Long live the roadster

Due to adverse circumstances of my brother, I am going to be taking stewardship of his Mazda MX-5 for awhile. It’s quite the fortuitous timing, because I’ve been pining drive a manual transmission car these days. I can now give up dreams of buying a Honda Civic Type R, and enjoy one of the purest sports car experiences money can buy.

And I’m reminded of just how sweet the Miata is. I am no stranger to the ND generation of the classic Mazda roadster, though it’s been more than five years since I sold mine. My brother’s MX-5 is the improved “ND2” version. The primary difference from my 2016 “ND1” is that It’s got a more powerful engine, with a higher 7,500 RPM redline. There’s a federally-mandated backup camera now, which in a car the tiny size of a Miata it’s rather superfluous.

The other bits of the car are largely the same, which is just fine. The manual gearbox is just as satisfying to row as I remembered. This rod-actuated AISIN six-speed unit is truly one of the best available on the market. The feel is solid, yet it snicks into each gear with precise ease. Ultimately, I don’t regret getting the M2 Competition with the dual-clutch automatic instead of the manual, but barring having my brother’s MX-5 around, I really want a manual car in my life.

Maybe the Type R dream isn’t dead after all.

What else? I was surprised at how little steering feel there is. The rack itself doesn't transmit much information, but because the MX-5 is so small and light, sensation from the suspension can be felt directly in the hands on the steering wheel. Therefore, I don’t bemoan the lack of actual steering feel. I’ve yet to drive an electric-assisted rack that can hold a candle to the hydraulic unit in my old Subaru WRX STI. And that includes a bloody Porsche 991 GT3.

If pure sports car is what you are after - no requirements for any utility factor - it’s hard to imagine why you’d spend any more money than an ND2 Mazda MX-5. I’m glad Mazda makes it, and I’m glad my brother has bought one. Long live the roadster.

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I am titanium.

New car unlucky

It seems my somewhat rash action of trading in the 911 GT3 for a BMW M2 Competition have inspired my brother to do the same. He recently sold his Audi A3 to CarMax for a surprisingly large sum (the used car market is absolutely on fire) and is now the proud owner of a brand new Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Emphasis on owner, because he’s not really driven the car much since he bought it home some two weeks ago. On a cruise to Monterey during the weekend of purchase, the car threw a check-engine-light on the highway and went into limp mode. A brief stint at the dealership found everything to be okay, though after a few days the CEL returned, and as of writing the car is still at the servicing department, on a hoist with the transmission taken out.

At least they’ve provided my brother with a courtesy car.

Sometimes the luck of the draw is just not in your favor, but that’s not something my brother can control. Good news is it’s a brand new car, so the MX-5 will get repaired to proper standards without costing him a dime. The powertrain warranty covers the next five years of driving, so there’s really nothing to worry about. If my brother’s car buying patterns continues (I certainly hope not), he won’t even see the end of that five years with the Miata anyways.

If the dealership cannot fix the problem, then Mazda will be compelled by California lemon law to buyback the car. If that comes to pass, my brother will simply get another MX-5. The ND2 generation of the iconic Mazda sports car is indeed too sublime and fun to forsake just because the sample he purchased happens to have a few gremlins to sort through.

I look forward to many blasts through the local mountains with my brother once his new car is fixed.

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This is not going to help my wanderlust.

Modifying the Miata shall begin

It's been nearly two years since I bought my Mazda Miata, and to date the only modification I've done is switching out the stock shift-knob with a titanium unit from WC Lathe Werks. Other than that, the car is utterly stock. 

What happened? I used to love modifying cars. Ever since reading my first issue of Import Tuner (RIP) back in my early teens, I was hooked on vehicle upgrades and go-fast products. On my first car the Toyota Corolla - not exactly a car worthy of modifying - I put lowering springs, new shocks, wheels, LED tail-lamps, sway bars, strut bar; the list goes on. It turned the otherwise mundane and anonymous grocery-getter into a car of my own special identity. There were some special days indeed wrenching on that car with friends, putting on new wheels for the first time, and countless detailing sessions to make it all look spiff and proper. 

What changed with the current car? Adulthood, I guess. I'm not nearly as cavalier with money as I were and can be back in college. Back then whatever I earned from work I would spend it completely, in contrast with today where I have to allocate funds for various adult stuff like retirement accounts and rainy-day funds. Other areas of interest like photography and traveling also grew more dominant as to where I want to allocate spares dollars. Car modification took a complete back-burner: I've already got the car, and it takes me to places; why should I put more money towards it than necessary? 

I've lost what a joy it is buying and putting on new car parts, though it can't replace the joy of having properly funded investment accounts. Nevertheless, I would like to make a cautious return and will begin slowly modifying the Miata. It shall begin with the wheels, as one does. I shall update with what exactly in a future post. 

Give it the full beans

I don't drive my car hard enough.

For whatever reason, I tend to baby my cars; it took me a long time to realize this, but it's true. Doesn't matter when I had a 305 horsepower all-wheel drive machine, or the current Mazda Miata: taking the tach needle past 3K is a rare affair. Cars are meant to be driven, I would tell myself; I guess I forgot the other part: give it the full beans as often as I can. 

It makes perfect sense. The 2-liter motor in the Miata is an absolute joy to rev out, and it pulls all the way to redline with gusto, unlike its chief rival the Toyota 86. The fact it's only got 155 horsepower means visiting the upper reaches of the tach won't necessarily mean immediate jail-time, unlike my previous car the Subaru WRX STI. That car had an engine that too, begged to be revved, but for an entirely different philosophy. The EJ257 motor carries so much turbo-lag that belong 4,000 RPM it is utterly gutless. However, in the STI by the time second gear is over I'm already in vast illegal speed territory. 

The fact the car got piss-poor gas-mileage also didn't endear me to prod the accelerator pedal for long before upshifting.  

On the Miata though I have no such excuse. No matter what I do with the gas pedal, the car dutifully returns miles-per-gallon in the upper 20's. Therefore give it the Italian tuneup often I shall.

I've got travel withdrawals

Due to various circumstances and scheduling issues, I've yet to do any traveling since the end of May - first world problem, I know. The next trip isn't until Thanksgiving break, so the wanderlust pangs are going to be insufferable. I think in the future it'd be wise to split vacation time to bookend the summer instead of taking it all in the beginning. That said, spending the solid two weeks in Seoul this early June was absolutely worth the travel withdrawals I'm experiencing now.

To abate the wanderlust in the interim, I shall do a bit of exploring here in my own backyard of California. Autumn is officially upon us and the foliage colors will no doubt be amazing. it'll simply take a few hours worth of driving to get to such places, since San Francisco distinctly lacks any seasonal visual difference. That tree with amber-colored leaves you encounter in San Francisco is the exact tone year round. 

Driving to destinations is just as well, since I've been meaning to put more miles on the Miata. In two months time the car will be two years old, but the odometer has barely rolled past 12,500 miles. That's roughly 7,000 miles per year, compared to 9,000 per during my time with the Subaru WRX STI, which is already few by average standards. A stark perspective on how little I'm taking the car out to drive - the whole point of why I bought the car in the first place. Sports cars like the Miata are meant to be driven and enjoyed on the open road, and I must do more on to that end.

Otherwise, might as well trade it in for a typical commuter car.

Downsides of driving a Mazda Miata

Taylor Swift has a new album coming out this November, and my ear chambers are ready for the magnificence. Red and 1989 was such spectacular standouts that I expect no less greatness from reputation, though someone please explain to me why the letter r isn’t capitalized in the album cover.

One of the downsides to owning a minuscule car as the Mazda Miata is that other drivers in modern behemoths such as the typical sports-utility-vehicle or Toyota Camry absolutely cannot see me alongside them. Worse, because of the MX-5 diminutive size, I can hide completely in another car’s blindspot, where even with an over-the-shoulder check the other driver cannot see me at all. I’ve lost count on how many moments I had to do emergency evasive maneuver simply due to people merging directly into me. 

Perhaps a 2,300 odd pound car isn’t meant to be daily-driven when the average vehicle weights nearly 1,000 pounds heavier. Needlessly to say, I run a dash-cam - as the Russians do - at all times, though I’m not sure how useful the camera footage would be if I’m squashed dead by another car. The Miata is a convertible, after all. 

Excellent choice of car, Healy. Simply masterful. 

The Civic Type R has 20-inch wheels!?

One my biggest pet-peeves when it comes to modern automobiles is the needlessly enormous wheels that comes standard in cars, performance-oriented or otherwise. Why in the world does the new Honda Civic Type-R require 20-inch wheels? The car’s 235/30R/20 tires are practically rubber-bands, and surely the wheels themselves would explode at the first moment it passes over a modern city pothole.  

I’m old enough to remember 18-inch wheels were the gold-standard in performance cars, whilst any wheel sized 20 and above where the domain of automobiles frequently purveyed by rap stars and sports figures. I understand completely that having a thin-sidewall tires mean less flex and sharper turn-in, but automaker’s have got to balance that with the realities of contemporary road conditions, otherwise the car’s ride would be horrendous. A Ferrari road-car that seldom sees the road? Sure, give it the biggest wheel with the skinniest tire as you please, but not in a mass-produced hot-hatch like the aforementioned Civic Type R. 

If my ND Miata can offer the most sports-car purity this side of the wallet to a Porsche Cayman, all the while running on positively tiny 16-inch wheels shod in 195/50R16 spec tires, then there’s simple no excuse for other brands. 

Except there is, and I found it when I saw a base Jaguar F-Pace SUV running on base-model 18-inch wheels: it looked horrendously tiny. The reason automakers put unnecessarily large wheels on cars is the design dictates it! Engineering probably had no choice but to comply with design dictum even though deep down I’m sure engineers know how absurd it is. Colin Chapman would. 

I eagerly await someone to put some aftermarket RAYS wheels in 18-inch sizing on the Civic Type R. My guess it’d save many kilograms of weight (stock wheels are nearly 30 pounds each), but from a visual standpoint, likely lopsided and top-heavy. Blame the designers.