"Yonic" (yonic)
03/07/2015 at 21:00 • Filed to: road adventure, mx-5, miata, roadtrip
1
0|
"Yonic" (yonic)
03/07/2015 at 21:00 • Filed to: road adventure, mx-5, miata, roadtrip | 1
| 0 |
!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!
February 23, 2015: To Memphis!
A message to whatever worldly force broke Mother Nature's heart: go apologize to her right now. Nobody's happy when she isn't happy, and she's one cold, passionless mistress because of whatever the heck you did.
Thankfully it was only a light dusting that brushed off easily.
With my bags packed, a few cups of coffee pounded, and the snow cleared off my car, I was ready to hit the road and aim my wheels towards Memphis.
Thankfully, the roads were nice and clear in spite of the nastiness. The weather only got better and better as I enjoyed the lazy cruise down the country roads.
The one downside to skipping the main road - 55MPH the whole way.
In a matter of hours, I had finally arrived at my actual destination: Germantown, just outside of Memphis. I would stay with an old friend from my first summer at Yellowstone National Park. We hadn't seen or talked to each other in ages so I had no idea what to expect from my visit.
February 24th, 2015: Chatting With A Car Bro
Pictured: My friend's father with his brand new Nissan 240SX, circa 1989.
While the friend I stayed with is a pretty awesome gal in her own right, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that her dad is quite the automotive enthusiast. What started with him asking about my MX-5 turned into an hours-long conversation about his life in the car game.
Get this: the man worked at a rotary engine specialty shop in Tennessee for many years. This guy knows his way around RX-7s like nobody else. Routine rotary rebuilds, triple-rotor turbo monsters, extreme custom fabrication work, LS Engine swaps, purpose-built racing machines... If you can name a thing that can be done to a Mazda Rotary car, he's almost certainly done it.
Adding to his enthusiast credibility, he used to own a Nissan 240SX which he bought new the first year it was available in the US, and his current daily car is an SVT Focus. Truly, he is a certified rotorhead and one of the most well-rounded enthusiasts I've ever met.
February 25th, 2015: Endless Nightmare
After a few fun days spent with my friend up in Tennessee, it was time to move onward to Birmingham, AL. In hindsight, I should have waited an extra day or two, because I spent the entire drive wondering if I was going to make it out alive.
This is truly the story of this entire adventure so far.
With wishes of good luck, safe travels, and a stuffed Narwhal named Steve (thanks Caitie!), I charged head-first into the deadly winter nightmare that was brewing in Alabama.
It only got worse from here.
With the rapid shift in weather came a sudden realization: the Roadster had become almost impossible to control. Being from Utah, I figured I had the whole snow driving thing down to a science, but the car repeatedly disagreed as I slowly crossed the frost-bound asphalt.
I've never known the MX-5 to handle so poorly on slick surfaces, but I quickly discovered that even the slightest weight transfer, or the most minute input to the steering or throttle would send the car spinning a full 180 degrees. Even going along at 25MPH the car refused to find any sort of grip on the road beneath me.
Spinning out was my greatest fear, as I had zero influence over what the car would do the moment I got crossed up. One odd thing I noticed was that going downhill was actually harder than going up. For some reason (which I would learn later) the normal rules of physics didn't seem to apply with regards to oversteer and understeer.
While I did spin out at least five times along the way, one particularly scary spin landed me in the ditch, completely stuck and with no way to get my car out on my own. There were no cars for miles, I hadn't brought any of the typical winter emergency supplies (blankets, food, water) and my phone wasn't pulling down any sort of signal. I genuinely thought my adventure was over at that point.
Thankfully, the adventure was NOT over. After a bit of waiting, a man in a red truck came to my rescue. He was happy to help get me back onto the road. A bit of rocking the car back and forth, and by some miracle the tires found enough grip somewhere to get me moving again.
After many hours, I finally arrived in Birmingham where some more Yellowstone friends lived. I was so mentally exhausted from the nightmare drive that I passed out almost immediately after entering their apartment.
The Roadster, spied under a blanket of fresh powder.
March 2nd, 2015: A Great Secret Learned
A few days passed where the weather was simply nasty. When things did finally clear up, I decided it was time to figure out what was wrong with my car. It didn't take long for me to discover a great secret: my rear tires were almost completely worn down, with maybe 3/32ths of tread left on either tire.
Normally you'd expect something like this to be the reason your tires are toast.
Something was clearly wrong - these tires were brand new 3000 miles ago, and the fronts had virtually no wear on them whatsoever. However, the car did pull a bit to the right, and if it was gonna chew up tires this fast...
Whoops.
Indeed, the shop that aligned my car after I'd put new tires on did not do a good job at all. Rather than working out the rear toe which was causing the MX-5 to dog track (and by extension, eat tires), they adjusted the fronts to try to compensate for it. This explained lots of things, including why I had almost no control over the car while driving through the snow and ice.
Remember guys and gals - get your alignments done right and at reputable shops! Gainesville, FL is my next destination, and I'll be heading out tomorrow morning. With a little luck and lots of safe traveling, more exciting stories are sure to come!
Steve the Narwhal will surely keep me safe in my travels!
To be continued...