JohnCh

'91 Miata with a bunch of suspension and safety upgrades, but stock engine. Handles and brakes great, but the only car I've surprised at a stoplight was a Prius, and truth be told, I don't think she realized we were racing. -John

It's a BendPak MD-6XP. Our garage only has 8' ceilings, so a full height lift is out of the question unless I decide to lose a bedroom. Hmm, I used to live in Santa Barbara... Breezy, thanks for the tip on the O-ring. I'll check that out when I get back into town. -John

I tried Tillets briefly last year and after sitting in them for a couple of minutes my back discomfort increased compared to my MOGs. I didn’t analyze the difference, but my recollection is that the lower back area felt tighter in the Tillets -- this might be better for some, but is worse for me. -John

Mike, try the Tillet before you buy the MOG. Although the MOG is fantastic for my back (better than the Tillet), everyone's injury is a little different and you may find the Tillet is just fine for you. You'll also have a much easier time finding one to try on for size. If you get to the Seattle area, you are welcome to try my MOGs. -John

Long ago I came to the realization that no "Top X List" is remotely accurate unless I've compiled it myself. And in those cases...well the list is bloody brilliant! -John

Great spec Mike. Is it a 2.3L? I agree with BBall’s assessment. I too was a victim of powerful Crossflow mojo when I switched to a Duratec. In fact, I didn’t even make it around the block on my first drive. However, after making an oil offering to the Crossflow gods by spreading some Redline on the bottom of the Duratec sump and pouring a bit on the garage floor, the car has been very reliable. Might be worth a shot... -John

I think that's a typo. The Raceline sumps hold 5 liters of oil. -John

Thanks Martin. I'm really impressed with the suspension thus far. The ride is significantly better than I expected and the car handles quite well. A little too much understeer for my taste, but I can dial that out if I want by adjusting the anti roll bars (currently the front is full stiff and the rear is in the middle). Already ordered the SFI padding for the roll bar. I like the color too. I've noticed when driving it around, a silver Miata really attracts zero attention. Kind of a nice change of pace. Speaking of pace, I know what you mean about the car being fast on a winding road, but I was referring to the acceleration which is pretty underwhelming. It’s a nice engine that likes to rev, and the gearbox is a joy, but I’m used to cars that are significantly quicker and I already felt that all of them could use an extra dose of hp. I put it on the lift last night and looked it over. There is a minor oil leak that I'll need to track down, but everything else looked great. Here's another gratuitous picture, but the only one I've taken of the car (the other photo is from the CL ad). http://john15.web.officelive.com/images/Miata-lift.jpg -John

I joined the dark side today myself. I bought ’91 with a bunch of recent track parts including Flyin Miata stage 2.5 suspension kit with Ground Control coil over sleeves, Flyin Miata frame rail reinforcements, Hard Dog Hardcore roll bar, Sparco Sprint V seats, Goodwin Racing stainless steel exhaust, Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels, hardtop, and more. I’m a big believer in learning track driving in a momentum car, since it forces you to conserve as much corner speed as possible with no luxury of covering up mistakes with the accelerator. And since I have no natural driving talent, I went for the ultimate momentum car -- this thing is slow as molasses! It’ is a blast to drive though and handles very well with the mods. It has the added benefit of making all my other cars seem considerably faster than they did yesterday :jester: http://john15.web.officelive.com/images/miata%20-%20ad.jpg -John

When hot weather touring I keep a camel back attached to the back of the seats and fill it up with ice and water before leaving the motel each morning. Helps keep me cool, hydrated, and more presentable than Hudson's solution. BTW My wife was really concerned for you when she saw this photo after I returned from the Monterey tour. She was relieved when I explained that it was just melted ice. -John

Hmm... It's beginning to sound like Steve nailed it and Porsche drivers just don't like Mike :jester: -John

I get thumbs up from Porsche drivers all the time. Perhaps the fiberglass canoe is less intimidating than the CSR? -John

Now that the information is public, I no longer need to keep up the ruse that my car is a Westfield. As Croc correctly surmised earlier, it is in fact a Birkin. More specifically, it’s the pre-production Birkin SV that’s been undergoing secret testing here in the US for the last several years. We thought the Westfield badges would fool everyone, but Croc was immediately on to us. Glad I can finally come clean on this -- the guilt from deceiving everyone has been really draining. :jester: http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/westfield-birkin.jpg -John

Corbotechs certainly seem popular. How to the XP8s work in daily driving? I want something with good bite and stopping power when the brakes are cold. Fade isn't really a concern since I don’t use the brakes that hard on the road (at least not that I’ll admit to on a public forum ) and can swap out for dedicated track pads if/when occasions warrant. But having strong stopping power when the latte sipping, cell phone yakking SUV driver pulls out in front of me, or when I brake for that handful of corners on the way to the store, is a must. Thanks, John

What Stan said. And Skip, very sorry to herar about the Caterham. I'm interested to hear if Tom returns from the tour and starts looking for a Miata -John

Could have been worse, I could have been driving a Lotus 7 Agree about the recent F1 exposure possibly having a hand. The Top Gear segments certainly couldn't hurt either. Must make Ansar Ali feel good, but Colin is probably a little miffed... How the heck did you get off my ignore list? :jester:

During the 10 years I’ve had my Westfield, people have asked me if it’s a Morgan, an MG, “a real Lotus”, and even a Ferrari -- twice! (must be because it’s red). But this was a first. At today's cars & coffee event someone asked “Is that a real Caterham?” I wasn’t quite sure how to respond… -John

It will be good to have you officially back in the saddle for tours -- although you do excel as a support vehicle driver -John

Stan, does this mean your se7en-less phase is coming to an end? -John

That is pretty amazing. It even found Ferdinand Porsche, Colin Chapman, the Prisoner, and Yosemite Sam. However, it did give up trying to find Pete Aron, the main character in Grand Prix. He's now added to the database -John

He's widely reported to have been 5'8" and based on period photos, he looked pretty thin, so I'm sure the original 7 fit him pretty comfortably. Caterham claims a 55 lb delta, so not huge. It is a lot bigger inside though which some people love, while others claim it detracts from the driving experience. People in the latter camp invariably seem to own S3s, so they are used to the more intimate cabin. -John

Can't go wrong with either Tillets or MOGs. The latter are a little bit more comfortable for me, but that's certainly a YMMV kind of thing. -John

According to the post on BlatChat, the car weighs 20kg more than an S3, so not too big a delta. I'd love to find more picture of this car. The smooth transition from the top of the scuttle to front of the rear wing looks fantastic. -John

Weird, they show up for me. Here is a link to the post. -John

Shamelessly stolen from WSCC. Poor car http://avatars.gentlyhosting.co.uk/18260.jpeg http://avatars.gentlyhosting.co.uk/18259.jpeg http://avatars.gentlyhosting.co.uk/18258.jpeg -John