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Next review up is a dissertation on why wrong wheel drive cars are somethig everyone needs to flog at least once.Ether Frenzy posted:Great writeup on the M3's, man. Dig your sense of humor/ability to put it on a page. Yea, its a wonderful car. I guess one thing that I left out is that the earlier M3s drive the same way either slow or fast. The E92s driving experience is a lot more akin to a big S2000 than an M car, it can be driven slow but it feels the most harmonious when you're driving it hard. HotCanadianChick posted:You mean SNES, N64, or Wii. I blocked super Mario world out of my memory as well, so that's very fitting. NitroSpazzz posted:What area are you in? I might be able to provide or find a REAL M3 for you to drive. Boston, MA. Is it an E30 M3? Please say it's an E30 
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Jul 26, 2015 18:45
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Muffinpox posted:Boston, MA. Is it an E30 M3? Please say it's an E30 Of course E30, I'll get in touch with some of the guys up there and see if I can find one willing to let a stranger toss it around an autocross course.
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Jul 27, 2015 00:40
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2009 Civic LX: Wrong wheel drive is the most fun wheel drive It's always the end of the day when things go wrong. You're tired and ready to pack it up, when trouble comes looking for you. My trouble came in the form of a short raven haired girl. She peered into the door of my car where I was catching up on the latest "Wait Wait don't tell me" pod cast. "You've gotta help me" she said. "What's the problem ma'am" I asked. "My time. It's missing. I know there's some time out there but I can't find it. They told me to come to you, said the other instructors were busy. They said you could help. Please, you're my last chance, I only have one run left." A familiar story, I've heard it all too often. But I'm a sucker for helping out novices, maybe it's the way I was raised. "I'll take the job." I told her, "What have you got." She tells me a Civic. It's parked over there. I tell her I'll drive. I strap on my Bell as a precaution. You never know how hairy things will get out there. I get in, the seat is comfy and cloth but the interior is still econobox. Honda econobox, so it's still pleasant, but with these kind of jobs you always end up in something a little dingier than a Ritz. There's a bit of style to it, it's not just purely functional, which is a plus. But it's never people with the nice things that need your help, they're always too proud. A menacing 0 sits in my vision. Maybe it's a bad omen, maybe it's just a readout of the cars current speed high on the dash. A big tach stares at me from between the spokes of the steering wheel. No, it's nothing I tell myself. This will be fine. I look at the deep dash, and I mean the extremely deep dash. It looks like the window almost reaches the front of the hood. I get that feeling again, maybe something is wrong. I'm not in a sports car. We're slowly creeping along and I notice gentleman standing alongside our path, watching me and my client intently this entire time. She is silent, he stares at me. Then he points at us. I've been set up, it's a double cross. I slam the shifter into first to get out of there. It has a typical Honda snick snick but the leverage is long, very long. It feels like an evo8 shifter. I bring up the revs and let out the clutch and I stall the car. "Damnit" I curse under my breath, the pointing man pulls something from his pocket and begins to approach the car. I should have known this was going to happen, every Honda with an ethrottle does this. You tip in the gas, the revs come up and stay, but the throttle position doesn't really get held. The revs fall off faster than the distance between me and the pointing man. I hit the ignition again and clamber away. The pointing man is next to the window, he has an iphone in his hand now. A sharp barb about how he remembers his first time driving manual skims across the hood and the 185mm Primacys scramble for traction. That was a close one. This case suddenly got hot, now we're running out of time. I have to find those seconds. It's my only hope. Maybe it's around the first cone, I think, I turn the extremely vague, yet well ratio'ed steering. The front axle has a weird feeling when you turn, I can't describe it but the front wheels feel like they're next to you instead of in front of the car. The car is mushy, it's not made for this, it rolls like a boat. it's slow to react. It's more like tacking, just like all the time time I spent racing before I was into cars. Just the serene sound of wind and water. None of this. None of the screaming. This case was never about the seconds, she knew the entire time. This was a murder case, and I'm being framed. No, not framed. I'm doing it. And I'm enjoying it, I'm murdering those tires. I cock second gear, the screams grow louder. I feel my rubber blood lust grow, I push harder. I don't have time to register the morality of what I'm doing to these tires. I have to keep going through this, if I let up for a second this case will be blown. Me and the dame, I wont get to the bottom of finding those seconds. The motor in this car is weak, I have to drive it like a momentum car. I throw it at the next right cone, the tires shrieking for mercy as they go past their grip threshold and hope they settle in the desired location on the other side of the apex. We enter a slalom, the car is not fast through here. The body is well controlled but with the soft springs it still wallows like a boat and the front keeps pushing. I can't afford to lose time here, I pull out the oldest FWD trick in the book. It's been a long time since I've driven this drive train but I remember it's secrets; it's like an old bike. When in trouble, hit the gas and let Jesus take the wheel. We come into the slalom, I'm trail braking with my left foot. Dive past the first cone in a straight line to set up for the second under braking, turn the wheel and push the brake pedal harder, harder, harder. There's not much feedback through the pedal, but it's a brake pedal. It does it's job. Finally it happens, the rear tires give up and the back slides, "Oh no! We're done for now!" she says. "Not yet, not if I can help it" as I grit my teeth and slam on the gas. The car gets the correct amount of rotation and I straighten out the steering wheel. The cone is coming straight for her door, closing the distance like the pointing man. "Not like this!" she says. At the last second the front pulls the car into the intended trajectory and saves us from the slide. The rear settles and continues on like a pendulum from the momentum, setting us up for the next cone in the slalom. "There we go, that's how you do it" I tell myself. The car is going to try and push so you have to use weight transfer to rotate the car any way you can. I come into another cone, a bit too hot on entry, I lift off the throttle abruptly and the nose dives. Weight comes forward and the car changes it's line, sailing past the backside of the cone with the tires bleating for help. We're gonna do it. We're gonna find those seconds. I don't want to remember the rest of the run, the tires. The screaming. I washed it all away with a stiff whiskey later. We found her time, a good two seconds of it on her next run when she saw how to manage the front. But I saw what I was capable of, liking FWD. Funny as hell, it is the worst thing I can think of. But the dynamic is so good, rotate the car with the rear, save the car no matter how deep you're in it with the front, and all the fun of a RWD momentum car. "Trouble" I mutter to myself as the Z06 waits parked outside "always comes looking at the end of the day." I close the craigslist tab of civics. Muffinpox fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Jul 31, 2015 |
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Jul 31, 2015 02:28
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Muffinpox posted:"There we go, that's how you do it" I tell myself. The car is going to try and push so you have to use weight transfer to rotate the car any way you can. The front struts were loaded.
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Jul 31, 2015 07:26
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Muffinpox posted:"Trouble" I mutter to myself as the Z06 waits parked outside "always comes looking at the end of the day." I close the craigslist tab of civics. This was easily your best one yet. Awesome thread!
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Jul 31, 2015 15:29
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I can't stand the throttle lag on my fiancee's 08 Civic. It's vile.
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Jul 31, 2015 15:52
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If you haven't yet you should try one of the 2015 mustangs. I can't believe how loving fast they are at autocross.
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Jul 31, 2015 15:56
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Sadi posted:If you haven't yet you should try one of the 2015 mustangs. I can't believe how loving fast they are at autocross. No luck on finding a E30 M3 for you to beat up yet, still waiting to hear back from a couple guys.
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Jul 31, 2015 16:13
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Muffinpox posted:I should have known this was going to happen, every Honda with an ethrottle does this. You tip in the gas, the revs come up and stay, but the throttle position doesn't really get held. The revs fall off faster than the distance between me and the pointing man. THIS. Holy Christ I thought I was going crazy. I've driven manuals my entire life but some moons ago I borrowed a buddy's Civic in the same vintage for a small road trip. I have never had a more difficult time driving a stick my entire life. Like, it seriously made me doubt buying anything but an automatic. Stalling, couldn't get a smooth gear change to save my life, jerky engine braking. The car was brand new and something told me that a brand new car couldn't be the problem and it was somehow me.
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Jul 31, 2015 16:21
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The Midniter posted:This was easily your best one yet. Awesome thread! I don't know how auto journos write the same thing over and over, I tried writing this in the normal style for a week and just got bored. Then I watched The Naked Gun and wrote that in an hour. What I'm saying is everything should be written under the influence of Leslie Nielson. Wrar posted:I can't stand the throttle lag on my fiancee's 08 Civic. It's vile. Is it an auto? I don't remember the manual being bad enough to ire me. Then again, eThrottle is kind hit or miss in terms of implementation. The C6 Z06 was extremely responsive in the upper rev ranges, but below 3k you could let off throttle and you could count the seconds until it began engine braking. Then there's the E92 M3 and Gen V Dodge Vipers which beat out even S2000s for throttle response. Sadi posted:If you haven't yet you should try one of the 2015 mustangs. I can't believe how loving fast they are at autocross. I've heard, from someone who races a Boss 302. There's one at the next event, I'll see if I can drive it. NitroSpazzz posted:No luck on finding a E30 M3 for you to beat up yet, still waiting to hear back from a couple guys.  I promise not to break it. Much.I really want to drive an E30, one of the instructors I rode with when I first started had an S54 E30. It's been 3 or so years so I don't remember exactly what it was, but the E30 rear end felt a lot less surefooted than later 3 series, maybe that the geometry wasn't as linear in compression? Maker Of Shoes posted:THIS. Holy Christ I thought I was going crazy. I've driven manuals my entire life but some moons ago I borrowed a buddy's Civic in the same vintage for a small road trip. I have never had a more difficult time driving a stick my entire life. Like, it seriously made me doubt buying anything but an automatic. Stalling, couldn't get a smooth gear change to save my life, jerky engine braking. The car was brand new and something told me that a brand new car couldn't be the problem and it was somehow me. Every single Honda I've driven with eThrottle is absolutely terrible like that. My dad has a 2004 TSX and I stall it every single time I have to drive it. It takes several miles to finally get a smooth gearshift.
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Aug 1, 2015 03:27
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I'll be watching you: 1959 Brunton Super Stalker pt 1 Hold on excuse me for a second  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOH MY GOD!
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Aug 1, 2015 03:50
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One of the Seven clones at my local autocross has a warmed-over 302. I got to take a ride along once as long as I promised to close my visor and keep my hands crossed on the restraint belts like a rally driver preparing for a rollover. When I got out half of my closed-face helmet visor was covered in still-smouldering tire marble kicked up from the rear fenders, bounced off the front 'fenders' and into my face. I haven't driven it, because I know from experience that you don't really "come back" from driving a car like that. You leave something out there, and it can never return to you. You'll always be chasing that first drive. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Aug 1, 2015 |
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Aug 1, 2015 03:51
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One of our local guys has a long term project 20B 7 that he's building. I don't think I'd want a ride because of the above reasons.
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Aug 1, 2015 12:53
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Muffinpox posted:
If you were more in the NY/CT area or TN it would be easier... E30's and even more so the E21 like to rotate...a lot. IMO they respond best to trail braking to rotate on the way in then a bunch of gas to steer the car on the way out. The good news is once you trust the car to stick despite driving it like that they are amazingly fun to drive and can be pretty drat quick even stock. I'd think you'd be able to find a normal E30 to toss around without too much trouble. Muffinpox posted:I'll be watching you: 1959 Brunton Super Stalker pt 1 That sums up cars like that pretty well. Nothing will ever be the same after pushing one of those around a track, autocross course or back road. Very likely something Lotus 7 clone-ish will be my next vehicle. NitroSpazzz fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Aug 1, 2015 |
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Aug 1, 2015 15:02
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Seat Safety Switch posted:One of the Seven clones at my local autocross has a warmed-over 302. I got to take a ride along once as long as I promised to close my visor and keep my hands crossed on the restraint belts like a rally driver preparing for a rollover. Nah, I don't want to step on the toes of the review too much but there's a certain threshold that you hit with cars that rely on mechanical grip. It can be super lightweight or have a trillion horsepower, but you're still taking that corner at pretty much the same speed as anything else. Aero is what ruins everything for you. I rode in a 599XX and have not chased the dragon enough to replicate the experience of my brain struggling to comprehend that we weren't going into a wall at the end of a straight at 150mph even though it's like five feet away because the car can pull 2+g under braking. NitroSpazzz posted:If you were more in the NY/CT area or TN it would be easier... I'm down in NY pretty frequently, I could attend a MetLife stadium event pretty easily. I would also definitely fly to TN for an E30 M3 and some grand olde oprey. Muffinpox fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Aug 3, 2015 |
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Aug 3, 2015 02:55
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Muffinpox posted:Aero is what ruins everything for you. I rode in a 599XX and have not chased the dragon enough to replicate the experience of my brain struggling to comprehend that we weren't going into a wall at the end of a straight at 150mph even though it's like five feet away because the car can pull 2+g under braking. Aero is loving scary. I can either make this turn at under 100mph or over 130mph, between that I crash. Really fucks with your head but holy poo poo is it fun. Sent you a PM about some lovely old BMW's
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Aug 3, 2015 12:00
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Muffinpox posted:Is it an auto? I don't remember the manual being bad enough to ire me. Then again, eThrottle is kind hit or miss in terms of implementation. The C6 Z06 was extremely responsive in the upper rev ranges, but below 3k you could let off throttle and you could count the seconds until it began engine braking. That's probably half the throttle, half deceleration fuel cutoff. My LS1 has a mechanical throttle, but you can still feel the engine braking kick in a bit harder once the computer actually stops feeding fuel to the engine.
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Aug 3, 2015 20:10
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IOwnCalculus posted:That's probably half the throttle, half deceleration fuel cutoff. My LS1 has a mechanical throttle, but you can still feel the engine braking kick in a bit harder once the computer actually stops feeding fuel to the engine. Yup, also the duration can be modified in HPTuners and other tuning software. When I had my g8 tuned this added a bunch of burble and pop on decel which you can't argue with. 
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Aug 3, 2015 21:32
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Tremek posted:Yup, also the duration can be modified in HPTuners and other tuning software. When I had my g8 tuned this added a bunch of burble and pop on decel which you can't argue with. This man knows what's up.
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Aug 3, 2015 21:46
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Sorry, this has been a busy week! Part 2 is coming soon, I deleted the draft by mistake but it wasn't that great anyways. Titanic just didn't fit the character of the car, really. I'm gonna try sticking with 1-2 per week, although this weekend involves a snake so I might write like 80 while I'm high on adrenaline.Tremek posted:Yup, also the duration can be modified in HPTuners and other tuning software. When I had my g8 tuned this added a bunch of burble and pop on decel which you can't argue with. Must have feature.
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Aug 6, 2015 23:12
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Muffinpox posted:2013 Subaru BRZ Muffinpox posted:2002 Honda S2000 
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Aug 9, 2015 18:27
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BlackMK4 posted:I'm starting to car shop now and it's between these two... I cannot believe how close in price they are these days. Protip, don't buy the BRZ 
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Aug 10, 2015 04:04
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Nodoze posted:Protip, don't buy the BRZ Why?  (Other than the lack of power)
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Aug 10, 2015 05:51
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BlackMK4 posted:Why? S2000 is better at everything other than having a back seat
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Aug 10, 2015 06:20
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Nodoze posted:S2000 is better at everything other than having a back seat The backseat in the BRZ is a joke. A 911 has more rear legroom. It's good for a dog or maybe two front wheels?
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Aug 10, 2015 07:12
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Zoom Zoom, motherfuckers
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Nodoze posted:S2000 is better at everything other than having a back seat It's also basically the same price for something not silver, an AP2, and lower mileage. Hard to justify dropping that in cash versus spreading the money out over $300/mo. BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Aug 10, 2015 |
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Aug 10, 2015 15:44
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Larrymer posted:Gen2 MR2 requested. Turbo, if you can get your mitts on one. I have a NA Gen 2. It's easy to drive and snap-oversteer claims are somewhat exaggerated.
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Aug 10, 2015 16:53
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BlackMK4 posted:It's also basically the same price for something not silver, an AP2, and lower mileage. Hard to justify dropping that in cash versus spreading the money out over $300/mo. You can still get a loan on an AP2
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Aug 10, 2015 16:55
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Nodoze posted:You can still get a loan on an AP2 You can find someone willing to finance any car, but I'm betting the rates are a lot higher on the S2000 than they would be on the BRZ. As much as I'd love an S2K, it's a car I can never own because there's simply no way I could even drive it (let alone comfortably) without gutting the entire interior and figuring out how to set a bare-bones racing seat as low and far back in the car as possible. It's a tiny, tiny car inside, even for a two-seater.
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Aug 10, 2015 18:07
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I got a really low rate on my 10 year old AP1, but YMMV and poo poo for that stuff I don't find it to be THAT small either, I'm 6' tall and I don't even have my seat all the way back
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Aug 10, 2015 18:13
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Nodoze posted:I don't find it to be THAT small either, I'm 6' tall and I don't even have my seat all the way back 6'4" fatty here, I sat in the driver's seat of one once and no matter where I placed the seat, my right knee interfered with the shifter. The top was already down at the time so I have no idea how I'd have fared there. The <1mi ride I got in one as a passenger was even more hilarious, I literally couldn't get into the car without dropping the top.
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Aug 10, 2015 18:18
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Yeah I'm 6'1" and drive a friend's one. He has a Bride seat in it which feels really loving low and I felt like where the seat was, the pedals were still a bit of a stretch to reach. I guess if you're unreasonably huge in terms of height or girth you'd struggle.
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Aug 10, 2015 18:20
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BlackMK4 posted:I'm starting to car shop now and it's between these two... I cannot believe how close in price they are these days. An AP1 S2000 should be significantly cheaper than a newish BRZ. If you're gonna get an S2000, don't get an AP2 and miss out on the last 800RPMs worth of rev. IOwnCalculus posted:It's a tiny, tiny car inside, even for a two-seater. Yeah, in some dimensions, an NA feels bigger.
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Aug 10, 2015 18:23
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It's also sounding like the ND is faster than the BRZ, so probably faster than the s2k as well.
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Aug 10, 2015 18:34
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Sadi posted:It's also sounding like the ND is faster than the BRZ, so probably faster than the s2k as well. I'd honestly be surprised if it was, the S is a pretty quick car and puts out a fair whack of power out to the wheels.
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Aug 10, 2015 19:46
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Depending on who ran the 1/4 mile test, the S2000 is anywhere from high 13s to low 14s. The the faster times were probably done with launches that didn't baby the diff. I would be very surprised if the ND could keep up with an S2000 on the track, despite the 500lb weight difference.
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Aug 10, 2015 20:38
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The ND is probably going to dunk all over C Street. It might be faster than S2000s around an autocross course depending on the layout and how fast/open it is; however, an S2000 should be marginally quicker than an ND on track. It runs out of go around 100mph or so since it's all about the mid range power and torque.
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Aug 10, 2015 20:45
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Phone posted:The ND is probably going to dunk all over C Street. It might be faster than S2000s around an autocross course depending on the layout and how fast/open it is; however, an S2000 should be marginally quicker than an ND on track. It runs out of go around 100mph or so since it's all about the mid range power and torque. Doesn't the 2nd gear on the ND top out at 52mph? A ND on an autocross course will be shifting between 2nd and 3rd constantly.
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Aug 10, 2015 22:05
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Road and Track has the fuel cut at 6900rpm in their notes: (link: http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/a25857/testing-the-2016-mazda-miata-less-is-more-quantified/ ) So 6900rpm and 205/45R17 comes out to: 1st 34.2 2nd 58.1 3rd 85.4 4th 109.0 5th 135.1 6th 173.8
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Aug 10, 2015 22:35
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Motor trend put Randy Pobst in the frs and ND at willow springs and the ND was faster by about 1.4 seconds. I would think the BRZ is faster than a s2k on the track but I've never driven either on the track so #benchracing. Also I doubt they controlled for tire and I would bet the Miata has better rubber than the BRZ.
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Aug 11, 2015 00:28
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