First Road Trip

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
04/21/2019 at 16:24 • Filed to: None

On Saturday, my girlfriend and I took a road trip with the new Miata in order to go check out Solvang, CA, a town founded to preserve Danish culture in the US. This was a 260 mile round trip adventure and included some twisty roads, beautiful landscapes, and a good road test of the new purchase.

The day started out great with a check engine light coming up right at the start. It was a flashing light, indicating a misfire of some sort. Certainly not good news. Well the car ran normal enough so I just hooked up my obd scanner and read a code for Misfire Cylinder 2. Either way, decided to push on and see how the trip would go. It did idle a little bit rough so it’s likely fuel or spark, which I’ll get around to troubleshooting later this week. The “unsmoothness” was definitely intermittent and with dismissing the code, it stayed away for the whole trip.

Also of note, I filled up the tank with 91 octane and the car ran much better. Definitely felt faster overall and was quieter and smoother in every way. The previous owner had mentioned he ran 87 or 89 most of the time, which the car can do. But it will retard timing and run poor economy for sure. This was nice to know that simply putting in proper gas improved the car.

Setting off, the journey began with a drive up CA 23 through Filmore in order to get a scenic Vista, some orange groves, and twisty roads. Got stuck behind a semi truck the whole way through the pass and it was misty/foggy and almost cold out. So with the top down, it required some heat and the windows up (yeah I’m that guy with the top down and w indows up).

Then we continued on CA 126 to CA 150 all the way to Ojai. The weather remained about the same, but with less mist as we continued on. The roads weren’t wet so it was really just like driving through clouds rather than proper rain fall. The trees and orange groves in Ojai were the main destination. This was a real treat and if it were sunnier, we would have stopped for some pictures for sure. Either way, it was well worth the detour for the fun windy roads and the scenery.

After another 2 hours of driving, we made it to Solvang. We originally thought it was a German town but quickly discovered it was Danish! The windmills and Danish bakeries certainly solidified that knowledge.

It was a great stop to just walk around and enjoy the sun that had finally come out just before arriving in Solvang. It was finally some top down weather to end the first part of the drive and enjoy a long walk. Stopped for pretzels at a brewery and some Cinnamon crisps at a bakery.

Continuing home afterwards, we took the coastal route the whole way back, enjoying the sun at our backs as we headed back Southe ast on the 101. The car performed beautifully and reminded me of the joy of top down motoring i n a Miata. Hills reminded me that I can’t just leave the car in top gear and expect to accelerate (like the STi) but passing people at highway speed was still a breeze thanks to the gearing. The check engine light didn’t come back so I was happy to note that as a “fix soon” and not “fix immediately before driving”.

I ordered new NGK wires and copper plugs to see if that just fully solves my issue. The plugs have been changed twice in the last 50k or so and the last wires were done about 20k ago but they were Denso wires and it was also about 3 years since then to now. Having all of those records is pretty sweet! The list of maintenance from the seller also listed the injectors having been replaced in 2016 , but I can’t find a receipt for it. So if the plugs/wires don’t clear it up, injectors will be next. I’ll wait until this is assuredly fixed before throwing on my exhaust. Otherwise, I can keep driving as usual. It’s bound to be bad for the cat but im throwing out this one anyways.

Drive went great though and I've started watching tutorials on applying vinyl wrap so I'm not too concerned about the mechanicals right now. I'll sort it out soon enough!

DISCUSSION (14)

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/21/2019 at 16:27

I will go back and read all of that, but have you considered a British Racing Green wrap? Because that top would look incredible over it imho.

Edit: not tl;dr, looks like a great day overall . Neat place you found there.

LongbowMkII > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/21/2019 at 16:29

We eat cheese danishes all the time, their culture is safe.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/21/2019 at 16:32

Danish culture in the US? Lynden, WA is all about that.

Kinja'd!!!

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/21/2019 at 16:42

I hate going to Solvang because there are always too many people there. Damn tourists.

But I LOVE taking the 154 in the TDI. Thank God CHP is understaffed or I'd be in jail by now.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > His Stigness
04/21/2019 at 16:57

Yeah it was pretty crowded and touristy as expected. So it's not like someplace that I really need to go back to. But it was definitely worth checking out once and the weather there was certainly better than anyplace else. 154 is always too crowded though since it's the primary route versus the 101 which is out of the way. I generally prefer just staying on the 101 because I hate being stuck behind slow people in canyons.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
04/21/2019 at 17:00

Haha thanks, it was definitely enjoyable. I don't plan on wrapping the whole car, just the areas that I want accent and contrast with the silver. Ideally the windshield surrounding frame, mirrors, and spoiler since the paint there is trashed anyways. I'm thinking of just doing a gloss black to keep it simple. But maybe doing it in a color could be neat, with BRG certainly being a good choice if I keep this top anyways.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/21/2019 at 18:10

The central coast is as far south as I’ll go in california. Lovely country for sure.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
04/21/2019 at 18:47

There’s definitely lovely parts further south that you are missing out on then. Sure the built up urban areas leave something to be desired for me but there’s still plenty of pretty areas without all of the damn people in the way. I’m a pretty big fan of San Diego though, even though it is more developed. But the Malibu/Santa Monica mountains and Los Angeles National Forest/San Gabriel Mountains areas are excellent spots in Socal. There's also cool spots out in the desert Enroute to Vegas and Phoenix which are pretty far south, but even this time of the year the heat is already unbearable to me.

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/21/2019 at 19:32

Ah but there are plenty of passing areas on the 154 so if you stick it out it’s a lot of fun. And really the fun parts are the passing areas. I took it south one time (I always take it North and then the 101 S as Freebirds is on the way home) and was bombing through and another dude in a MKVI Golf was actually keeping up.

Also, the 154 is so damn pretty. But then, so is the 101. I'd never taken the 101 all the way north until a few weeks ago when the 154 was closed. And God damn it is so pretty, and kind of relaxing since I don't have to worry about passing everyone.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > His Stigness
04/21/2019 at 21:26

The only passing zones are at the end of the twisty bits. The most annoying part is trundling up hill going 35-40 the whole way and then everyone goes 70+ when it finally becomes a passing area. I’ve just never seen it without 10+ cars all stuck behind an Rv I guess. And like you said the 101 is pretty and it’s never crowded there so just cruising at 80 the whole way with ocean views ends up being better. If trying to take a fun road in the area, 150 or 33 are infinitely more reliable for a fun time without being bogged down with tourists.

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/21/2019 at 23:38

Well I’m taking the 154 to get to SLO faster, so that’s my main goal. But yes, I am always stuck behind asshats who don’t know how to PUT THEIR FOOT DOWN going up the hill. One time I got stuck behind a DUMP TRUCK. If you think an RV is slow, well... you haven’t seen anything yet.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/22/2019 at 17:53

Come all the way up to my neck of the woods and don’t even say hi?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > CaptDale - is secretly British
04/22/2019 at 18:15

I’m pretty sure I am closer to Solvang from home than you are lol. Or it’s probably about the same, making that the midway point to SLO. But yeah, I want to do more Central Coast roads in the near future. Will have to join you for a cruise up there!

CaptDale - is secretly British > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/22/2019 at 18:33

It is about the same. A bit over an hour.

There are great roads up here