JohnCh

To make my life easier, the prices quoted above are retail - both brands are available at lower prices, although I don't think the EVO2 discounts are as deep. I’d love to hear from someone who has experience with the EVO2, or has tried one of the lower powered Odysseys such as the PC535 or PC545. I never considered one of those before because the weight difference was pretty minor compared to the PC680, but 12 pounds is substantial. And yes, before anyone mentions it, it would be even cheaper and healthier to remove that amount from my body, but that’s not the purpose of this thread :jester: -John

Does anyone have experience with the Ballistic 16 Cell EVO2 lithium ferrous phosphate battery? It's ridiculously light and not that expensive compared to the Odysseys. The 680PCA of the Odyssey PC680 has been overkill for my car, but I’m not sure the EVO2’s 500PCA will be enough. EVO2 16 cell 500 Pulse Cranking Amps 500 Cold Cranking Amps 28 Amp Hours 3 pounds $270 Odyssey PC545 545 Pulse Cranking Amps 185 Cold Cranking Amps 14 Amp Hours 11.7 pounds $137 Odyssey PC680 680 Pulse Cranking Amps 220 Cold Cranking Amps 17 Amp Hours 15 pounds $145 Thanks, John

Yes, Westfield is still active in the US & Canada through Manik Technologies, a sponsor of this forum. -John

The DRE is small enough that you can mount it to the windscreen. I fabricated a very simple aluminum bracket that attaches with double-sided tape and puts the shiftlights in my line of sight without blocking the view down the road. http://john15.web.officelive.com/Documents/driversview1024.jpg -John

I'm happy with the DRE Sequential system in my car. I've also heard a lot of good things about the Shift-I. -John

I'm in as well. -John

I bought my Toyos from http://www.tiresdirect.net and was pleased with the service and price. I've also heard good things about http://treadzone.com/, but have no personal experience with them. -John

I believe that's a map of the Nurburgring -John

Had my first track day today in the Miata. It lived up to the billing (think Scannon's comments, not Hanks :jester:). It was sadistically fun to watch folks in far quicker cars forced to let me by in the passing zones because of the Miata's capabilities in the corners. It was even more enjoyable knowing that in some cases those drivers had to get completely off the throttle just so I could complete the pass -John

'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: