Longest V8 Miata point-to-point trip? (Warning: non-Seven content)

[Alaskossie]

Scannon asked me to cross-post this write-up on USA7s. Some of you may know that I was having a turnkey 2004 Mazda Miata V-8 built up at Fyin' Miata in Palisade, CO for about 4 years now. It's finally completed, and now at home in Anchorage.

 

The Q-Ship’s build process at Flyin’ Miata has proceeded in fits and starts since I bought the car in Colorado in the fall 2011, and had it stored at FM (see details in the build diary on FM’s website). I was in no particular hurry to have the car completed, and waited while some crucial decisions were being tried and parts obtained along the way. In addition, I was accumulating the $$ needed to pay for the conversion. Jeremy Ferber at FM was in charge of the project, and Eric Anderson was the chief wrench.

 

My wife Jane and I picked up the Q-Ship from Flyin’ Miata on August 28, 2015, for the long drive home to Alaska, up the Alaska Highway. Ten days and 3,575 miles later we arrived in Anchorage. The Garmin (which for one day would not turn on) recorded a driving time of 70 hours and 58 minutes, at an average speed of 60 mph, which is a pretty remarkable average.

 

The car is not quiet, and chip-sealed highways and wide tires conspired to raise the noise level in the cockpit. A booming sound set in (only with the top up) at speeds above 85 mph, but these speeds were not common through Canada or on the Alaska Highway. With the top down, the noise level is actually lower at higher speeds. And having 525 hp under the command of your right foot can be addictive.

 

The Q-Ship was very reliable throughout the trip, with only a couple of minor electrical glitches with the Dakota Digital speedo and sensors posing any problem, and these were made to go away by turning the engine off, and then on again.

 

I’m somewhat sorry to see this build project come to an end, though the driving part is obviously the end game. Having FM build the Q-Ship was a decision that I do not regret at all.

 

If I had attempted to do the build in my own garage, I’d still have a pile of parts, and I’m not getting any younger (I’m 72). I need to preserve the remaining years when I’ve still got all of my faculties and my reaction time to driving – not to endless fabricating and assembling.

 

It was a great trip, a perfect conclusion to the Q-Ship odyssey at FM.

[rnr]

A less eventful trip compared to your trip in the Seven

 

I really like idea of a V8 Miata, I only wish I could fit in one. There is someone in Vegas that makes V8 boxsters which sound like more practical fun

[jimrankin]

I was up at Thunder Hill yesterday and another driver mentioned he had a V8 Miata coming soon. That should be a real eye opener for some of the Corvette and Porsche drivers LOL.

[mrmustang]

A less eventful trip compared to your trip in the Seven

 

I really like idea of a V8 Miata, I only wish I could fit in one. There is someone in Vegas that makes V8 boxsters which sound like more practical fun

 

If you can fit in the WCM, you can fit in a V8 Miata.

 

Nothing quite like them when done right.

 

Bill S.

[Sean]

3,575 miles.

[rnr]

If you can fit in the WCM, you can fit in a V8 Miata.

 

Not really. My first car was an NB Miata and my knee was constantly jammed against the dash. I put 40k miles on it that way in college but now that I am used to more space I cant go back to it. Both the Elise and Ultralite have less interior cubic volume but due to the seating position have more knee room

[scannon]

Did you try the ubiquitous Miata Foamectomy? That will drop you 1.5 - 2 inches in the seat. Putting in an NA seat will let the seat go back farther. I have one in my NB V8 Miata, much more comfortable.