scannon

Gert, My Caterham is dead in the water, two broken turbo studs, again. I have some inconel studs on order but they won't arrive in time for the fix to happen before we leave. Tom and I will be sharing my Miata and truck instead of the Caterham, we'll try to keep up. See you in Newcastle on Monday afternoon.

The first run on this sheet is with the Link ECU. The second is with the Hydra Nemesis. No other changes to the car, same dyno, same tech, one year apart. Since the second tune I have removed the catalytic converter and added water/methanol injection. The water/methanol injection system comes with an additional PC board that turns on the flow at 4 psi boost and sends a more aggressive timing and fueling map to the Hydra. I'm estimating these two changes are worth about 30 more HP. Sorry about it being turned sideways. Once you open it just rotate it once clockwise. Link vs Hydra dyno plots1.pdf

It would take a really hard heart not to react to those videos.

The red Miata at my shop has a Chevy 327 in it. The Ford 5.0 powered Monsters were produced by Monster Motorsports in Escondido, CA. They also made the Mega Monster with a supercharged 5.0 engine. They no longer make them. I've driven two of the regular Monsters and they were powerful but didn't seem well balanced. The current trend in V8 Miatas is the FM conversion using the LS2 engine. Weight difference from stock to conversion is about 100 lb and the shift in front to rear balance is 1%. Keith Tanner of FM recently installed one in his Targa Newfoundland race car and will be competing in the open class this year. Below is Elvis, the first V8 conversion done by FM. They took Elvis to a Corvette club autocross shortly after completion. Elvis took FTD by about 6 - 8 seconds.

YouTube - ‪Soldiers Surprising Their Loved Ones: PART ONE‬‏ YouTube - ‪Soldiers Surprising Their Loved Ones: PART TWO‬‏

I can't help you with the NCs, never owned one. Try an NB with leather seats. They have thinner seat backs which give you a little more leg room.

Martin, I believe there are several turbo kits available with CARB approval. Talk to Bill or Keith at FM to find out which are currently available. They won't be the really high power kits but should give you 200+ HP at the rear wheels. Shameless plug for FM: Their products and technical support are unequaled in the Miata world. They will happily talk you through any problem with an installation or replace a defective part without a hassle. They are the Best.

There isn't a good year or bad year but there are a couple of items to consider. All 90s and early 91s have the small nose crankshaft, infamous for eating the keyway on the nose at the interface to the cam belt sprocket. Doesn't happen to all of them but expensive to fix. Best fix is to install a good used 1.8 engine. I just finished a 1.6 to 1.8 conversion for a friend's '90 a couple of weeks ago. Some of the '99s have a problem with the thrust bearing on the crankshaft. They were machined wrong at the factory and most of those engines have been replaced by Mazda. Check the end play on the crank to make sure it is in spec before buying a '99. Other than those two problems, it comes down to whatever year and package best fits you. There are many very low mileage Miatas out there, don't settle for a beater. Upgradeitis can be a problem with Miatas just as with Se7ens. Upping the performance goes all the way to the LS2 conversions from Flyin Miata. I went the 1.8 conversion plus turbo route on my '92.

http://wimp.com/pendulumwaves/

I'm hoping it will eek out another mpg once it has more miles on it. It had 600 when I left on this trip. Slowing down would help (that's not going to happen ), I cruised at 75+ almost all of the time, even going up the grades. Gotta love all the HP and torque.

Actually, Miata is an old high German word meaning Reward. A Reward/Miata very likely will make you "happy" but is isn't going to make you "gay". The name Miata is only used in N. America. In Japan they are Eunos Roadsters and the rest of the world knows them as the MX-5.

I towed the trailer with the Caterham loaded inside to Utah and back last week. Going over it got just 7.5 mpg. I was bucking a 45 - 50 mph head wind most of the way. Coming back it got 11.5 mpg with no wind. That's 1.5 mpg better than the Silverado ever managed towing the same load. Regular gas was $3.31 all along the Wyoming section of I-80.

"Monster" Tajima did it in under 10 minutes! 9:51:58 in a 910 HP Suzuki SX-4. Rhys Millen was second at 10:09:24 in a Hyundai Genesis. Video near the bottom of the page. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/06/suzuki-sx4-bests-hyundai-genesis-in-pikes-peak-hill-climb/1

Jackal, I think your only decision would be which color you wanted. Welcome aboard.

Mazda, The three holes are 44mm center to center, I can't remember enough geometry to figure out the bolt circle. Here are some pictures of the supports and a bushing.

It looks like the promoters still have a few hoops to jump through. http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110622/F1/110629956?utm_source=DailyDrive20110622&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=article2&utm_content=20110622-Formula%20One:%20Austin%20Grand%20Prix%20still%20faces%20many%20questions%20as%20city%20vote%20is%20set%20for%20Thursday&utm_campaign=awdailydrive

I decided it was time for a new truck for this summer's trips so I traded the Silverado 2WD on an '11 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4WD with the hemi engine. It has 105 more HP than the 5.3 engine in the Chevy and is rated at 1 mpg higher. Amazing since it is 4WD vs 2WD, 700+ lb heavier and 7" taller. The new topper arrived today so I snapped a few pictures.

Here's a video of a 2012 ZR-1 Corvette on the 'Ring. 183 mph on the long straight and a 7.19 time. YouTube - ‪2012 Corvette ZR1 Takes on Nurburgring‬‏

We need at least a photo op there even if it isn't a convenient time for lunch or dinner. Derek: did you sample the food?

Me three, skipcannon@msn.com Thanks.

I use 15 ft. lb. for aluminum cylinder heads.

All the Minilite copies I have seen or heard of weigh more than the light weight wheels available today. Pick the ones you like best for the looks. I have not seen the VTO wheels before and know nothing about their weight. I chose the Dunlop Direzza Star Specs for my street tires but there are many other good choices out there. BTW there is an $80 rebate currently available on the Star Specs. Tire Rack and Discount Tires are good places to buy them. Toyo R888s and RA-1s are good choices and can be used for a track or autocross day without having to have an extra set of wheels and tires. There are a number of threads on tire choices on this forum, take a look at them before you make your decision.

http://wins.failblog.org/2011/06/13/epic-win-photos-high-speed-robot-hand-win/

Cmax, My Panasport wheels were from a Miata with a 4 x 100 bolt circle and 38mm offset. I had adapters made earlier on for my Kosei K1-TS (neon orange) track wheels which also worked with the Panasports. The adapters are 22mm thick which made the wheels and tires just fit under the front cycle fenders. I did have to adjust (bend) the fender stays a small amount on one side for clearance. The adapters weigh 2 lb each including the extra studs and nuts so the net difference was only 2 lb per wheel. I checked into new Panasports for Caterham bolt pattern and offset but they would have to have been custom made at around $500 each to fit the Caterham offset and bolt pattern. The small difference in weight wasn't very noticeable and soon disappeared. The vast difference in grip was immediately noticed and appreciated and still makes me smile every time I throw the car into a corner. I recently picked up a very nice used set of Chaparral wheels in Miata bolt pattern. The Chapperrals are another Minilite knockoff. Last I checked they sell for around $150 new. These have Dunlop Direzza Star Spec tires and I use them for the street and the Panasports with the R888s are reserved for track days.

Welcome aboard Cmax. I have an '04 SV that came with the 17" wagon wheels. I didn't care for their looks either. I never did weigh just the wheels but when I changed to 15 x 7 Panasport wheels with 205/50-15 R888 tires, the combo weighed in at 4 lb less per wheel/tire. There is a handy tire size comparator at http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for one that will compare several sizes at once to your base size.