Furai wrote:Not much has happened with the car as usual apart from the panels getting a little rougher and the rear bumper is pretty toast.

It amazes me how well the factory running gear has survived the past couple of years of abuse.

It sounds like it's getting extra fuel and running rich. A MAF engine measures the amount of air entering the engine, using the readings from the MAF and intake air temp, and uses that to determine the appropriate injector duration. A dirty MAF would typically mean it would under-estimate the amount...

The damping adjustments aren't particularly useful ... on a good-quality damper it should give you a small adjustment range to dial in the handling at the limit. On my Teins I probably couldn't tell the difference in a blind test between full hard and full soft on the street. It's certainly not a li...

The performance should be on par with the the NA or NB, but I doubt the SkyActiv engines will be as easy to squeeze more power from as the B6 and BP

Hopefully they offer the 2L model here like they are in America and the UK

$29,000 USD for the sports package... that's about $38k NZD.

I'm going to guess Mazda NZ will want $60k ...

If you're careful when mounting the wheels you should be able to get them centred using the lug nuts, but you need to tighten the nuts down in incrementally in a star pattern and wiggle the wheel around so that it finds the centre.

Keep your existing diff.

A locked diff works against the car rotating as you go around corners, so it will understeer. This might be acceptable if you're building a ultra-budget drift hack, or are only driving in a straight line but unlikely to serve you well at a track day.

Many/all imported roadsters will have had the factory belts replaced with Australian-made Autoliv belts and receivers, so I guess there is a pretty good chance you could find compatible parts. Also, the NA6 receiver mounted to the floor on stalks, whereas the NA8s had the receiver attached to the se...

http://mx5mart.co.nz/ works for me

Stevo wrote:would be cool to see one with the camera on the speedo

170 .... 171 ....... 171.5

Nice driving, you were carrying an impressive amount of speed through some of those corners.

Yikes. Mine is just as grimy, thankfully I can't see it

Have you tried a dedicated degreaser? It might do a better job of shifting the oil than a brake cleaning solvent.

Thanks marcellarius, I understand what you mean. Aside from the 'resting weight' what I was trying to drive through is that the springs themselves are already compressed therefore the resting weight becomes 250 kgs, instead, so undoing the already compressed spring may drop it down to a reasonable ...

"Preload" is how much the spring is being compressed between the perch and upper mount when the suspension is at full extension. In essence, preload determines how much weight it takes before the suspension starts to compress, allowing you to adjust for the weight of the car to retain useful suspens...

Changing the preload doesn't affect the spring rate or ride quality -- it changes the height and where the car sits in the damper's stroke. If your suspension is set too low then maybe it could have insufficient bump travel which could cause excessive harshness as the car hits the bump stops. I gues...

Hm, the springs you have will be much stiffer than standard, or than typical lowering springs.

My Tein coilovers make the car shake around a lot more on rough or bumpy roads. It can be pretty unpleasant. I've tried playing with the damper settings but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

It will be an unfortunate loss for amateur motorsport if that happens

Yeah, got failed on the missing suspension component thing. I forgot to put it back on when I had the car jacked up and figured it wouldn't be an issue because it's not a safety issue... hah. Table 9-1-1 lists the modifications excluded from LVV certification and it specifically says "Larger diamete...

If it's a 1.6 diff, the flanges on the stub axles are different between open and VLSD. If it's a 1.8 diff, you can identify a Torsen LSD by looking through the axle holes, or alternatively, by looking through the filler hole and seeing if you can spot the worm gears of a Torsen (if you have stub axl...

Is it an MX5 diff? The diff spotters guide on miata.net might help with identification.

Rear sway bar delete is a good way to fail a WOF, I discovered.

Seemingly the WOF rules allow you to upgrade to a larger diameter bar, but going to a smaller bar or disconnecting entirely is a fail.

Could be an LSD or welded up diff.
Can you hold one axle stationary while turning the pinion shaft?

Nah, they're just marked speed camera vans.

http://www.police.govt.nz/faq/what-are- ... a-vehicles
http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/drivin ... as#anchor4

Questions: * What do you want from the car? * First gen (pop-up headlights), second gen (98-2005), third gen (2005+) * Manual transmission or automatic? The first gen (NA) and second gen (NB) are fairly similar. In my opinion the NB is the more refined car -- more comfortable, more boot space etc. b...

The NB hood and frame is a nice upgrade vs. the NA top. The NB frame is subtly different: the rear bow is sprung and pivots in a slightly different place from the NA which helps the glass window slide smoothly into place as you open the hood.