Miata Monday: I had a very Miata weekend!

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678) 09/21/2015 at 08:05 • Filed to: None

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This weekend I would definitely consider it a Miata-filled adventure. Saturday was the Mazda MX-5 Experience where you get to drive an ND around a couple of different courses. And Sunday was an Autocross which of course was filled many, many Miatas.

The Mazda MX-5 Experience was interesting because I got to check out the new car in its proper environment. The biggest things that stood out to me were the electric power steering, the interior, and the power delivery in the car. With the power steering, it was just really odd to turn at low speeds because of how little feel there was. But out on the short Autocross course they had set up, it definitely felt very accurate and therefore good. I guess it is something you just get used to but it is different from any other Miata I have driven. Power delivery was interesting because the car felt slower off the line (pedal to the floor, somewhat delayed response - probably the automatic) but as soon as the car got going it definitely felt a ton faster than my NB. On the slalom course they had, I took out a couple of cones because the car had picked up more speed than I expected due to mid-range torque. A very fun car. Very Miata but also very different from previous Miatas. I am not sure exactly how to describe it but I definitely do enjoy the car. It feels more refined like the NC does but it also feels less bloated, more powerful, and more playful. I am not in the new car market now but it would be a good contender if I was.

Autocross on Sunday was a blast as always. It was my second event with South Jersey Regional at Bader Field in Atlantic City, NJ. Their courses are always rather fast and long. The fast times of the day were in the 50.X range and I was right at 60.3 as my best. Thanks to my 6-speed transmission I was at the rev-limiter of 2nd gear in two places on that course. It was my first time to actually ride the limiter on a course so that was kinda cool. I had hoped to get a final run under 60 seconds but I ended up fudging up one of the super tight turnarounds (somehow got understeer) and clipped two cones. Nearly spun out in the final turnaround and ended up with my wipers on somehow so it was just a bad run haha. My tires are certainly my limiting factor at this point so I really look forward to getting some nice summers. I really want to get some cheapo ones like right now just so I can do better at my next event but I think it is worth waiting until the spring and put out the money for the best tires I can get (leaning towards Bridgestone RE-71R). Anyways, really fun time with lots of other Miatas!