My New 1996 Mx-5 Miata - 2017 Dixie Championship Tour

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I have been driving the car a lot more recently and must say I'm still extremely happy to have it and take care of it. Just going to the grocery store is fun. I'm glad gas is cheap right now!

I don't like how often I have to wash it though. It seem like the white sand and dust particles stick to it like a magnet and show up like neon lights.

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Waiting on new shocks and some other suspension parts to try and get the car back to "like new" quality. I have done a few more autocross and it only getting more fun.

I'm getting better but I still can't get what I want out of the tires ( all-seasons ). I hope the new shocks will make the car less unpredictable in the turns. My tires lack in lateral grip so I really have to optimize my weight transfer. My old shocks just don't make that easy.

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I never felt I got even 85% out of my car. I should have been faster. I got 4th/10 cars in my class.

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My best run of a 42.08 wasn't recorded :( :( I wasn't late in that run and was able to get my tires to hold. Unfortunately I also clipped a cone for no good reason, I was looking too far a head and clipped it with my rear tire.

I got a bit crazy in the end trying to get a low 42 recorded. I got my hands crossed up and had an extremely slow reaction time to the cars rotation. I normally can save the car just fine.

Still, I got my first 1st place :) Unfortunately I was the only one in my class :lol:
 
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"Are you ready?"

"Yes Sir."

So polite.

I don't think I've seen a Miata express oversteer and understeer together IRL. Thank you for that. (My wife was laughing at me as I leaned with you.) That last run in the first video, Jan 17th, is my favorite.

That "I wish my car was better" feeling you have will only make the improvements you make more gratifying. When I upgraded my Legacy from its stock over-used suspension to its aftermarket struts I was overjoyed. You'll appreciate your new suspension and its precision even more because of your experience pushing it with its current suspension.

I look forward to more videos.
 
Ronald6
"Are you ready?"

"Yes Sir."

So polite.

I don't think I've seen a Miata express oversteer and understeer together IRL. Thank you for that. (My wife was laughing at me as I leaned with you.) That last run in the first video, Jan 17th, is my favorite.

That "I wish my car was better" feeling you have will only make the improvements you make more gratifying. When I upgraded my Legacy from its stock over-used suspension to its aftermarket struts I was overjoyed. You'll appreciate your new suspension and its precision even more because of your experience pushing it with its current suspension.

I look forward to more videos.
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Thanks.

My shocks came today and the one of the rears is defective :( Hopefully this will all be sorted and installed before the next autocross.
 
LeadFootLiam
Glad your're happy with your Miata. Hopefully doing my first autocross on the 22nd.
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You will have a blast I'm sure. These cars were made for it!

My next autocross is the 15th!

Also, the replacement rear shock is on the way. I'm 50/50 if I'll have them installed before the next event.
 
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With a lot of help I was able to get the shocks installed 1 day before the event. The old shock we took off were 100% done.

Some of the nicest people I have ever met I have met at an autocross or through the local miata club. It really makes my goal of being able to install / upgrade / fix anything on my car much easier to reach with experienced people around.

Here are my first runs on the new shocks. I had my tire pressure way too high for the first 3 runs so my times aren't "great" but I have room to improve! I need to learn how to "push" the car again.

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I love the rain, I love autocross, put the two together and I can't imagine a better day!

This wasn't a normal autocross either. Instead of racing the clock you race another competitor around the same track starting on the opposite side. Only making it all more fun.

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I was hoping for rain at this event because my all-season tires aren't exactly "grippy" ( putting it nicely ) in the dry compared say R-S3 tires ( Extreme Performance Summer tire ). So I was really hoping the rain would equal that all out and I think it did.

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I had a co-driver for this event so I finally can take pictures of my own car!

The event was a blast and used a double elimination bracket so I lost my second bracket but battled back to face off against him again for the class win and I lost it all when I let the rear slide out too much and tag a cone wall :( I was giving it all I had because he was the fastest guy in my class, in any class for that matter.

Still, driving in the rain is so much fun. I think I'm better in the rain than I am in dry, just like in GT6 :lol:

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Another autocross!

I was in the last run group of the day and unfortunately it rained, I had about 2 dry runs but my 3rd was wet and it just got worse. On my last run it dried out a bit so that helped.



I think I now have an alignment problem. I'll be ordering new alignment bolts soon.
 
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New radiator and radiator hoses are installed. I also changed the oil.

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Time to go break it in... and my new racing/driving "shoes"

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And by that I mean: Finally spin my car off the runway and get stuck in the sand :( ( see video ). Thankfully nothing was damaged. I was still getting use to my new shoes and I grossly messed up braking causing the spin.

Once I got a feel for the shoes I was able to get 1st ( on all-season tires )! Unfunatlly it was only out of 3 cars... They almost feel like cheat codes because I have so much better feel in the throttle and brakes. I would bet they made me at least half a second faster ;)




Also at today's event I got a chance to do 2 runs in an RX-8 :D Unfortunately I knocked over a single cone on my fastest run :( Otherwise I would have had the fastest time in the car ( and in that cars class of 10 cars ).

Edit: RX-8
 
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I think I got a bad tank of gas because the car wasn't running smoothly. After that tank ran it started running right again so I think it was just the gas.

I did another autocross weekend, I was in the last run group of the day and we just missed the rain. I'm trying to baby my tires now but failed at that this event. I really need an alignment.



Finished 4th out of 9 cars.
 
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Another autocross but this one had a twist!

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Yep, thats for 4 used Azenis on BBS's. The same guy that let me drive his car let me borrow his old tires for this event :) It still is amazing to me how many nice people I have me at autocrosses. One guy let me borrow an electric impact to make the tire change easier.

They are "well used" and have about 8~ runs off being corded but they are still sticker than my all-seasons.

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This event had a low turnout so we had 8 runs and a 2 seperate practice skid pads and 2 practice slalom. And the course was "simple", basically a big slalom. This was a Test and Tune event for all of use to dial in our tire pressure and work on the details. I didn't take my chance to try the practice elements but still it was fun.



This was my best run of the day, the reason for my "random" steering inputs was that we have a few big "patches" in the runway that are coming up and act like a pothole. I was hitting them just right on a few runs and it would kill my time. With everything right I could have gone about ~0.4 faster but I was just to unfamiliar with the tires much sharper turn-in so my inputs were off.
 
I washed and waxed the car a few days ago and found out that good wax will make sticking my autocross numbers on a pain :lol:

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We had over 100 cars at this event and I had a blast but my driving wasn't very good that day even though I was still on the borrowed tires.

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Speaking of tires it's getting around time for new ones. I'm both happy and sad about that.
 
New tires! This will be like going from a warn out GT6 CH to a new CM, maybe even a CS!
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I'm going to miss my all-seasons, if I find a set of rims reallyyyyy cheap ( or wait until I get 15s ) I might get another set of all-seasons. They felt nice on the road. You could also hustle the car and not break the speed limit.
 
Well, unfortunately I still don't have the tires on the car. My ball joints decides to start failing the same week :( I have replaced the lower ball joints in the car with help from a friend and a big hammer. The upper ball joint is also bad now so I'm waiting on the parts.
 
carracerptp
Well, unfortunately I still don't have the tires on the car. My ball joints decides to start failing the same week :( I have replaced the lower ball joints in the car with help from a friend and a big hammer. The upper ball joint is also bad now so I'm waiting on the parts.
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What did you order for the uppers? I know V8 Roadsters makes a replaceable upper, but usually you have to replace the whole control arm.
 
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Small update:
I have all the parts/tools but I just can't find the time to do the upper ball joint. I thinking about replacing the transmission oil again with Redline as I keep hearing how it helps shifting. I'm also thinking about getting new brake lines because after driving a different miata I feel my brakes just aren't as good as they could be.

I was offered a chance to co-drive a 2001 Miata ( pictured above #321 ) at last saturdays local autocross since my car is out of commission. this event was different because it was at night! I had to up my picture taking game and bring a tripod for long exposures.

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This was my first time autocrossing an MB miata. It was on koni shocks and stock except it had modified upper control arms to get more front camber. It felt surprisingly different than my NA or the other NA I drove on koni shocks. It is a 5 speed car but for some crazy reason I kept grabbing 5th when I wanted 3rd even though it is the exact same gearbox as my car. Once I stopped doing that it was a fun and fast car to drive. I was actually faster in the dark than in the day light, go figure?

I finished first in my class ( by over 2 seconds! ) :D and was the fastest car on street tires :D :D in the night/dark, 2nd fastest overall out of 37 cars. Small event but we had some of our best drivers ( SCCA national champions ). It almost makes me want to run out and get an MB. On my best run I was having more fun in that car at 10/10s than I had in my car since I had the bald all-seasons on it ( not my new, now trash, all-seasons ). Still, something about my car makes me so happy just driving in the country or to the grocery store. Also it has pop-up headlights ;)
 
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I bailed on trying to press a ball joint in. I just didn't feel like my press would do the job. So now my car has a new suspension arm. Now to wash the car...

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It was simple to install, but the long bolt was a "small" pain-in-the-neck. WD40 convinced it to slide out.

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Putting it all back together was actually easier than I imagined, didn't take much time at all.
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I finally have a tripod for my camera so tone mapped HDR all things!​
 
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New ball joints, a real performance oriented alignment, and real tires!

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I have had those tires sitting around since May 22. Over 25 day of sitting, reminding me I need to work on my car. It feels so good to finally have tires mounted that are actually made for driving to more than the grocery store.

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I also gave the interior a good cleaning and the car a wash.

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I just finished my first autocross with the new tire. Definitely I don't I over drove them and then overheated them :(



Still it was fun and I was lucky enough to have my 4th run filmed. Unfortunately it was the run I lost my tire grip to heat. I'm not always that far off the line.

 
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What kind of tyres are they? It surprises me that something made for performance would overheat on you after just 4 runs.

I always like watching your auto cross videos. It amazes me how much speed the Miata can carry and how well you keep it in check. Keep up the good work man 👍
 
Hayden
What kind of tyres are they? It surprises me that something made for performance would overheat on you after just 4 runs.

I always like watching your auto cross videos. It amazes me how much speed the Miata can carry and how well you keep it in check. Keep up the good work man 👍
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The are 195/60/14 Azenis rt615k they are somewhat known to overheat VERY easily. It was a hot day and I pushed the car too hard on the first 2 runs.
 
carracerptp
The are 195/60/14 Azenis rt615k they are somewhat known to overheat VERY easily. It was a hot day and I pushed the car too hard on the first 2 runs.
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I see, hopefully it's not an issue on the colder days. I've been researching performance tyres lately and with the prices associated I'm sure buying another set isn't high on your to do list!
 
Awesome videos man, are you totally kicking ass out there? Please tell me you are, I won't accept any other answer.
 
Wardez
Awesome videos man, are you totally kicking ass out there? Please tell me you are, I won't accept any other answer.
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Well I'm in a race for 3rd in the S4 championship ( 1 more event left ) and that is with running a complete stock car that was on all season tires for all but 2 of the events.
 
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Well, good news and bad news, good news is I didn't overheat the tires this time and won my class :) The bad news is I have a clunk in the rear and my clutch is no longer holding the raw power of my 1.8 :( So now I have to figure out how to limp of fix this car soon so it can make the season finale. Good new is I have the parts:

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Our cat Margaret is guarding them until I arrange a time to install it.​

The event was fun and the car was more fun than last time on the new tires. The car got a nice wax before the event so it looked good as I did my best to baby the car off the line.

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I'm glad I was first in my class but my time wasn't very good, I kept eating cones. I should have been about 7/10s faster.

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