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.

Going backwards on technology

It’s interesting how we get used to certain new features in cars, and when that gets taken away, it’s a bit jarring and uncomfortable. Case in point, plenty of new cars have this feature called ‘keyless go’, in which the key remains forever in the driver’s pocket, and utilizing sensors and buttons, doors can be locked and unlocked, and the engine can be turned on with the push of a button. It’s all very clever in allowing freedom from fumbling with keys, and you get super used to simply opening the door and pushing the engine start button.

My first exposure to the keyless go technology was rather reluctantly. It was a few years back during my search for a Mazda MX-5, and due to less fortunate financial capabilities compared to the present, I was cornered into finding the most striped-out, poverty-spec example possible. The new ND generation of the Miata have only just been released, so not many cars were actually yet on dealership lots. After some searching, I was able locate a base sample that was actually en route to the dealer, but there was a problem: the car had the keyless go option fitted, for the princely price of $150 dollars.

Which is to say it was cheap enough for me to overlook it. I’m sure the likes of Porsche charges many times more for that same feature in their cars. So my Miata ended up with keyless go, and indeed it was pleasant and convenient to not have to ever take out the key to operate the car. The only way it could’ve been better would be if the car also locked itself once it detects I’m a certain distance away from it; seems like a natural extension of that particular feature set.

Anyways, fast-forward to this January when I bought the 911 GT3, a six-figure car of 2015 vintage that doesn’t have keyless go; I’m not sure it was even an option available on the GT3 trim. You can imagine the confusion of my muscle memory the first few times driving it: I’d approach the car with the key still in my pocket, expecting to able to simply press a button on the door handle to open, only to be jolted out of rhythm with the realization that I do in fact need the physical key. It’s like returning to using paper maps after years of benefiting from the convenience of Google Maps.

Complicating things further is the fact other cars in our family all have keyless go, so often times operating the GT3 feels like a throwback to an arcane era. Of course, I’d forget about that as soon as I turn the engine over and that atmospheric flat-six starts making its melodious noise.

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Physical key.

The Forever Car

Since selling my ND Miata I've naturally been having some thoughts about what to get next - a few years down the line. Whatever the selection, I think it will have to be what car enthusiasts call a 'forever car': the one to keep until death (or at this point until manned vehicles are no longer a thing). A 'forever car' is one I wouldn't sell under any circumstances, for any price. It's one that will live with me even if I do decide to buy another car. 

Obviously, it's got to be super special. A car that in the old Top Gear show would belong on the 'Cool Wall' in the Sub-Zero section. 

Though that doesn't necessarily mean expensive. I honestly thought my 2013 Subaru WRX STI - the first car I bought with my own money - was going to be a forever car (I even spent overboard for protection film and ceramic coating on the paint), but the notoriously fragile EJ257 engine ultimately derailed that plan. It's great shame because the rest of the drivetrain is famously bulletproof and a mechanical joy, but I simply can't be constantly worried about engine failure in a 'forever car'. 

The ND Miata was never a candidate chiefly due to the lack of power, and the spec I bought did not have the limited-slip differential. Yes it's got enough motivation to be fun and nimble for its size but personally in a 'forever car' I need something much more substantial. These days a poverty-spec Mustang GT can be had for mid 30 thousands and it's got 460 horsepower, so 155 in the ND was never going to suffice. 

So the search is on, and these days I've got my eyes towards Germany. 

A new desktop ornament has arrived. 

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.