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The Azenis are the goto for 14" wheels. I bought my set in July and they bit the dust 2 weeks ago. I maybe got 8-9k out of them, but that's including 3 autocrosses and some tomfoolery. Unfortunately, I don't have an exact number on treadlife considering that I switched cars and didn't do any type of paperwork. I'm running on the 14x6s right now with Ziexes, and it's a decent tire. I haven't pushed it to its limit, but its doing me OK. On the otherhand, when going around cul-de-sacs with the Ziexes, you hear the tires skip a bit, with the Azenis the car skips. I've laid down some rubber by just taking corners and loading up the suspension, not spinning the tires needlessly at all; however, I think it might be some of the LSD's doing. I'm about to bite the bullet on another set since there's another autox by me next month and it's my birthday. Unfortunately, I'm going to probably mount them on the daisies (14x5.5), but, eh. Yay 3 sets of tires in less than a year of owning a Miata. 
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Mar 18, 2008 13:24
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What are some good tires that have pretty good grip but last alot longer than those 8-9k Azenis? I need new tires come spring, and I've been told Azenis over and over, but I can't afford to put new tires on it every year.
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Mar 18, 2008 17:48
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I want to replace a squeaky throw out bearing and was wondering if I need any special tools to remove the gearbox (which presumably has to be removed to get to the clutch). Should I replace the flywheel bearing as well while I'm at it? Also is it sort of an afternoon project or should I calculate an entire day ?
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Mar 18, 2008 17:58
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Sudden Infant Def Syndrome posted:What are some good tires that have pretty good grip but last alot longer than those 8-9k Azenis? I need new tires come spring, and I've been told Azenis over and over, but I can't afford to put new tires on it every year. edit: check out my 4x4  
destructo fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Mar 19, 2008 |
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Mar 18, 2008 18:16
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IOwnCalculus posted:So I keep seeing people recommending stuff other than the super-sticky Azenis as of late. What's the tire du jour for those of us still running stock 14" wheels on a Miata? I've got no real problem with the Kumho 716's that were new when we bought the car but I wouldn't mind trading a bit of tread life for traction - these tires aren't down to the wear bars completely but they're so hard they're just about dangerous and one has a decent cut in the sidewall going on too. You might like the Toyo Proxes T1R. I had them last year for autocross on my m3. They were an all round good tyre but not as sticky as the RT615. I would consider them more of a street tyre than an autocross tyre and the treadwear as such should be great. If I recall they are cheaper than the Rt615 as well. e: wow lots of other replies. I should refresh the thread before posting...
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Mar 18, 2008 18:43
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So now my car is not running, when I turn it on, the engine and such starts, then as it is starting it dies. I am guessing it is the fuel pump.
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Mar 18, 2008 23:18
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Savington posted:Sweet. For those rates, there's no cheaper shock than the Koni Race. Be sure to spend the appropriate coin on a rollbar/seats/harnesses as well; if I could only make one modification to a bone-stock car, it would be adding a racing seat. What seat(s) do you have in your car? I have been thinking about buying aftermarket seats for quite a while, but I dont really know what the best mounting options are, if I would like to use them in my daily driver, etc. I am moving to San Jose sometime this summer/fall for work. Maybe I could check yours out sometime?
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Mar 18, 2008 23:23
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Thanks for the suggestions. So far, it's looking like it's coming down to the Sumitomo HTR 200 (cheap), the Falken RT-615 (super sticky) and the Hankook Ventus RS-2 (grippy but more treadlife, but costlier).
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Mar 18, 2008 23:25
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Does the RS2 even come in 14"?
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Mar 18, 2008 23:26
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Phone posted:Does the RS2 even come in 14"? Tire Rack lists a 195/60VR14 in the R-S2.
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Mar 18, 2008 23:35
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Oh, wow... something new to consider... Then again, the difference in price between the Azenis and RS2s are going to be in shipping. Vulcan Tire can get you Azenis to your door for 280$, it looks like the RS2s might be 40 dollars more.
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Mar 18, 2008 23:51
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Phone posted:Oh, wow... something new to consider... Yup, it's not a huge difference in price but the Miata is primarily my wife's car and she apparently takes after her father in both her taste for cars and her aversion to spending money.
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Mar 19, 2008 00:06
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Phone posted:Oh, wow... something new to consider... Evidently Hankook actually dropships the RS2 right to you, and they subsidize the shipping, so there's a good chance you might be able to get it cheaper through him.
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Mar 19, 2008 00:32
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I have a fun weekend of car work this weekend, I can't wait. Installing the new energy suspension poly bushings, painting my valve cover and depowering my steering rack. And I get to use my new air compressor I just bought last weekend, its gonna go so much better then the bushing install i did on my old rx7.
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Mar 19, 2008 02:04
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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX posted:What seat(s) do you have in your car? I have been thinking about buying aftermarket seats for quite a while, but I dont really know what the best mounting options are, if I would like to use them in my daily driver, etc. I am moving to San Jose sometime this summer/fall for work. Maybe I could check yours out sometime? I am using old-style Momo Starts in my car, bolted to custom rails which are bolted to the floor. The mounting procedure to get the seats down as low as I have mine is long, labor-intensive, irreversible, and I cannot really recommend it to anyone. I am 19 and immune to pain, so I can use them every day without issue; I've done 10.5k in the last 8 months or so with them.
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Mar 19, 2008 06:07
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Savington posted:I am using old-style Momo Starts in my car, bolted to custom rails which are bolted to the floor. The mounting procedure to get the seats down as low as I have mine is long, labor-intensive, irreversible, and I cannot really recommend it to anyone. I am 19 and immune to pain, so I can use them every day without issue; I've done 10.5k in the last 8 months or so with them. Are there any racing seats that'll deal with a bigger guy? I wanna put buckets in my car, but all the nice brands (momo, bride, etc.) put strict 200ish pound weight limits on their seats. I could never weigh that even if I stopped eating for a year.
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Mar 19, 2008 06:18
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Depends on how big you really are. I'm 5'9, 180-185lbs, 32" waist, and I fit in my Starts very comfortably. The best option is to sit in a bunch of seats; the Starts I have are probably one of the larger seats available.
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Mar 19, 2008 06:22
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Great news for NA guys! Recently the Spec Miata rules changed to allow NA cars to use the NB bumpstops. The major suspension difference between the NA cars and the '99+ cars is the suspension travel. The travel comes from the damper being mounted about 3/4 of an inch higher than the spring perch. NB bumpstops haven't been used much on NAs because they require a special bushing to function. Without it the bumpstop crushes to the same height as the stock NA part. Miata Specialists has started manufacturing delrin bushings and plans on selling the kit soon. I am going down there early in April to install the kit they just made for me. Hopefully they will have more kits to sell and I will get the price and detailed pictures of my car before and after, along with detailed install instructions. What does this mean for your street car? 1/4 to 1/2" drop in ride height, and an extra 3/4" of shock travel. No more bottoming out over speed bumps, better handling over bumpy roads and lower center of gravity which means less body roll and better transisioning. Braking is also vastly improved, especially over bumps. It will also provide better ride comfort. The bumpstops can be used with aftermarket dampers and springs as well to increase shock travel. If you want slightly stiffer than stock springs for your NA and still want to keep some ride comfort, NB Miatas have the solution to that too. NB springs will also work directly with the NA. I will also review the '99+ springs. Don't hold me to it, but I think the price will be under $150. Maybe even as low as $100 for the NB bumpstops and bushing kit. Flyin' Miata's basic spring kit is $238 for comparison. That lowers your car and is stiffer but gives you less shock travel. Vitamin J fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Mar 19, 2008 |
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Mar 19, 2008 07:07
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Savington posted:Depends on how big you really are. I'm 5'9, 180-185lbs, 32" waist, and I fit in my Starts very comfortably. The best option is to sit in a bunch of seats; the Starts I have are probably one of the larger seats available. I'm 6'3.25" and currently 267 pounds, though I'll be around 225 pounds when my weight loss is complete. I'm a loving huge dude. Like I said, I'll never meet the weight limits of the big Italian and Japanese branded seats. I'm worried more about safety than fit here.
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Mar 19, 2008 07:34
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Check out Corbeau, they might have something.
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Mar 19, 2008 07:48
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Phone posted:Check out Corbeau, they might have something. Looks like they have a couple I can squeeze into. I should probably just wait until I've dropped all the weight I want to ditch first though.
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Mar 19, 2008 08:36
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mobn posted:Looks like they have a couple I can squeeze into. I should probably just wait until I've dropped all the weight I want to ditch first though. You aren't going to find a seat that 1. you fit in comfortably and 2. fits in the Miata. There are some tall guys that fit into Miatas, but big is hard to do. The biggest I've seen with a racing seat was 6'3 and 230, and he had a Kirkey bolted to the floor. Not a comfortable daily setup in the least.
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Mar 19, 2008 08:45
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Savington posted:You aren't going to find a seat that 1. you fit in comfortably and 2. fits in the Miata. There are some tall guys that fit into Miatas, but big is hard to do. The biggest I've seen with a racing seat was 6'3 and 230, and he had a Kirkey bolted to the floor. Not a comfortable daily setup in the least. Is it possible to modify the "surfboard" style seat backs to have pass-throughs for a harness? It seems that might be the next best option for guys that can't fit in proper race seats.
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Mar 19, 2008 14:08
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Vitamin J posted:...No more bottoming out over speed bumps... Except now you might be bottoming expensive parts on them? Depending on where the extra shock travel is (not even considering the lower ride height). All I know is there's a parking lot where the bottom of the car smacked the speed bump at stock ride height at a crawling speed (avoid that lot in the future of course). Vitamin J posted:...NB springs will also work directly with the NA... [noob here] Do you use the kit with existing NA shocks/springs or with NB shocks/springs on a NA miata? Sounds like you are saying putting the NB springs on NA shocks?
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Mar 19, 2008 14:42
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ChiliMac posted:Except now you might be bottoming expensive parts on them? Depending on where the extra shock travel is (not even considering the lower ride height). All I know is there's a parking lot where the bottom of the car smacked the speed bump at stock ride height at a crawling speed (avoid that lot in the future of course). Your car will be lower, so you will have less ground clearance. This mod is for people who want their cars to be lower and to handle better. You can either have just the kit which will work with all stock NA parts, or you have have the kit plus the NB springs for a slightly stiffer ride.
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Mar 19, 2008 16:14
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Vitamin J posted:Your car will be lower, so you will have less ground clearance. This mod is for people who want their cars to be lower and to handle better. That's understandable--I'd appreciate those things as well. I guess it's nomenclature confusion, I'd consider "bottoming" referring to the bottom of the car hitting something but I guess it can refer to the shocks topping out (hrm, so maybe I'd call it topping?). So is that's really how little suspension travel is there? It seems weird that you'd "bottom" on a speed bump. Vitamin J posted:You can either have just the kit which will work with all stock NA parts, or you have have the kit plus the NB springs for a slightly stiffer ride. Are they going to be offering the springs as well, or would those need to be sourced on eBay or some place else? Is this similar to the FatCat kit? http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/FCMstops.htm
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Mar 19, 2008 17:26
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ChiliMac posted:That's understandable--I'd appreciate those things as well. I guess it's nomenclature confusion, I'd consider "bottoming" referring to the bottom of the car hitting something but I guess it can refer to the shocks topping out (hrm, so maybe I'd call it topping?). Bottoming is the shock running out of travel and hitting the rubber stop. Droop travel is how far the shock can uncompress. Some shock mounts will move the shock shaft higher giving you more compression travel at the cost of droop travel since the rod is now further outside the shock.
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Mar 19, 2008 18:26
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Savington posted:You aren't going to find a seat that 1. you fit in comfortably and 2. fits in the Miata. There are some tall guys that fit into Miatas, but big is hard to do. The biggest I've seen with a racing seat was 6'3 and 230, and he had a Kirkey bolted to the floor. Not a comfortable daily setup in the least. Yeah, I fit fine with the stock seats, I was just hoping to net some more legroom with buckets, but I need to drop probably another 35-40 pounds before I'm at my ideal weight and can go seat shopping.
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Mar 19, 2008 19:12
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Ziploc posted:Bottoming is the shock running out of travel and hitting the rubber stop. Droop travel is how far the shock can uncompress. Some shock mounts will move the shock shaft higher giving you more compression travel at the cost of droop travel since the rod is now further outside the shock. It's not when it hits the rubber bump stop, its when the shocks piston hits the bottom of the shock body. My rear shocks are currently just touching my bump stops and it is much different than when a shock bottoms out. I am raising the rear more this weekend though to see if it'll ride a bit better.
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Mar 19, 2008 19:16
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FireTora posted:It's not when it hits the rubber bump stop, its when the shocks piston hits the bottom of the shock body. To be honest. Both definitions are used pretty interchangeably. What would you call the shock hitting the rubber stop then?
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Mar 19, 2008 19:17
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Ziploc posted:To be honest. Both definitions are used pretty interchangeably. What would you call the shock hitting the rubber stop then? Compressing, the stop is there to prevent the shock from physically bottoming out by providing a much higher spring rate than the springs since it can damage a shock pretty badly. At least thats my understanding of it, I am by no means a suspension guru.
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Mar 19, 2008 19:25
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ChiliMac posted:Are they going to be offering the springs as well, or would those need to be sourced on eBay or some place else? It is very similar to that kit, only we're using modified OEM parts instead of manufacturing our own stops. Those kits look like they offer even more travel and they also have kits for NB cars which is sweet.
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Mar 19, 2008 20:09
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I'm never buying energy suspension products again. This is the second time I've bought a master kit and this is the second time they've hosed me and had parts missing. Now I can't so my install this weekend cause theres no way the vendor is gonna pay for saturday overnight to get it to me this weekend.
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Mar 21, 2008 02:37
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Im looking to freshen up/improve my 95's suspension a bit here. I was planning on doing a full set of bushings, dampers, springs and maybe replacing the sway-bars. Although I've seen some bad experiences with aftermarket sways. What brands/vendors should I be shopping?
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Mar 21, 2008 09:50
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MourningGlory posted:Is it possible to modify the "surfboard" style seat backs to have pass-throughs for a harness? It seems that might be the next best option for guys that can't fit in proper race seats. Specifically listed as a major no-no in the Schroth installation instructions.
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Mar 21, 2008 12:17
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My '93 is getting close to 90k miles. Is there any scheduled maintenance I should have done?
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Mar 21, 2008 22:39
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Wanted to say sup and report in with this: I hit 77,777 miles on my 97 Miata last weekend 
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Mar 22, 2008 00:04
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Gear Head posted:My '93 is getting close to 90k miles. Is there any scheduled maintenance I should have done? http://www.miata.net/garage/mainttips.html
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Mar 22, 2008 00:10
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Jammer Jones posted:I hit 77,777 miles on my 97 Miata last weekend I'm waiting for the day when I can reset my trip meter, so that 789.0 miles later my odometer will read 123,456. That's still a long way off though.
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Mar 22, 2008 00:30
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Wow - catching up on 800 posts since I last visited this thread. Looking to possibly add a third miata in the family, scoping out a 94 so I can do a straight parts swap with my current 96 and not gently caress with OBDII (though with some finagaling I did manage to get my care smogged with Megasquirt). Or there's a 90 with no engine being sold for $750... so tempting for a Monster conversion.. So it sounds like one (or more) of my lifters has collapsed - steady tapping while at cruise. Combined with crappy idle (oh supercharger, why must you add parasitic drag...) I've gone ahead and ordered new lifters rather than going the cheap route (though drat i wish I had been smart and bought that drat 99 head when I had the chance). So - Looks like I'm going to be doing a lifter installation this weekend. And since I'm the king of "ya know, while I'm there.." I was wondering if anyone knew where I could pick up a spring compressor (either as a loaner or purchase for cheap) so I can do valve stem seals while I've got the buckets off. And I hit ~178,000 miles last week, 40k of that with a jrsc, 20k of that with big boost (9psi).
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Mar 22, 2008 08:43
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