by "Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
Published 11/29/2017 at 22:46
by "Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
Published 11/29/2017 at 22:46
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STARS: 0
How many miles do you have on your cars? Any reliability issues with the Subaru engine? How’s the interior holding up? Just how annoying really is that torque dip?
"cbell04" (cbell04)
11/29/2017 at 22:52, STARS: 3
Sorry Jake this car is not dumb enough. You may not consider it. The internet depends on you bad automotive decisions. In all seriousness hows the jag coming along?
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/29/2017 at 22:54, STARS: 0
I’m sitting here on my laurels waiting for a piston rod to come back from the machine shop. In the meantime I’m growing to hate my broken-ass rattletrap of a Miata for not having a fixed roof and warranty.
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
11/29/2017 at 23:00, STARS: 1
My dad had a 2013 BRZ with 26k which he traded in when he got an awesome deal on a 2017 Series.Yellow which now has 2,700 on it. He has had 0 issues at all with either. The torque dip is there but you don’t notice it during normal driving. You are either puttering around below it or ripping around above it. The 17s do have less dip than the old models and generally feel just a little bit quicker everywhere in the rev range.
"cbell04" (cbell04)
11/29/2017 at 23:03, STARS: 5
I remember when your miata was like a spaceship from the future compared to your other auto’s when you got it. Sorry it went down hill for you. Could be a little bit of spreading yourself too thin? Sure if you focus on one vehicle you’d have it running in no time.
"WRXforScience" (WRXforScience)
11/29/2017 at 23:15, STARS: 3
I’ve got just over 36k miles on my 2014 BRZ, the only issue I’ve had was the ignition coils (a known issue on the the ‘13's and early build ‘14's that was addressed and re-engineered for the ‘15+ models). My coils and entire wiring harness was replaced under warranty. I’ve got friends with up to 75k on their twins, the only concern is the clutch throw-out bearing which typically goes out between 50k and 75k (there is supposedly a redesign for this as well, but it is very recent).
I track and autox my BRZ regularly with 35+ autocrosses and more than a dozen trackdays every year. I have a number of friends who do the same (I convinced 3 other previous WRX owners to trade into BRZ’s within a month of me getting mine), none of us regret the swap.
The torque dip is a non-issue for the 2017+ with the shorter gearing. For the 2014-2016 cars, the torque dip is annoying enough to tune out or completely get rid of with headers and a tune (if you don’t want to do this, never drive a twin that has headers and a tune). A stock twin is noticeably faster than an NA or NB Miata, a little faster than an NC, and after 50mph faster than a new ND (I was surprised when I ran down a friend in an ND on the main straight at Texas World Speedway).
The better the driver you are, the less you care about the “low” power. It feels great to get point-bys from people with twice (or more) the horsepower. I’ve had people come by and ask me how big the turbo/supercharger is on my NA car because they couldn’t believe that a 178 whp car could be so fast.
I also love being able to fold down the backseats and load a full set of tires and tools in the car without the need for a tire trailer.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/29/2017 at 23:37, STARS: 0
The Miata needs a parts cannon unloaded at it. I have a bunch of issues with poor reproducability and I just spent hours crawling all over the car on jackstands with two other people trying to figure out the issues. As much as I hate doing it I might just have to replace parts until the symptoms go away, which is going to quickly reach $500+
"Stef Schrader" (stefschrader)
11/29/2017 at 23:42, STARS: 1
100000% Puff approved. I didn’t really notice the torque dip being a big, huge deal in the ‘17 86 I tested out. Would own pending the answers to these reliability questions, too.
"cbell04" (cbell04)
11/29/2017 at 23:54, STARS: 1
Money.. It always comes down to money. Sucks bro. If it helps Im also in the boat that 500 bucks on a car would hurt but I just buy boring people movers that are somewhat reliable (because 2 kids) and really I’m no better off. A few cars that run but bring you no joy? Or a few cars that keep you alive with joy, fun, and sometimes hate. Even us stable family biggly house owning folks wish we were you once in a while!
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/30/2017 at 00:34, STARS: 1
I figure any car I buy is gonna be unreliable with my luck so if I’m going to end up stuck pouring money into a car it might as well be something interesting.
"Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen" (distraxi)
11/30/2017 at 02:48, STARS: 1
34k miles on my 2013. No reliability issues at all except for an appetite for wheel studs - and I track it regularly at a track whose sweeper is known as “the Rex Eater” for its tendency to oil starve flat 4s!
Interior’s like new - doesn’t even rattle.
Torque dip is a non event: you just don’t use that rev range in the real world. I’ve had the car a year and I can count the times I’ve wanted full throttle at 4000rpm on the fingers of one foot. You’re either cruising and south of 3k, or you’re in a hurry, several gears down, and north of 5k. With a 7500rpm redline, 5000-5500 is the “midrange” in these.
Basically, you’re asking the wrong questions about things to hate. If you can live with noisy, harsh ride, joke rear seats, dark & simple interior, and the fact you’ll never win a traffic light GP, you’re golden.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
11/30/2017 at 05:06, STARS: 0
warranties are overrated.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/30/2017 at 09:45, STARS: 0
You’re aware of my luck with cars, right?
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/30/2017 at 09:46, STARS: 0
Noisy? Like exhaust noise? I definitely don’t mind exhaust noise.
"Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen" (distraxi)
11/30/2017 at 13:17, STARS: 0
Nah, road noise. One of the ways they made them light was leaving out all the sound deadening.
There’s also a lot of induction noise, which makes nice growls sounds when you’re on the throttle, but that’s optional - you just need to block off the noise pipe from the engine bay, which they even give you a plug to do. I plug mine for DDing and yank it for track days
The road noise is less easy to get rid of - I wound up investing a couple of hundred bucks and a weekend putting 50lb of insulation in mine.
Now I’ve made those changes it’s quiet enough to hear a bit of exhaust noise. Not a particularly inspiring sound though - it really needs a catback and headers.
"t0ast" (t0ast217)
11/30/2017 at 14:03, STARS: 0
50k on my partner’s ‘13 FR-S w/ zero issues so far, in spite of starting life as a “lemon” for the fuel pump noise (TL;DR: they all do that, and ethanol-free fuel quiets it down substantially). It has seen about half a season of autocross so far and has been substantially improved by replacing the awful OEM tires with some Continental ExtremeContact Sports (340 treadwear). I also have a friend who owns a ‘15 FR-S with (guessing) 30k miles on its by now and I have yet to hear any complaints from him.
The interior is holding up fine for both as far as I can tell, and seat comfort is perfect for my body size (6'2" 165). Larger or more broad-shouldered individuals are a bit less happy with them. The torque dip is noticeable, but not particularly annoying unless you want to accelerate through that rev range faster than most normal day-to-day driving requires or have some low speed autocross elements to deal with. It’s not too difficult to avoid most of the time if you’re willing to wind it out and downshift a bit more aggressively.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/30/2017 at 16:50, STARS: 0
I’m kinda curious where you put the sound deadening and what you used. I’ve heard many people say that the FRS is a few pounds of sound insulation away from perfection.
Of course, I remain unconvinced that it it even remotely as loud as my NB Miata with a hardtop.
"daender" (daender)
11/30/2017 at 19:53, STARS: 1
Sell me your LEDs and hardtop liner if you ever sell the car.
Bummer it’s not running all that well.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/30/2017 at 20:37, STARS: 0
If you’re referring to the headlights my LEDs died and I’m using a set of Kensun HIDs in my lowbeams and the same switchback LED turn signals I’ve had since my NA. Two and a half years now and they’re still going strong.
The headliner fell out and has been keeping my floor from getting scratched up by the floor pans for my XJ-s so... not sure what sort of condition it’s in. I certainly need to find a better adhesive.
"daender" (daender)
11/30/2017 at 21:25, STARS: 0
Oh, well, dang. Still good to hear the switchbacks are doing great!
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/30/2017 at 22:01, STARS: 0
Indeed they are! Have you ever had issues with your car running like crap in the cold? Like, sub-freezing? Every morning when it’s under 32 degrees the Miata is almost undrivable and I can’t figure out why. Supposedly it’s “normal”.
"Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen" (distraxi)
11/30/2017 at 23:50, STARS: 0
I’ve heard many people say that the FRS is a few pounds of sound insulation away from perfection.
I’d say it’s a few pounds of insulation, a set of switchable dampers so you could soften off the ride for longhaul work, and seatbacks that go back where they goddamn came from when you flip them forward away from perfection. One of those I’ve fixed, the others I’ve just got to live with...
For the insulation I did the trunk floor, walls, and lid, parcel shelf, rear seat back, floor pan from under the rear seats to as far up the firewall as I could get, and rear quarter panels. I didn’t bother with doors, roof, or the firewall, the latter because removing the dash is a PITA, the former because I was mostly trying to stop road noise coming through the wheel arches or bouncing up from beneath the car and I wanted to keep the extra mass low.
I used a combination of foil faced butyl mat (i.e. Dynamat, though I used a difefrent brand) and mass loaded vinyl.
I stuck the butyl to any decent sized flat chunk of panel - basically anywhere I could tap it and feel it vibrate. Covered the middle 50% or so of the flat bit with smallish pads. Butyl damps vibrations in the sheetmetal; you get the most mileage out of putting it where the movement will be largest.
I covered the whole surface, under trim and carpets, with the MLV. On vertical panels I let it hnag from the various trim fixing points, on horizontal surfaces I put a layer of 5mm neoprene foam under it. MLV is flexible and heavy - the idea of it is that sound waves hit it and put their energy into trying to move it, rather than passing straight through. For that to work it has to be free to move - if it’s hard up against a solid surface like sheetmetal or plastic, it just vibrates with the panel.
It’s been pretty effective - there’s not much road roar now, just high frequency hiss and underhood noises. It’s made enough difference that the iphone’s Siri can now understand me via the handsfree, which she couldn’t before. Cost me about 50lb: MLV’s as heavy as heck, which is the whole point. I’ve probably lost a tenth or two of laptime, but I’m not racing so I don’t care about absolute speed, and it hasn’t affected the handling as far as I can tell.
I’ve never driven an NB (or an NA, only an NC), but i have no problem believing they’re louder. The 86's noise level stock is actually perfectly OK for round town or for fun driving, but I regularly do a 2-3hr open road drive to see family downcountry, and it wears pretty thin over that distance.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/30/2017 at 23:57, STARS: 0
Yeah, I need to drive one so I can effectively A/B compare it to my car. That mass loaded vinyl is some expensive stuff. I’ve used the butile mat in my Miata and it didn’t make a whole ton of difference.
Honestly if I get $500 so I can unload the parts cannon at the Miata I’m sure I’d be perfectly satisfied. And I’m going to care a lot less when the Jag is running again... I just like the new shiny things I’ve never got to have.
"Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen" (distraxi)
12/01/2017 at 00:06, STARS: 1
It’s a lot cheaper if you buy it from a construction supplies outfit - they use it to insulate home theatre rooms and such. Only downside is you need to buy a whole roll, which is about twice what I needed and too heavy for one person to easily handle. I actually almost broke even on the MLV by selling off the leftovers on eBay.
Butyl alone is a waste of time for noise reduction - it’s only good for stopping a massive stereo from rattling the panels.