be looking at that massive bill up top and thinking “How the hell did he do that?”
Well, about 3 weeks after I got Miyoshi out of Clint’s with a new Torsen diff installed, we had a bad accident on 610, which saw my car’s nose run straight into the back of a Ford Taurus.
The driver of the other car was unharmed thank goodness, but Miyoshi’s nose, radiator support, and hood were all completely obliterated.
This happened back on February 4th if memory serves me correctly.
I had her towed to Main Street Paint & Body in Pearland TX to have the repair work done.
They ended up keeping her until February 28th, but by the time they were done, she looked like a brand new Miata. All the accident damage had been repaired and the entire car, including the hardtop, had all been completely repainted a beautifully brilliant crystal white.
I drove her out of the body shop some $2,350 dollars poorer, but it was well worth it. The accident had not been bad enough to even affect the alignment, and that coming Saturday Miyoshi was tearing up the practice track at the solo2 practice event that the SCCA was holding.

I have to say, those FCM mounts have made her an absolutely brilliant handling car at the limit. Setting 6 on the AGX shocks has become downright twitchy in responsiveness, so much so it’s almost like I’m running a higher spring rate.
Stan and Wayne both commented how easy she was to rotate around the cones, and gave her kudos for having such quick turn-in responses, especially since she was on dead Falken Azenis.

The following day at the Autocross, I found myself co-driving Stan’s 99 Sport in C-stock.
“Team Goji” ended up with a solid 1 2 3 finish, with myself taking first after a heated battle with Stan, who took second, and Wayne (who was poorly handicapped by running on corded Kuhmos) came in third place almost a full second over Carter Taylor.
Events like that really make me proud of those guys.
They have both come a long way this season and last, and they both have yours truly looking over his shoulder at every event. I see no reason we can have a 1 2 3 finish for year-end points this year, but who ends up taking the 1st place spot is anyone’s guess at this point!

On a more Miyoshi related news, I replaced those dead Falken Azenis this week with a set of Falken Ziex 912 all-season tires in the 195/60/14 size.
So far, I’m very impressed with the ride comfort and road holding abilities of these tires, and the turn-in response is fairly impressive for an all-season tire.
I’m speculating that the increase in weight over the 512 model (these tires are only .8 pounds less in weight then an Azenis 615 in the same size) has to do with a more robust sidewall construction, which attributes the improved turn-in response over the outgoing 512 model.
I’ll update on these as time goes on. So far, I only have about 100 miles on them.

Jeff Goji

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”
“What the hell was that?”
“Oh, that’s just my differential whining…. Wait a minute… Ah shit.”
The above is a transcript of the dialogue that was going on in my head as my differential whined away on throttle-lift at highway speeds.
I limped the car home and jacked up the rear to find that the pinion seal had blown and the front of my diff was covered in oil, exactly what I needed to spend money on at the beginning of 2008 let me tell you!

On the plus side however, this does me the opportunity to upgrade to the stronger 4.10 Torsen differential + pinion seal, driveline, and axles, and leaves the door wide open for future forced induction upgrades (BEGI turbo system here I come!) once I recover from this debacle.
This whole “crippled Miata” situation has once again left me with the realization that I really need to invest in a newer vehicle that can take over the daily driver duties when shit like this happens, so I’ve also decided that this will be the year that I invest in a brand new vehicle.
Currently I’m leaning towards the Mazdaspeed 3.
On the plus side: Its turbocharged, fast, can seat 4 people plus luggage, and handles fairly well.
On the downside:
It requires 93 octane and gets 16mpg city and 26mpg highway, so it’s not exactly the most economical choice to make. My insurance rates will sky rocket, and from what I’ve read, it’s a pretty rough ride on anything but perfectly smooth streets.
Ah well, not like I have the down payment in hand just yet, so I have a little while to decide what I want to get.

Jeff Goji

Wow, time for another blog entry already?
Well let’s get down to it then.
As you all know from my last entry, I received the FCM shock mounts four days before Christmas.
Fearing that tire to fender rubbing was inevitable with using the 36mm bumpstop, I opted to re-use my 54mm bumpstops instead, and set the front swaybar to its stiffest setting as a slight extra precaution against rubbing (I’m currently on over-sized 195/60/14 Azenis mind you.)
My ride height finally settled at 12.1 inches front and rear (measured from the top lip of the fender to the center of the wheel hub) with a quarter and a half full tank of gas.

The initial handling and ride impressions were very good, especially since the car is in need of an alignment still (having that done at Clint’s tomorrow.)
It definitely feels like the mounts have increased the total lateral grip of the car at the limit, and when you overstep the limits it’s easier to get back under control then it was with the NA mounts.
The chassis and suspension feel better planted at highway speeds, with 70 mph feeling more like 60 mph, and 80 mph feeling more like 70 mph (thanks to the mounts allowing the shocks to dampen lower speed piston movements more effectively.)
I’m waiting to finish my review until I’ve had a chance to drive the car with a fresh alignment in place (to help remove any variables with alignment change because of the drop in ride height.)
Once that is done and I’ve had a chance to track the car, I’ll post my review over on Miata.net’s forum and I’ll update my suspension page accordingly.

Jeff Goji

With the temperatures hovering in the 70-degree range and the sky a deep azure blue, a wave of inescapable guilt came over me as Miyoshi came into view while I was in the process of taking the trash out.
The poor old girl’s exterior had certainly seen better days, and I couldn’t remember the last time I had bothered to wash her (though I am sure it was sometime last spring…)
Resolved to accomplish this daunting task, I immediately filled two buckets of water with Meg’s “gold class” car wash and grabbed my wash mitt and brush.
First order of business was to rinse the loose dirt off the car. Seems like a simple enough job, right? WRONG.
To my dismay and annoyance, the moderate pressure from the water hose ended up literally blasting the rest of the paint off of my driver’s side fender and the forward portion of the hood.

"Well crap, so much for IMPROVING the looks!" I thought, as I walked over to a driver's side panel with it's "pure primer" finish.
I was now resolved that there was pretty much nothing else I could do to ruin the finish of the car, so I grabbed a spray can of automotive grade primer and a spray can of RustOleum “gloss white” paint, and went to town on the driver’s side fender and the forward portion of the hood.
Since this was an experiment and just a lame attempt to keep from having a pure primer finish like so many ricers with unfinished body kits, I wasn’t expecting any grand or fantastic results from this little experiment, and frankly, it’s a good thing I wasn’t.
Using the primer turned out to be a bad idea, as it made the gloss white a bit darker then I had hoped it would.
I waited two hours for the initial coat to dry, than applied a second coat to the hood.
I’ll give it a few days to fully cure then I’ll wash it, use a paint cleaner on it, then polish it up to try and match it to the rest of the car.
Really, Miyoshi only has to look somewhat presentable for pictures on the Autocross track, I can photo-shop out anything that doesn’t match up in the paint.
After a few weeks at my new job, I’ll strip the car and pay someone to spray it properly, and I’ll replace all the little plastic bits that may get sprayed over by accident.

On the upside of things, the FCM shock mounts arrived today! Shaikh included a set of his brand new 36mm bumpstops as well.
However, I think I might send the 36mm stops back, as I’ve been researching which stops work for which applications and found that the 36mm stops might be better suited to a higher spring rate and lower spring, while the 54mm stops I have now are better suited to the stock spring rate…
Okay okay, I admit it… I’m a little scared of tire-rub issues with the fenders and A-arm to frame contact (not to mention A-arm to front swaybar contact.)
Despite my obvious doubts on the 36mm application, I will be testing them and giving them a fair shake none the less! Especially since I could turn out to be completely wrong and could have missed a great handling/riding combo with the mounts and 36mm stops.

Jeff Goji

Feeling the incredible urge to burn up some tires and inhale the micro rubber particles and revel in the sound of a full 146 horsepower roar of fury, I registered for yesterday’s BMW Autocross at the Houston Police Academy.
The event went rather well with Wayne and I taking the 3rd and 5th spots in our class.
I came away from the event with a bit more knowledge on how what type of tire pressures we need to run at the HPA track, and I used 3 of my runs to practice my left-foot –braking technique in a true competition environment.
Considering the fact that all three of my LFB runs were faster then my two right-foot brake runs, I guess that shows some hope for me in learning this new technique.
The day was a cold one with the temperatures hovering in the 30 to 40 degree range in the morning, then warming up to a high of 54 degrees at most throughout the day.
Naturally this cold weather didn’t exactly do wonders for the r-comps we were running, and our first 4 runs each were spent slipping, sliding, and locking up the brakes unintentionally in almost every corner (well not Wayne, he actually did really well compared to me who was getting well deserved comments from observers such as “is he drunk?” back in grid.)
This cold fact was further compounded as people on street tires were literally running circles around us, and having a jolly old time doing so at that.
But I really shouldn’t be complaining about tires too much as the two leaders in our class came in 2 to 3 seconds faster then us in a CSP modified 99 with 225/50/15 V710s.
The nice thing about losing to a CSP car however is that it has re-inspired me to start modifying the suspension on my 91 again to make it CSP ready.

Not too much going on in Miyoshi’s world right now. She’s still running great though I do fear a clutch job is in the near future, and I need to crawl under her to re-adjust the front swaybar to it’s stiffer setting.
Once I have installed and thoroughly tested and seen what the FCM shock mounts do on the car I’ll be looking into what kind of suspension options I can install and still have a livable daily driven Miata.
The OEM springs for the soft pillows that they are really do offer up a great ride, and I’m determined not to kill the ride quality just to be competitive.
Considering what a sucker I am for the handling nature and feel of the NB Miatas, I have a good feeling that the FCM mounts will be the first step in the right direction along with a moderate increase in spring rates well as a good set of r-comps (thinking about a 13” wheel/tire combo.)

Jeff Goji

Let’s start off this entry with a bit of news on the Autocross front.
I won my class for the December 2nd SCCA event, which puts me firmly as the Houston Region’s 07 C-stock champion, and officially makes this the most productive year of Autocrossing I have ever had!

First and foremost on my “thank you” list, is Mr. Paul Flores.
Paul was nice enough at the beginning of the year to offer me a co-drive in his 04 Mazdaspeed Miata back in January, and then he showed an even greater generosity above and beyond anything that was expected, and offered me the co-driver seat for the rest of the year.
The really great thing about Paul and I racing together rather it be on the Autocross track or the kart track, is that we keep pushing each other into going faster, all while keeping things fun and civil, as two people competing in a sport should.

The next big thank you goes out to Steve Leblanc.
I met Steve about a year ago at an Autocross when I walked out of the timing trailer and found him leaning against the rear quarter panel of my car, needless to say, I was a little miffed being the hot-headed, anal, overprotective prick about my car that I was at the time (I wonder if I’ll get an e-mail about that once he reads this…)
I met him again at the rookie school event we had at GGP back in June of this year, and I received some of the absolute best one on one driving instruction anyone could ever hope to receive.
And it didn’t end at the rookie school either! Steve’s been a great help this season by walking the course with me before the events and pointing out what I should be looking at and explaining why the course works the way it does, what a “sucker” cone is, and how to avoid falling for the course designer’s devious traps.

And of course, I can’t let this entry go without thanking Mr. Wayne Stockel for the very generous use of his car and r-comp tires for the last half of the season.
Wayne is one cool cat, I met him back in June and we attended the same rookie school event, and we’ve been racing against each other in C-stock ever since.
My big goal for next year is to help Wayne out as much as possible and see to it that he becomes the 2008 C-stock champion.
As a driver, Wayne’s driving skills are pretty well developed, and he shows improvement with each race he competes in and he does a great job of taking the advice you give him and putting it into practice on the track.
Unless I get way faster real fast, there is no reason he shouldn’t be matching or besting my times on the track very soon.

Onto some Miyoshi news…
Miyoshi will be receiving a set of FatCat Mototsport’s improved shock mounts in the next few weeks.
After a phone conversation with Shaikh at FCM about the differences between these improved mounts and the older version, I must say I’m a bit anxious to receive these new pieces so I can begin testing them (as always you can expect a full review both in the Reviews section and on the Suspension page.)
In a nutshell from what I recall, the mounts themselves are the same, but the rubber bushings inside the mount have been replaced by MCU (Micro-Cellular-Urethane) pieces, essentially the same material used to make the FCM bumpstops.
This should offer a pretty obvious improvement in further isolating unwanted NVH being transmitted back through the shock shaft, and thus giving an even better ride over the current shock mounts (and supposedly a much improved ride over the NA mounts currently on the car.)
So needless to say, I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Jeff Goji

After taking all the embarrassment I could take by having an AC/PS belt slipping under engine load while pulling away from a stop sign or screaming it’s head off at freeway speeds (and receiving offers from more then one random person on the street to put the poor engine out of it’s misery for me with a shot from their concealed firearms), I finally replaced it with a typical “run-of-the-mill” Gates brand belt. Hopefully this one will last longer than the standard 13,000 mile, mileage allotment.
I also replaced my PCV valve with a NAPA replacement, as my current generic valve had decided it didn’t feel like doing its job properly anymore.
The result of the change is a far more consistent idle (especially when coming to a stop,) smoother engine note, and a distinct lack of lag while under full throttle loads. I would even venture to say the exhaust note sounds better but then I would stumble precariously from the realm of “almost believable” to “quit your lying you know nothing idiot!”
The gas mileage has decided to take a jump from 23 to 25 mpg for my short trips to and from the gym, and the highway mileage has been a fairly consistent 29 mpg with the top up and the AC on.

Completely non-Miyoshi related, I’ve now won my 10th C-Stock victory in the Houston Region’s 2007 Solo 2 championship.
Normally I would go into some speech about how the journey is more important then the destination, the real challenge is the journey, or some other Bruce Lee inspired “Enter the Dragon” speech, but I’m far to busy dreaming about how stylish my sky-blue “07 CS Champ” jacket will look on me during the cold spring months that are sure to follow this muggy and hot winter we are currently having like the inevitable hangover after a wild night of college binge drinking with your best buds after a college football game.

I also used this month to catch up on the latest happenings of the local Miata Club… Ok, you got me; I didn’t go to catch-up on anything so much as to support my good friend Paul and his TSD Rally Cross proposal to the board and help answer questions if needed.
Fortunately for the both of us, no questions were directed at me, and the board welcomed the idea of a TSD Rally like I welcome a free shot of Johnnie Walker Blue label.
We are aiming for sometime in December or January to actually run the event, and I will link to it from my front page when I get word form Paul that the Website for the event is up and running.


Jeff Goji

Despite the fact I’ve been driving my car only 8 miles a day to get to and from the gym and to go to and from the store, the 23 mpg range is still a bit low for top down, 45 mph, no AC driving.
Since the air filter change is only another thousand miles away, I went ahead and bought a cheap paper replacement from the parts house and swapped it in a little while ago.
We’ll see if we get any improvement over this next tank of gas.

On another note, I won first place in the X3 class for the BMW Autocross today, and placed the 5th fastest time of the day out of 78 drivers.
I originally intended to run Miyoshi at this event, but Wayne offered me a co-drive in his Miata, with it’s near perfect C-stock suspension and perfectly broken in V710s… Now you wouldn’t turn down an offer like that, would you? I didn’t think so.
The car performed without fault for the early part of the heat, but by our 4th runs, the V710s were in desperate need of a shot of water to try and cool them off and regain a bit of grip. A task that we couldn’t accomplish however, as we both forgot to pack a water sprayer (DOH!)
And that’s pretty much it for this entry.

Jeff Goji

Let’s start this entry off with some good news shall we?
For what it’s worth, I won C-Stock for the October 7th SCCA Autocross event by a second, and paxed 15th out of 159 drivers. I co-drove the car I lost to at the last event this time around, and it’s pretty well setup Miata, with a little fine tuning of the tire pressures, I’m sure the car could have paxed 1st place for the day.

I really can’t report on if the FCM bumpstops I installed are doing much, because it turns out all 4 AGX shocks are dead and not doing much damping at all.
I have to ride with them set at their softest setting all the time to get even a halfway decent ride, and the road holding suffers tremendously over the higher settings.
The dead shocks are also doing the best they can to magnify the 65 mph shimmy that my car has, which makes highway driving a real pain in the ass.
Oh yeah, and I’ve lost even more paint, so now my car literally looks like a damn ghetto cruiser, even though the engine runs great.
Oh yes, and my hopes of taking her to E-stock next year have been crushed, as the SCCA thought it would be a good move to make any non-OEM catalytic converter ILLEGAL for stock class! What the hell is that about? I’m using an el-cheapo AutoZone catalytic converter that passes emissions just fine, but it doesn’t matter, as the Cat HAS to be OEM! Talk about a bullshit rule.
The SCCA’s newfound rule actually comes at a good time for me to get out of cone-dodging anyway.
You see, I was recently bitten by the “wheel to wheel racing” bug a few weeks ago when I got to drive Paul’s Rotax Kart out at the Katy Kart track.
The only thing I could say afterwards was “Wow!” It was SO much faster than Autocross, and the thrill of having to pilot this 100 pound piece of metal with a 25 horsepower engine around the track at 60+ mph in wheel to wheel competition is just too alluring for me to justify plunking further money down on anything involving a car running around cones in a parking lot and working for an hour afterwards.
The dollar per seat time ratio is much higher with the Kart, and I think it’s something I could get good at if I apply myself accordingly.
But you know, there is another reason for me to be getting out of Autocross than just finding something better like Karts.
I told myself when I first started that if I ever stop having fun or I started taking it too seriously, I would call it quits.
And you know, I’ve reached that point. I’ve taken this sport way more seriously then I should have. And to be honest, it just isn’t much fun for me anymore.
I could list about a million reasons it isn’t fun anymore, but I just chalk it all up to being worn out with it.
I think I’ll still indulge now and then in BMW events as they are VERY close to home by comparison to the SCCA events, plus you get more runs per dollar.

So my only real question now is where do I go from here? Living in a neighborhood like mine really zaps the joy out of sports car ownership, and at this point my car just isn’t much fun to drive anymore, especially living in Houston.
I don’t really take any pride in it anymore, as the paint is just too far-gone, so I don’t even like driving it downtown to my usual hangouts anymore, as I’m just too damn embarrassed to be seen in it.
I’ll wait a see what Mazda does with the NC for it’s re-design in 2009 before I make any decisions as to what to do with Miyoshi. If I like what I see, Miyoshi becomes a spec racer project and the NC will become the new daily driver.
We’ll see what happens.

Jeff Goji

With all the traveling to and from job sites in Arkansas and all the running around I’ve had to do since I got back home, it turns out I missed Miyoshi’s oil change mark by some 650 miles, so today I elected to rectify that little goof up and replace the lower radiator hose that has been threatening to blow up for the last thousand miles or so.
Both jobs went off without any problems, and the next oil change is scheduled for when the odometer ticks over to 141,408 miles.

I still haven’t had an alignment done since I did the spring installation, partly due to laziness, and the other part due to rather liking how the car is handling and holding the road as is.
The tires appear to be wearing evenly, so apparently my toe-numbers are in check. The rear end is fairly planted, yet adjustable mid-corner using the throttle. And the steering wheel is straight and the car tracks perfectly at both highway and neighborhood speeds.
Frankly, I’m a little scared to let anyone near the alignment bolts with how nicely it’s behaving.

I was going to wait a while longer before posting anything positive or negative about the FCM bumpstops, but I have to say that I am very impressed with them.
The fact I’m actually using the springs instead of the bumpstops to corner with and absorb expansion joints, pot holes, and bummed up roads in general is providing a handling and ride that reminds me of the later 99-05 NB Miatas, and how they flow over a road without becoming overly harsh.
And this is just at setting 2 on the AGX shocks. I have no doubt these bumpstops are going to be an effective part of reducing Miyoshi’s lap times around the track.
I’m going to make a trip downtown tomorrow and try this new setup out on my usual route of “bad roads”, if I’m less then impressed or have anything new to add, I’ll update this post.

Jeff Goji

Wow, September 12’Th already? Amazing… I’m always astonished how time seems to fly by quicker and quicker the closer you get to the end of the year.
This, I’m both happy and sad to report, marks the end of my season running in C-Stock.
The road race tires we were using on the MSM that have served us so well over the season have finally given up the ghost, and no amount of driving on my part can compensate for the massive gap Wayne Stockel’s brand new V710s are sure to create.
On the plus side, the only person in class who can beat me for points also doesn’t stand a chance of beating Wayne or his super prepped CS Miata (Which I’m happy to say I created the part list and had a very small hand in creating, it’s always nice to see a car and it’s driver you’ve helped go out and surpass you.)
Wayne is going to absolutely smoke CS for the rest of the year, and I’ll be there to give him a hand in picking lines out and advice on car setup.

I’m now going to take a moment to thank the man who made it possible for me to obtain my first regional championship by providing his expertise and experience in the fields of driving and turbocharger technology (not to mention the use of his car, race tires, and his friendship) and was always encouraging and forcing me to push past my plateaus and reach a new driving level that I wouldn’t have been able to reach without his help.
So a very big thank you, to Mr. Paul Flores.

Now for Miyoshi news!
I’ve used the last few months to fix various little issues on the car and start getting her ready for her future as an E-Stock car.
The first order of business is what I like to call “the point of no return”, where I tear down the suspension and swap in stock springs. Why is it called the point of no return? Because you NEVER want to do it again.
After a generous donation of 4 OEM springs and a OEM airbag from fellow Miata owner and Spec Miata Racer, Brad (thanks Brad!) and a quick order to Shaikh at Fat Cat Motorsports for a set of four MCU 54mm bumpstops, the long and time consuming job of swapping out the RB springs and mounts for the stock pieces began.
Easily the worst part of that operation is dealing with the spring compressor and trying to get it in and out of the lowering springs. Thankfully, I happen to own a BFH for this very occasion…
After a mind numbing six-hour procedure, Miyoshi was sitting on stock springs again with FCM 54mm bumpstops.

Now that the hard part is out of the way, all I have to do now is get an alignment done, put the stock wheel and my newly acquired OEM airbag in place, and buy a trailer hitch, tire tail, and a set of r-comps.
I currently have the FM shock mounts and 46mm FCM bumpstops, plus the RacingBeat springs all for sale to try and offset the cost of the r-comps:

FM Mounts with FM and FCM bumpstops: $200 dollars
RacingBeat springs: $90 dollars.

If you are interested, e-mail me to discuss shipping to your area (or pickup if you live in the Houston area.)

I’ll post a full review on the FCM bumpstops and stock spring combination and update my suspension page accordingly once I’ve put some miles on the car both on the street and on the track.

Jeff Goji

Prepping Miyoshi for E-stock is turning out to be a more difficult task then I originally thought!
The first major snag, has been locating a used set of rear springs off of a 90 to 93 car! Can you believe that? Who would have thought locating a set of used springs for a 1.6 Miata would be so difficult!
Clint hasn’t had any take-offs from any Miatas recently, and the only Houstonian who is advertising a set, wants $50 dollars for all 4 springs and 4 used (in other words, dead) OEM shock absorbers.
I never received a reply to my e-mail asking him if he would be willing to break up the set, so I’m just counting him out.

Despite the spring setback, I did get one minor thing accomplished this week! I finally removed the Cannon rear sub-frame brace form the rear of my car, (which was bent to hell and back) along with the 5/8ths Flyin’Miata swaybar (which I replaced with my OEM 12mm bar.)

Generally, it’s not like me to bad mouth a product, but part of the reason this blog exist is to share my experiences so that others may learn from them, and not make the same mistakes I have made, so here is my opinion on Flyin’Miata’s Cannon Brace… The Cannon brace is without a doubt, one of the worst modifications you can make to your Miata. On, off, bent, it made no appreciable difference in either the handling or the chassis’ rigidity.
The bend was right at the point where it connects to the alignment adjustment bolt on the driver’s side, and the bend was pretty severe. I’ll post some pictures later on.
I cannot recommend this product. Especially since I found absolutely no degradation in either the ride quality or the on-limit handling with it removed. Save that $140+ dollars and put it towards something useful.

Removing the big rear bar and going back to stock is definitely one of the smartest and best upgrades I’ve ever done.
I didn’t think downsizing the rear swaybar would have much of an effect on the ride quality, but alas, it did. The rear end feels much more compliant over bumps and ridges, and isn’t as ready to just breakaway should you take a turn that is less then racetrack smooth.
The rear now deploys its power through the corners much more efficiently then before, with only a slight bit of slip coming from the inside rear tire, but that feels more like an issue with the weak nature of the viscous limited slip then the suspension itself.

Jeff Goji

I actually installed these new bump stops last month, but I figure now is just as good as time as any to talk about them a little.
A few months ago, I noticed the ride and handling quality in Miyoshi’s front end was starting to go downhill.
A quick measurement revealed the ride height had settled at 12.05 to 12.1 inches. At that ride height, the shock absorber would be smacking the bump stops every time I would take a turn or hit a bump in the road. This explained why the car felt so rough and why the front end would break traction with mid-corner bumps.
So, I went ahead and installed the new stops, and man… It was a night and day difference.
For starters, when I turn the wheel, the car's front end actually dives and rolls a bit as it's now relying on the spring rates to take a set in a corner instead of using the bump stops.
The suspension no longer sends a mild "thud" back through the steering wheel on turn-in, and it doesn't break traction as easily if you hit a bump either on turn-in or mid-corner.
Since the car doesn't hit it's bump stops on turn in to take a set, the front end feels a little more loose then what I'm used to, but after about a week of driving with the new stops in place, I adapted very nicely.

Now let’s flash forward to today. After driving around with the front anti sway-bar set to it’s stiffest setting for Autocross since I bought the Falken Azenis a few months back, I finally got tired of the constant vibration and harshness the bar was transmitting back through the chassis and the steering wheel. Plus it actually made the car harder to drive in the rain. It was too under-steer biased, and a little scary if you entered a turn just a little too fast or your turn-in wasn’t super smooth.
Since I’m taking some time off from Autocross anyway, I really won’t need to run the bar at an Autocross setting. So I adjusted the front bar to the softest setting and went for a test drive.
I’m amazed at just how much more comfortable the car became, it also doesn’t feel as intimidating on turn-in on a wet road. The downside is that it adjusted my F/R roll couple from autocross safe 61.8% to 59.8% (which is the exact same F/R rate as the infamous R-package Miatas.)
So basically, it’s just a tad more under-steer biased then the stock 58.5% F/R roll couple.
Since Miyoshi won’t be seeing much autocross action for a while, this isn’t really a big deal.

Jeff Goji

Hello everyone, and once again, sorry for the long delay between entries. This entry is going to be rather long, as it will cover almost two months of activities, so I highly recommend you get a snack…

Feeling at the edge of my abilities and needing a rejuvenating shot of inspiration and a technique refresher, (and the promise of one year’s worth of Autocross time wrapped into one session) I decided to attend the SCCA’s Autocross Rookie School.
The classroom material itself was nothing new to me, as I had been studying race lines, early, normal and late apexes, traction circles, and all the other associated information since I began racing.
What was really refreshing however, was getting to apply that knowledge on four exercise courses designed to test your skills and improve upon your car placement and handling abilities.
At the end of the day, they setup the practice course that they normally run so that students can apply what they had learned in an actual Autocross environment. This was actually the EXACT same practice course I ran two months ago, so I got to actually gauge my driving improvements I had made since then.
My previous best lap on the course was a 44.3, and I ran consistent 44.6 and 44.8 runs after that.
This time however, after some coaching and much needed instruction from a few of the instructors (Thank you Steve and Zach!) I set CONSISTENT 43.3 to 43.8 second runs, with my best run being a 43.1.

The next day at the June 3rd Autocross, Paul and I decided to run those dead Hoosier A6’s I talked about previously, and unfortunately, they were just too far-gone to do any good. I still placed 1st in C-stock however, but I paxed 3 spots lower then I normally do, and I was fighting the Mazdaspeed on course as it struggled for traction in a corner, then lunged down the straights towards the brake zones.
It was the closest experience to professional bull riding that I ever want to get, and at the end of the day Paul and I resolved that going back to the track oriented Hankook RS-1 tires would be a smarter move.

Right about now you’re more then likely thinking “Now that’s all well in good, but what about Miyoshi?” And that’s a good question, and yes, it seems I harp on more in these blog entries about events that do not concern my car… Sad huh?
Well you’ll be happy to know dear reader, that besides running her in the rookie School, I entered her into the local BMW Autocross they hold at the Houston Police Academy, where she proceeded to PAX me into the 23rd spot out of 77 racers. And that was on non-competitive half worn 195/60/14 Azenis!
I was fast enough to place 5th place out of 12 in class, and the top dog on street tires in the class!

Now let us flash forward to the Divisional Autocross event for June 22nd and the 23rd. Paul and I are back on the road race tires, with a fresh alignment, and a drop-out midpipe to add more horsepower.
11 people entered our class, I managed a 6th place run on the first day, and held that position through the 2nd day and ended up 6th overall.
Paul ran great on the first day, and set the 7th place spot behind me, but lost a little bit of ground to John Baker on the 2nd day, which pegged him down to 8th place. Link to the Divisional Results.

As expected, it took each of our first three runs (and a spin on my second run) to get enough heat into the tires to get them to grip.
Paul feels that we have pushed the limits of how fast we can go with the Mazdaspeed with its current setup. He also paid me one of the biggest compliments in my life, and told me that he honestly thinks that the car is what is holding me back now (he actually likened it to the way Goku and Piccolo in DragonBall Z wear weighted training uniforms.)
While it was a very flattering notion and I appreciated the thought, I didn’t read too much into what he said. But with an unexpected and much appreciated invitation from Peggy Newman to co-drive her National Champion 99 10th anniversary Miata at the next Regional, I would soon see just how right Paul really was…

The July 1st event saw one of the worst storms I’ve seen in the Houston region for a good long while. It rained in biblical proportions, and the lightening strikes were very impressive to watch.
Fortunately for us, it actually let up enough to let us run, but we were now limited to 3 runs a piece thanks to the inevitable delays that such weather brings. You could say that the pressure was really on…
To my complete and utter surprise, Peg’s car was AMAZING in these wet conditions! There was no delay from the time I turned the wheel to the time the car turned in. The tires remained sure footed and very well planted as long as you didn’t get overly aggressive with your inputs, and amazingly enough, despite having roughly the same suspension setup as the Mazdaspeed, it actually felt more like Miyoshi, only with more power and more grip.
The 10AE didn’t have the same gearing issues the Mazdaspeed does, and where the Mazdaspeed would be requiring an upshift to 3rd gear on course, the 10AE was just starting to get into the upper part of it’s power band in 2nd gear and starting to really liven up.
It was just a much easier car to drive at the limit then the Mazdaspeed, and behind the wheel it felt more like an old friend then a new challenge.
Where the Mazdaspeed threatens and intimidates, the 10AE comforts and assures, where the Mazdaspeed would drift, the 10AE would grip.
I managed 1st place in the class by a VERY large margin, and even paxed 12th place out of 133 drivers for the day.

Driving Peg’s car did two things for me. It re-assured me that I am becoming a faster driver, and it proved that Paul knew exactly what he was talking about.
Considering the car and driver we were up against, it amazed me how close we were to Peg and the other top drivers in the Divisional events, and how close Paul and I had kept to her in the Regional PAX for the year.

There were two things that bugged me about the event though, that I’m going to go ahead and get off my chest here and now. Feel free to skip this part if you like, it’s really not that important, but it did piss me off.
My first issue was Chung Ying entering his 2001 Miata into C-stock, placing second place, and walking away with someone else’s trophy. Why does this bug me? IT WAS NOT A C-STOCK LEGAL CAR!
He claims that he entered CS for “fun”, but I have a hard time believing that. Why not stay in your class where you are legal, and just compare your times to C-Stock’s times?
By doing what he did, he basically affected two trophy spots and walked off with a trophy he did not deserve, and screwed up the points for everyone but me, and that’s only because I won.
IF YOUR CAR IS NOT LEGAL, THEN DO NOT ENTER IT AND SCREW WITH THE REST OF US WHO HAVE LEGAL CARS! I CANNOT MAKE THAT PLAN ENOUGH!

My next issue was the attitude of one Carter Taylor, last year’s CS champ for the Houston region.
Maybe I’m just getting old, maybe I was just worn out because of the weather and having to be there so early (6 AM to help out because none of the regulars were coming out.)
But Carter managed to whine just enough to set me off. I was a bit scared of driving Peg’s car. In fact, I think she was a bit nervous about the idea as well. So before it was my turn to drive, she told me to hope in for a ride so I could observe how she drove the car. We come in off the run and Carter starts in basically calling me a cheater because I “previewed” the course! Since we were double driving, I had no idea that it wasn’t legal to ride along with your co-driver, but apparently it is. My mistake, it will NEVER happen again now that I know.
But that just isn’t good enough for Carter, oh no, he decides to start talking about protesting me! With his co-driver, one J.C. Taylor agreeing with him! NEVER MIND the fact that Chung had entered the class with a clearly illegal car, no! I should be protested because I didn’t want to break Peg’s car!

After this constant nagging continued on for a bit, I finally shot back with: “You know what? Go ahead and protest! You CAN’T beat me any other way! And you CAN’T catch me in points! So go ahead! Waste sixty dollars!”
Was it the right response? No. Hell no. In fact it was downright rude and somewhat un-called for given the circumstances.
But it did set the gears in motion inside my head. I am beginning to think that my outburst may have been the result of me finally beginning to burn-out on autocross…
Perhaps a short retirement from autocross may be the thing I need to clear my head and re-focus my attention on other issues.


Jeff Goji

Before you ask, no, I had not forgot that I run a Miata blog.
It’s been a long month for the Goji, so here’s the recap starting… Wait for it… Wait for it… Okay, now:
I’m happy to report that I’ve now bagged 5 wins in a row in C-Stock this year with Paul’s Mazdaspeed Miata. And speaking of whom, Paul’s still being a fantastic sport about the whole thing, I really got to do something nice for him at the end of the year…
And while I have the regional event on the brain, I’m happy to report that one Stan “Pitlab” Lopez appears to be making some very promising progress in catching up to Paul and I.
Paul and I also competed in the National Tour here in Houston this month against 3 former National champions and two other DAMN good drivers!
Car setup and driver wise, there was no contest whatsoever… The Mazdaspeed’s half worn Hankook RS2 track biased tires were no match for the new Kuhmo V710’s the 99 sport packaged Miatas were packing.
Driver wise, Paul and I didn’t stand a chance. And the really sad part about it is that I’m only 1 second behind the lead CS driver in Houston!
Truly a sad day for the Houston region…

Onto Miyoshi’s news! She’s now riding on some mint condition BBS rims I picked up from El’Fez for a very reasonable $500 dollars.
I immediately had them wrapped in a new set of Falken Azenis 615’s ($288.08 plus mount and balance at 126,800 miles.)
With a new set of Azenis mounted and ready to rock, this month also marked Miyoshi’s long awaited return to the Autocross track!
So far, she’s been in two practice events and clocked 60 runs on the new Azenis. The big reason for the return to the track besides all the much needed seat time on my part, is figuring out what I want to change in the suspension setup for next year when I enter into STS2… Right now I’m leaning towards Ground Control perches and springs with Koni race shocks, but I’m not ruling out the re-valved Bilstein shocks + Ground Control perches and springs either.
Also looking into some nice lightweight 15X7.5 wheel options to wrap in either Azenis or Bridgestone R-01 tires.

And that’s about it for this entry.

Jeff Goji

Today, Miyoshi received her first oil change since switching to the Mobil 1 0W40.
Total mileage on this oil was 7,615 miles, so technically I changed it a bit earlier then the 10,000 mile interval I had set for myself, but I do have a good reason for doing so!
Two days ago I power washed the engine bay, and I feared some water may have found it’s way into the oil...
The oil cap was on tight and the dipstick was in place and all, and I didn’t find any evidence of water in the oil, but changing the oil change gives me a better piece of mind and lets me sleep at night. So it’s all good.
I’m thinking I may stick to a 8,000 mile oil change interval. So my next oil change should be at 132,758 miles.

On the plus side, I’ve been getting a solid 30 mpg for the last 4 fill-ups, with the only exception being this last tank at 28.9 mpg thanks to me taking a fun-run out to Crockett TX to visit my good friend Vince and enjoying a high-rpm, AC using, 80 mph romp through some twisty Texas back roads.
Also, Miyoshi’s State Inspection was due today, but the inspection station I normally use was closed. So I’ll get it done tomorrow.

Jeff Goji

This has been a very long and month for Miyoshi and I.
First I’ll give you the Good news.
I won first place in C-stock for the fourth regional Houston SCCA Autocross event!
This is my 4th win in a row for the year, and I’m finally starting to run out of space to put the trophies on my shelf!
The course we ran was fantastic, but neither Paul nor myself were at the top of our game for this event. The Mazdaspeed was also having a few issues. For one, it’s front brake rotors were warped and pretty much toasted, and by the end of the event had begun to turn blue from all the excess heat.
The car’s alignment was also off, as Paul had accidentally curbed the right rear tire, and the car now had some toe-out in the rear. Which lead to some very interesting tail-happy moments when under hard left hand cornering…

Now onto Bad news portion of this entry…
Miyoshi saw a 660 round trip from Kingwood to just outside of New Orleans to a drilling rig location and back home again.
I stayed a two week stint on the rig, and in that period I barely drove her at all.
On the way back home two weeks later, I hear a strange whirring sound coming from the dash as I’m entering the Baytown area heading west on I10.
Within a few seconds after hearing this new noise, the AC stops blowing cold air, and I lose power steering. Turns out I had snapped the AC belt… Oh joy.
I get home without incident, and pick up a new belt from the part’s house on my way in. I begin removing all the intake plumbing so I can replace the shredded belt.
I get the new belt onto the pulleys and I notice that the belt is being pulled out further then it should by the AC compressor pulley. On a hunch, I reach down with a bad feeling creeping into my stomach, and sure enough, I can move the AC compressor and engine bracket in all sorts of funny directions. Shit.
A quick call to Dennis in the Parts department of Mazda of Kingwood got the needed bolts on a truck and on their marry way to the dealership for Tuesday (This happened on Saturday, so the parts order wouldn’t be received until Monday anyway.)
I took the Van to the dealership to pick up the bolts Tuesday, only to find that the bolts that had come in were not the correct ones. These bolts hold the AC compressor to the bracket, not the bracket to the side of the engine…
Dennis was most helpful and got the correct bolts ordered for next day delivery, which is today.
Sure enough, the right bolt showed up this time, and right on time I might add.
I got home, popped Miyoshi’s hood, removed the intake plumbing, AC belt, intake air box, cruise control, and proceeded to spend almost 2 hours wrestling with correctly lining up the compressor bracket to the side of the engine (which weighs a ton I might add) and trying to screw the bolt through the bracket and into the engine block.
A word of advice for all the do-it-yourself folks out there; Gently tighten the bolt on the front of the engine that the compressor bracket swivels on to help hold the weight of the compressor up while you are fiddling with trying to screw the bolt into place on the side of the engine.
After a King Kong VS Godzilla like battle, I got the bolt to screw into place properly. I tightened it down, installed the belt, tensioned it and tightened all the bolts down for the tension assembly, re-installed everything I had removed, and tightened everything back up.
I started the engine to make sure nothing was squealing and everything was functioning properly, and thank goodness it was.

On the positive side for this month, Miyoshi has seen a very consistent 29 to 30 mpg, even with in-town driving thrown into the mix.
I guess I’m doing something right… Let’s just hope this is the last repair I have to make for a good long while.

Jeff Goji

The weather in Houston today was absolutely fantastic!
I decided to spend the better part of the afternoon at home, out in the front yard by the pond, reading my latest issue of EVO, and enjoying a nice "Cafe Verona" blended coffee.
Ah, what a life. A shame I'm to be hustled away from all this to a drilling rig tomorrow, but you have to make the money sometime.
And it was with this threat of traveling 300+ miles to the rig location, that I decided to go ahead and pop open Miyoshi's bonnet and have a look around to make sure everything was still looking good.
The only trouble area I found was that the upper radiator hose had begun to bubble and crack around the thermostat housing.
A quick trip to the local parts store found a suitable replacement, and 5 minutes later the hose was replaced.
So the upper radiator hose lasted some 123,420 miles of daily driving, Autocross, and road trips. Pretty darn good life time from a hose I should think!
The lower radiator hose looked to still be in decent shape, no bubbling or cracking has taken place.
I'm thinking I'll go ahead and replace it after this next job, just to play it safe.

Jeff Goji

Chalk up another win to Jeff Goji and Paul Flores in the Mazdaspeed Miata in C-stock!
And what a race it was. The course was actually pretty slow this time around. It required you to slow down to the point where it hurts before you actually made the turn. It was almost like running a BMW Club course...
The MSM as usual, performed flawlessly, only getting slightly out of hand on me on the first run before we had re-set the pressures, and my third run because I tried to over-drive the course.
When everything was said and done, here is what the top 4 spots in CS looked like:

1. Jeff Goji - 51.404
2. Paul Flores - 52.056
3. Carter Taylor - 52.216
4. Stan Lopez - 55.908

I finally managed to take that “once every two years” trip back to the Texas Hill Country!
For all the Miata and sports car owners out there that would like to follow this route for themselves, I have gone into rather lengthy paragraphs in some places giving the names of the roads and routes, if you have any questions about the directions or need me to clarify something, please send me an e-mail. I would be more then happy to share.

Accompanying me on this trip is my Dad, who made the reservations at our resort that morning and was the one who suggested we take this awesome trip.
We departed Kingwood at 3:00 PM exact and decided to avoid the long boring Interstate drive down I10 and go in through the twisty back roads.
Which actually works out perfectly since our resort will hold our Condo for us until 2 AM the next morning anyway.
We took 1488 up to Magnolia, and from Magnolia I decided to take us on a little detour down the closest thing to "twisty roads" that the Houston Region has, I figured it would make for an interesting comparison and a good contrast to the roads of the Hill Country for later.
We took a right on Honea Egypt RD off of 1488, which deposited us on FM 149 south of Montgomery.
Once you are north of Montgomery, 149 begins to come alive. It passes through the Sam Houston National forest, and is filled with fast moving blind curves and sweepers, most of which have to be traveled at high speed to truly be appreciated.
The run down 149 wasn’t as much fun as I remembered it being… In fact, thanks to the firmer springs, better shock mounts, and the incredible grip of the T1-R tires; it was actually somewhat dull at anything below a highly illegal 80 mph.
It was still a good romp through the woods, but it might not be worth the gas bill unless you have another destination along the way.
As expected, most of the journey was completed on highway 290, with us taking a few back road detours to avoid Austin and drop down to Canyon city where our resort resided.
After a quick dinner at the Applebee’s in New Braunfels, we arrived at the resort somewhat exhausted around 9 pm. I made a bee-line for the shower and was in bed by a fairly prompt 11 o’clock (well, prompt for me anyway.)

The Texas Hill Country… It’s a vast land of two lane roads with the best curves that the state of Texas has to offer, and features incredibly sudden elevation changes, on camber and off camber corners, hair pin turns, long blind sweepers, slaloms, and it’s all laid out with tar and asphalt roads and their conditions ranging from smooth as glass, to rough as hell.
It’s the Nürburgring of Texas.
If your car is weak in any area, these roads will quickly point out the weakness’s and punish you for it. In short, it’s the PERFECT road, especially for one seeking to build and tune a good street suspension.

I’m awakened by the sound of rain hitting the roof of the condo around 7:30 AM. I look outside to discover it’s now drizzling, the roads are drenched, and a morning fog is still hanging low to the ground…
Well, I always said I wanted to write for a British car magazine, I guess it’s only fitting I should get the practice driving in typical England weather.
We pack up and hold off our departure until 9:30, then the call of the open road gets the better of us and we are off. By now the fog has lifted, the rain has stopped, and the roads are still drenched, better conditions for sure, but still not favorable to a top down adventure. Fortunately the wind is blowing hard and doing a decent job of drying the roads, so maybe there is hope yet.
We head out on FM 306 to FM 473, to FM 27 and finally to FM 2828 and into the sleepy little town of Medina to grab a filling and sustaining lunch from the Adam’s Apple store for the long hard drive that awaits us on the ever infamous, FM 337.
306, 473, 27 and 2828 are filled with long sweeping 55 and 60 mph turns, and a Miata can make very quick progress through these roads with a stock suspension and only a marginally skilled driver, but 337, that’s another story…

FM 337 is perhaps the highlight of the trip. The road changes elevation and camber very quickly and sometimes without warning, and many of it’s 5 and 10 mph turns are blind.
It’s a driver’s dream come true, a test of skill and driving experience, a chance to show how well you know your car and yourself, and an equally good chance to send yourself over a cliff to a horrible death below… But we aren’t going to concentrate on that.

We put the top down as it’s canvas material is now dry, and take off.
The roads are still wet, but the tires are finding ample grip in the cool 60-degree weather.
My only reservation is the suspension itself... With the shocks set to 4 all around, the car shakes and rattles and bumps anywhere from 45 to 75 mph over the long straights, and doesn’t feel civil until you are pushing 80 and 85 mph.
I decide to go ahead and pump the shocks up to 6 all around and see what happens. The ride actually begins to smooth out some in the 45-70 mph range, and begins to feel almost perfect at 80 to 90 mph, only the never-ceasing and ever increasing wind noise keeps you from pushing further.
As we begin our climb up the hill, I can’t get over just how much more power this engine has over my previous two. Above 4500 rpm it pulls amazingly well, even up the 55 and 60 degree climbs, though you have to keep it in 4th gear to keep the engine in the zone, it’s far from needing any extra power in such un-favorable conditions like today.
the road begins to twist and turn and narrow as we begin our climb up the mountain, and to my surprise, Miyoshi manages to find an amazing amount of grip on the wet asphalt. Everywhere from turn-in to corner exit there is an abundance of grip!
The steering wheel is alive with feel, and never gets numb or loses it’s line of communication with me. It allows me to almost perfectly judge how much traction I have to play with, and lets me know when I’ve overstepped the line.
The suspension is also turning out to be a very willing dance partner on this road.
It maintains a very nuetral handling balance while never getting out of shape, and does a wonderful job of telegraphing the road’s texture back to me in vivid detail.
If I run over an ant, it tells me how many legs the poor little ant had, and it does all this while keeping the ride from becoming rough and un-settled.
The tail end can break traction and be brought around by deliberate and very late trail-braking, but is otherwise very well planted and assuring at the limit.
The thicker anti-swaybars and stiffer springs keep the body roll in-check and too a minimum, all while sharpening the Miata’s reaction time to almost telepathic levels of response.
I keep the engine in the zone between the 2nd and 4th gears, keeping well into the power band and never allowing the engine to drop below 4300 rpm.
And the engine in combination with the Borla exhaust, just sing without fault.
It does all this while supplying more then enough torque to rocket us through the turn, down the straight, and into the brake-zone for the next bend.
Despite all of the hard stops the brakes are seeing this wet morning, they are holding up incredibly well. Throughout the day they never exhibit any brake fade, and the pedal remains firm and initial bite remains strong stop after stop.
Even after I crest one hill to discover a heard of deer camping in the road way, the brakes deliver confident stopping power and manage to haul me down from 80 mph to a dead stop, downhill, with over an astounding 10 foot gap between my front bumper and where the deer were standing.
And the fact they are doing this without even a hint of lock-up is a good sign of how much traction the Toyo T1-R tires are finding over this wet asphalt.
The un-relenting progress that we are making on 337 is a testament of just how far along both Miyoshi and I have come.
She’s been built into something truly better then she once was, and I’ve been sharpened into a much better driver since the last two visits to this road.
Both of which I’m happy to say, have earned my driving skills and Miyoshi’s modifications and abilities an enormous amount of respect from my Dad, who sits in the passenger seat grinning from ear to ear, commentating on how incredible the ride is and enjoying it just as much, if not more, then me.
It’s amazing how it feels when you and the car become one, working in perfect harmony with each other, playing off each other’s strengths to tackle a twisty road.
There is perhaps, no greater thrill or experience in the driving world…

As we come to the end of the run on FM 337, we hop onto FM 335 and head north. Then we head east on 41 to FM 1340, which then leads us into Kerrville.
This allows us to put the top up, set the shocks to 2 all around, and jump on Interstate 10 for a nice easy cruise controlled drive home to Houston Texas at 70 MPH.
Today was a great day of fun, but it was also a wonderful learning experience. As I said earlier, the Hill Country can let you revel in your accomplishments, but will quickly show you what you need to correct and work on.
Miyoshi’s engine worked flawlessly, it never dropped below 4300 rpm, it has plenty of torque and power, and is a sheer delight to run hard.
The engine’s cooling system worked flawlessly. The gauge needle never once moved past the 11 O’clock position, and engine oil pressure stayed consistent and normal.
The brakes are simply perfect and well sorted for this type of driving, and are certainly keepers.
The downsides however, are pretty painfully obvious…
1: The suspension worked wonders while you were attacking twisty roads, but proved to be very rough and a handful to drive on the straights.
The shock absorbers lack the needed compression damping to keep the suspension from bottoming out at the base of a hill when it at 70+ mph, and the valving lacks the ability to cope with the succession of bumps at both medium and high speeds (a lack of high piston speed damping.)
2: The chassis was stiff and well mated to the stock suspension setup when I brought her up here 5 years ago, but is sorely overwhelmed by the stiffer suspension setup I have now.
I will need to add extra bracing to cope with this.
3: The rubber bushings on the car are shot, and at 122K,
I would certainly expect them to be. I will be upgrading these in the next few months.

Gas mileage traveling up the twisty roads of Anderson and traveling the back roads of Texas to our resort yielded us 29.6 mpg, while tackling the Hill Country was an astounding 26.0 mpg, and coming home it was an even more impressive 31.1 mpg.

Everything said and done, it was a wonderful trip, and I will be doing it again in the near future.

Jeff Goji

Keeping with this week's "Miata repair" theme, I took the opportunity today to enlist the aid of my brother in helping me bleed and flush the brake and clutch hydraulics.
My normal poison of choice for the hydraulics is Napa's off the shelf DOT 4 fluid, as it was usually the best product sitting on the shelf.
This time however, I found something a bit better. Valvoline Syn Power brake fluid. It has a dry-boiling point of 480ºF and a wet boiling point of 330ºF. That should be more then enough to hold up to high performance street driving and autocross.

Jeff Goji

Something I have learned about working on a Miata, is that if you find a problem while performing general maintenance it's better to fix it right away then sleep on it. Otherwise it will come back with a vengeance and bite you... Hard.
I went to AutoZone and picked up a valve cover gasket and some more silicon sealant this morning. For some reason Miyoshi prefers the cheap AutoZone brand of valve cover gasket over the more expensive and supposedly better Mazda piece.
I have no idea why, but I know that the Mazda gaskets will spring leaks in about 12,000 miles time, while the AutoZone gaskets seem to go for an easy 40,000 miles.
I got the valve cover off and discovered that all four spark plug holes had developed leaks on them, and the outer edges of the gasket had also begun to fail. I wiped the oil off the edges of the head where the gasket makes contact, placed the silicon on the designated areas, and smeared a bit around the plug wells as well.
Put the valve cover back on, buttoned everything up, and now all I have to do is wait for the silicon to harden. It really doesn't get much more easier then that.
Oh yeah, and I replaced the power window switch first thing when I got up this morning. It went in without any issues, and the whole job of removing the center console and swapping out the switch took all of 7 minutes to do.
My observations last night about Miyoshi's engine pulling harder were spot on. This morning going to breakfast and to the parts store, the engine pulled like a brand new power plant should. And it was so smooth! I mean it was as smooth as the engine in the new NC Miata. So yeah, I'm in love again.
On a more tragic note, my headrest speakers in both chairs have bitten the dust, so I had to disconnect them to keep them from vibrating annoyingly when I wanted to play my CD player. I'll replace them whenever I have some spare change that's just burning a hole in my pocket.

Jeff Goji

The tune-up parts I ordered from Trussville Mazda arrived today! The list consisted of
1 Air filter
1 Fuel filter
4 NGK spark plugs
NGK plug wire set of 4
New power window switch (mine is about dead)
Total price out the door was a very reasonable $149.82, and they didn't even charge me for the shipping.
I will certainly be doing business with them again in the future (and they also had the cheapest prices on genuine Mazda parts.)
As expected, the biggest bitch of the project was the fuel filter! I backed Miyoshi onto my Rhino ramps and began removing the filter cover. I used my needle nose locking pliers to move the hose clamps, then had to lock the pliers around the hose that leads from the fuel tank to the filter to keep from emptying the tank.
The hoses were about as stubborn as hoses get and refused to budge, after being drowned in WD40 however, they finally began to slide a little bit, but were still a royal pain in the ass to remove from the filter.
The new filter slid into place fairly easily, and I buttoned her up then gently rolled her off the ramps and away from the spilt gasoline.
I then changed the air filter, and proceeded to change the spark plugs and found a nasty little surprise.
The number 4 spark plug had some oil around the threads (but fortunately none had made it to the actual electrode). This means I have a leaking valve cover gasket that will need to be replaced. Just what I needed.
I also took the chance to check and set base idle to 850 RPM and the timing to 10 degrees BTDC. As expected, Miyoshi ran much smoother and pulled with more conviction then she had been doing in recent months.
I'm not saying she was running bad per say, but it is amazing how you don't realize how poorly a car is running until you perform a tune-up. So my next filter change mileage will look something like this:

• Air filter @ 136,748 (15K)
• Spark plugs and wires @ 151,748 (30K)
• Fuel filter @ 181,748 (60K)

It looks like the tune-up parts I ordered won't arrive until sometime Thursday, but that hasn't stopped me from spending some time trying to iron out problems and little issues with Miyoshi.
Today I decided that I would get to the bottom of the "click, click, click, start" issue, and started where my best guess led me, to the clutch interlock switch.
This nasty little switch is a U.S Government equipment requirement on Automobiles sold in this country that use a manual transmission.
It won't allow you to start the engine until you push down on the clutch pedal and depress a little plastic plunger that goes into the switch and makes an electrical connection.
I decided to get rid of this little nuisance and hopefully solve the no start issue. I removed the switch then crimped the two wires together (That's the picture above.)
Well that didn't cure the problem as I had hoped it would.
So I cleaned up the battery post and terminals, and tried it again, still being a pest.
So reluctantly I did the next logical step and disconnected my push button starter and re-connected the key ignition system setup.
The engine now started up every time I turned the key to the start position, but these could have just been a few lucky starts. I'll give it a few weeks and see what happens.
Damn. And I really liked that start button too...

Jeff Goji

I just returned from another week long work stint on the drilling rig in Mansfield Texas. But the good news is that this is was the last time I have to bother with that rig and location for a good long while!
I finally managed to get some twisty road driving in on this last trip.
There is a neat little two lane road called 157 that is situated between Hwy 67 and Hwy 287, and man, it is Fun!
It has designated 30 MPH sweepers that are very sharp, but also on-camber! It also features some interesting S-turns.
The drive down that road was just a sheer delight. Miyoshi's 1.6 redlined on every up shift, and every downshift was in perfect sync with the rev match.
The steering was alive and alert, sending wonderful full and rich textured details back through it, and the suspension absorbed bumps and shrugged off the worst of the road irregularities with ease.
The handling balance was just sublime.
Just give the car a hint of brake to load the front tires, back on the throttle as you point the nose towards the apex, then full throttle to rocket the car through the turn and transition it into a smooth and neutral 4-wheel drift that carries the outside tires right up to the edge of the road.
By the end of the run, the Toyo's showed signs of being worked hard, with the entire tread face now as smooth as if I had just come off an Autocross run.
all this and the shocks are only set to 4... Amazing.
Looks like I have a week off before the next rig starts up, so I'm taking the opportunity to perform some general maintenance such as the long overdue fuel filter, the air filter, the plugs and wires, and I'm replacing the faulty and almost defunct power window switch.
I'll post the full routine and cost of the above parts in my next entry.

Jeff Goji

Jeff Goji has won 1st place in C-stock for the Houston region's second event of the year!
This time however, there was no rain to equalize the playing field and I got to experience the sublime nature of Paul's Mazdaspeed Miata in the Dry.
So far, I'm extremely impressed with it. The suspension setup for a stock Miata is amazingly well thought out for competition use.
The turbocharger has virtually no lag at all, and the short gearing of 2nd gear isn't as big a handicap as so many make it out to be.
The ability to cram 235/40/17 race tires under the fenders also helps a great deal.
However good the MSM is though, my competition this time around had me sweating bullets from start to finish.
Not only was I going up against last year's CS champion Carter Taylor, but now I had to worry about Stan "Pitlab" Lopez, or should I say, I had to worry about Stan's CS championship prepped 99-Sport package that would be driven by my friend and arch-rival, Jason Gibson.
A man virtually equal to me in driving skill both on and off the track, and with more then a few years of Autocorss experience over me.
In the end however, I managed to edge out the competition on my 2nd run, and gained a firm lead in C-stock.

1. Jeff Goji - 64.776
2. Carter Taylor - 66.131
3. Jason Gibson - 66.611
4. Stan Lopez - 67.554

Today Miyoshi finally hit 120,000 miles on her chassis! A shame the same can't be said for the original engine... Ah well.
I changed the base timing back to 10 degrees BTDC yesterday, and the difference is astounding.
It still feels powerful, but the throttle response has slackened a bit, and the engine doesn't have that high range "buzz" to it when you're driving between 60 and 75 MPH.
Considering most of my ventures will be on the highway from now on, this isn't a bad thing.
By popular request, I have decided to add entry dates for the blog starting with this post.

Jeff Goji

This week has to have been the most dreary and cold week Houston has seen in a long time.
We have actually had reports of roads getting Icy in the downtown area, so much so that they had to close on and off ramps to perform "de-icing" procedures.
With the weather being what it is, Miyoshi hasn't seen much use at all.
With the one exception being a run downtown to drop off my old stock springs to my friend Jason Gibson (who is in desperate need of replacement springs), and to meet with Kira to deliver her red "zoom-zoom" stickers I picked up for her in Hiley last week.
Here's a bit of shock absorber tech trivia I picked up on, and all you suspension experts are surely going to love this.
Did you know Shock Absorbers need time to warm up? It's true!
The fluid becomes thicker as the weather gets colder, so until the shock warms up it doesn't do much "absorbing" at all.
*sigh* I'm really hoping we get temps at least in the 50's this week, keeping Miyoshi and myself parked at home is becoming rather dull.
Thank goodness I have a Rally party to go to tomorrow night!


Jeff Goji

This week, Miyoshi got to spend 5 days out on a drilling rig location in Mansfield TX.
The job site wasn't too muddy this time around however, in fact, the dirtiest part of the drive was I45!
Mileage was 31.4 MPG on the way up, and 29.6 MPG on the way back (had to run the AC full blast to defog the windows due to heavy rain the whole way home, and speed varied from 55 to 80 mph.)
I had the suspension set to 4 all around, and the more I drive the car the more I'm convinced this is the proper setting for these springs.
The car exhibits very little body roll and feels tight and controlled at all speeds without robbing the car of any traction.
The T1-R tires did fairly well for having to deal with mid 50 to low 30 degree temperatures and freezing rail.
Standing water on the highway proved to be a problem while temps were still hovering in the 40's, but once we got back down to Conroe and a nice muggy 70 degrees, the tires felt like there old selves again.

Jeff Goji

After chasing cones for 3 years now, I finally bagged that elusive FIRST PLACE trophy I have been after for so long!
My best time was 68.184
Paul came in with a 68.555
And Carter managed a scary 68.749
Rather strange that it took me going to a completely different car and class to obtain my first 1st place trophy, but considering how heated the battle was for first and with Paul and Carter both hot on my heels, I'm not complaining one bit.
I also have to say I am absolutely amazed at how sportsman like Carter and Paul were!
Paul didn't have a single bad word or insult to throw, and even took the picture for me!
Carter even drove up to shake my hand and congratulate me on a race well won.

Click here for full results.

Jeff Goji

It feels so weird, almost wrong actually, to have an Autocross tomorrow and not be outside in the cold and damp changing over to my race tires for the event.
Why the change of pace you ask? Very simple, I'll be racing tomorrow, but not in Miyoshi and not in my usual class.
I received an offer from my good friend Paul Flores to co-drive his 200bhp 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata in C-stock this Sunday!
Without a good set of competition tires to compete on, this was a very welcomed offer that I graciously accepted without having to be asked twice.
I'll post the full story on my next blog entry.
Despite the fact Miyoshi wouldn't be braving the track tomorrow, I still took some time to air up the tires and check under the hood and take a look at all the vital fluids.
Everything looked good, and at some 1,932 miles since switching over to 0W40, I've lost 1/4th of a quart of oil.
Pretty normal consumption rate given my high RPM hooliganism and relatively short trips around town as of late.
The oil itself looks good and has a nice golden brown hue to it's color pallet.
At this rate, it looks like I have little to worry about in stretching my oil change interval to the 6,000 mile mark. I might go for 10,000 assuming the 6 month marker doesn't creep up on me first.

Jeff Goji

Miyoshi hasn't seen too much use since my trip to Ft Worth a few weeks ago.
Mostly she's just been driven to and from the gym and quick runs in Kingwood to the grocery store.
This morning I decided to head into Houston for a lunch run to a Burrito place called "Freebirds Burritos" off of Shepard and 59S, which is about the longest drive Miyoshi has had for a while.
With the weather still being gloomy and with rain pouring down, I didn't have a chance today to really wind out the engine to help burn off some of those oil contaminants, so I'm hoping the 60 mile round trip did the job instead.
On a note about the driving, the engine is buttery smooth and the shifting action is as slick as ever thanks to me removing my Momo shift knob and putting the more familiar stock knob back on.
I bumped the suspension up to 4 all around up from 3, and the ride quality is still exceptional on city streets and a wee bit better on the highway.
Handling wise, the car is as composed as ever, and manages to find incredible reserves of grip in the rain with it's super sticky Toyo T1-Rs.
Once the weather gets nice again, I'm thinking about making a run out to the Anderson loop area to help blow some carbon out of the cylinders.

Jeff Goji

I would save so much money if I didn't do hair brained things when I was working on the car.
As you've read from my last blog entry, I installed new AC and Alternator belts.
what you didn't read and I did not discover until I was in Fort Worth Texas some 230 miles later, is that I had failed to properly tighten the tensioner bolts down for the AC belt.
Now the tensioner block and set screw were missing and two more screws were busy backing themselves out.
After tightening the remaining screws down with a set of pliers, I met with my Dad a little further up the road and he got the number for the closest Mazda dealer in the area.
A quick call to Shannon at Hiley Mazda of Hurst revealed that they did not have the parts in stock, but could overnight them in for me and install them on the car once the parts arrived.
I dropped Miyoshi off later that day, and the next afternoon good to there word, she was put back together and ready to go.
Click here to read my full review of Hiley Mazda on the Miata.net Forums.
The drive back home was thankfully, un-eventful and pleasant. Miyoshi got an impressive 30.7 mpg going up to Ft Worth, and an ever more impressive 31.2 mpg on the way back.

Jeff Goji

Miyoshi has the biggest appetite for engine belts of any car I have ever seen!
The belts I just replaced didn't make it past the 10,000 mile mark before they began squealing, chirping, and making other anti social noises.
I decided to go with Mazda belts this time around, but sadly, my local Mazda dealer only had the AC belt in stock. So I had to go with a Napa belt for the alternator which I'm hoping will actually last the recommended 30,000 mile interval before a replacement is needed again.
Mileage is down this time around thanks to many short 1 to 5 mile trips with the hard top firmly attached and the AC on full blast.
I'm thinking I'll treat Miyoshi to a nice Anderson Loop run next Sunday to allow the engine and suspension to get a nice proper exercise in, away from the stop and go hustle and bustle of everyday driving around Kingwood.

Jeff Goji

With a new alignment and half a tank of gas, I figured I was ready for what I hoped would be a terrific end of the year Autocross bash.
One last romp through the cones with Miyoshi before saying good bye to the year.
There was just one detail lingering in my mind the night before; would the Victoracers survive a trip down to LaMarque, have enough grip to allow me to at least place 3rd, and make it back to Kingwood again safely?
I left home around 5:50 AM this morning and made it to LaMarque without incident. After working a brief stint at the computer it was our run group's turn to run.
With the temperatures hovering in the 50's, I figured the Victoracers would show what they had left by the 3rd run, and just to be sure I got some heat into them, I dropped the pressures down to 34 lbs all around.
After 3 runs of tossing and tugging at the steering wheel, by the 4th run I was faced with the utter heart breaking and bitter fact that my Victoracers were officially dead.
I figured they were pretty much goners at the Porsche event last week with how poorly I placed, and now I had the confirmation I needed.
Miyoshi would transition from heavy under steer as the fronts tried there best to regain some grip, to sudden and almost violent over steer.
She exhibited none of the 4-wheel drift nature I was accustomed too. And with how poorly the tires were performing, it was too hard to tell where the tires deficiencies ended and the suspension and alignment's issues began.
Imagine trying to tune your brand new Race suspension that is completely foreign to you on a set of dead all-season tires and that was basically the situation I was in today.
Now I'm in the market for a new set of race tires, and the Kuhmo V710's and there reduced prices for the 14" sizes are looking VERY tempting. But with such a delicate tire I'm stuck waiting until I can afford a trailer hitch to tow them. So next season perhaps.
On the plus side, I want to say congratulations to Chris D for beating me (finally got me for that BMW event last year).
Hopefully we'll have a go at it again soon! I also want to say you have really fine Miata there, I'm looking forward to driving it in January.

Jeff Goji

After 3000 hard driven street miles and three hard Autocross events (all with double runs) later, it was time to treat Miyoshi to a proper oil and filter change.
Keeping true to my first blog entry, I decided to go ahead and buy Mobil 1 0W40 oil instead of my usual Mobile 1 10W30 oil.
I figure it's good enough to come stock from Porsche and go for 12,000 miles before needing to be changed, then surely it will be good enough for my 3000 mile intervals.
Now I needed a good filter to match this high quality oil!
Let's see... Napa regular? Too cheap. Napa gold? Decent price but endorsed by NASCAR, I'll pass.
My usual WIX filter? I'm not liking my oil pressure readings using there filters when the engine gets warm, I'll pass.
Mazda OEM Filter? Good idea, but I didn't feel like making another trip out of the neighborhood to obtain one.
Ah, here we go! A top of the line Amsoil Filter.
It's guaranteed to have the anti-drain back valve us Miata owners crave, and it's said to be able to go up to 16,000 miles without needing to be changed! Wow!
And the price? $16.69... That's one EXPENSIVE filter... But if it does work as well as people say, then it's worth the extra investment.
I'm keeping an extra quart of the 0W40 in the trunk while I watch and observe the oil consumption rate for this particular oil weight... Just in case.
I'm also going to make a point to check the oil at every fill up and document mileage intervals.
Assuming we don't have any oil consumption issues and I like the way the engine is running, I might extend the oil change interval to 5000 miles or so.

Jeff Goji

At last! The rear suspension finally has the travel is has needed since the first day it received Racing Beat springs.
To save a long and tedious description of how the mounts work, I'll instead sum it up by saying that it adds up to 1.25 inches of extra wheel travel and gives the rear suspension more travel to keep off the bumpstops.
All this translates into a better riding and a better handling Miata. On the street; the tail feels more compliant and more sure footed then before, finding more traction from the turn-in point of the corner all the way through corner exit.
The rear suspension is no longer easily upset by mid-corner bumps and elevation changes.
When you do get the tail loose, it comes about in a far more gradual slide that can be balanced with such poise and ease that it would have the guys at EVO magazine feeling a bit of the "green eyed monster" at your "mad catz" drift skills.
More impressive then the handling improvement is the much welcomed ride improvement. The rear suspension no longer bounces off the bumpstops ever other second, and this translates to a better freeway and around town ride.
You are likely wondering why I have a picture with a bunch of Miatas sitting at Sonic in this entry. That picture was taken at Sonics in LaMarque TX after we had finished the Porsche Club Autocross of 11-26-06. Click here to download the results.
Charles and I were joined by Stan, Chung, Bob, David (red RX-7 not pictured), and a few good friends who were Porsche owners (the green and yellow 914s) The race was a good but frustrating one.
The course was fast but very technical, and it proved a good session to test my new shock mounts.
The first thing I noticed was just how much more composed the rear end was over large bumps crest and dips.
Normally I would bottom out and fight the car to control the impending slide, this time I was able just to take corners flat out or simply modulate the throttle enough to keep the tail in line.
The downside of this is the rear end didn't feel as quick to respond as normal, and I was met with some understeer in some of the faster corners.
I'm thinking I might adjust my rear swaybar a little stiffer to counter this.

Jeff Goji

I figured that if I was going to pay the extra expense of running 89 octane gas I might as well reep the benefits of advancing the timing that go along with it. My major concern with timing advances is the increase of NVH that follows with moving the torque from way up high in the rev range to further down in the more usable 3500-4000 RPM range. On my last engine the increased noise was horrible, and made highway driving something to be feared. This engine however took to the timing advancement with great enthusiasm, and has actually become smoother from idle all the way to the fuel cutoff point. I'm thinking this is the combined results of having a hand spun crank and weights, head shave, proper compression and a good free flowing catback exhaust. I also found my mileage had jumped by two miles per gallon to 28.6 MPG. On the bright side of things, we have a Porsche Club Autocross coming up which I'm extremely excited about attending. Looks like the perfect opportunity to finish trashing my Victoracers. I'm also wondering how much I should place on the beer bet against Mr. Shem...

Jeff Goji

The 93 Octane test yielded some pretty decent results. Power gain was a "seat of the paints" feel, but the improvement in the NVH level of the engine was a welcomed change of pace. On the flip side though, I saw a decrease of 1 mpg over my previous tank of 87, but I believe this was because I was putting my right foot into it a bit more.
The engine felt much smoother running up and down the rev range (especially with the AC turned on!), and the interior noise from the engine seems to have been cut in half. It's actually a fairly strange discovery, as the increased noise was not knock or ping as you would hear with the timing advanced too far. The engine was just louder, and felt a little rougher and not as eager to rev... Strange.
Anyways, I decided a diet of Mid-grade (89 octane) gas would be a good compromise between performance and cost. So far, the NVH remains at an acceptable level as it did with the 93 octane.
Right now the working theory is that the compression ratio may be higher in this new engine given the extensive rebuild job it had (new block and pistons, crank, ect).

Jeff Goji

After two autocrosses back to back last week, I noticed the brakes had stopped there usual squealing and began to make a rather serious grumbling noise when coming to a stop on the street.
So today I treated Miyoshi to four new rotors and topped off her brake fluids (nobody around to help me bleed and flush the system).
After the installation I took her out and did a few hard stops from 60 and 65 MPH, then a few shorter stops, then drove around to cool the brakes off for about 20 minutes.
The result is the pads are now sqeauling again like they should, and that nasty grumble I heard before is now gone.
Brake feel went up a significant amount, and I found the stopping power feels like it's been increased.
Tired of the increased NVH (Noise vibration Harshness) coming from the engine with the hard top in place, I decided to run some 93 octane fuel and see if that helps any (hey, couldn't hurt).
I also switched from dino oil to Mobil 1 10W30 about 1000 miles ago. I'm thinking of going with a 0W40 weight oil on the next oil change to try and remove some of the NVH and provide a thicker viscousity when warm for my autocross exploits.
The Toyo T1-R tires I put on at 113,000 miles are still looking good with only slight amounts of wear on the outer shoulders from hard cornering.

Jeff Goji