I beg your pardon? I think you have made an error. My remarks were not addressed to you, but to a person who made a pronouncement on a subject he knows nothing about.
In addition, I have learned that knowing a diplomat or a neurosurgeon or a tinker does not make one a diplomat, a neurosurgeon, or a tinker. Some people spend sufficient time with persons in professions other than their own to pick up a bit of the jargon, and then they begin to imagine that they know about that profession. Mr. Edwards did not claim even to have ever met a Foreign Service Officer or to have visited State or a U.S. Mission abroad, yet he still felt he needed to make himself look foolish by making a pronouncement on the subject.
I also don't believe that living in a certain place--Alexandria, let us say--in and of itself qualifies one to know anything beyond a bit of local geography. I live in Gambrills, where the "Town Centre" (which we don't call that because we are /not/ pompous asses) consists of a post office, a feed store, a dairy farm, a corn field, and a thoroughbred horse farm. I advocate that people ask more questions, and make fewer pronouncements, when dealing with things they know nothing about. Thus I never pretend to know about animal husbandry, or farming in general. I also don't have much to say on the subjects of surgery or rocket science, even though my late sister-in-law was a surgeon and I count numerous rocket scientists among my friends and acquaintances.
Get over it. Stick to what you know. Alexandria is a nice town, marred by profoundly traumatized Northern Virginia drivers and redeemed by the availability of the Blue Line. I've lived there on and off myself. Never thought I was George Washington, however.
I have a lot of respect for Grant and Larry, but I don't know who the hell Davoud is, yet. This newsgroup has very few subscribers, especially those who post, and most of the long-timers are pretty tight-nit even when we argue.
If you are just here to talk shit, fine, it will be ignored quickly and you will get bored and leave.
If you want to talk Miatas with fellow owners and enthusiasts, it might be a good idea to at least include something vaguely related to these Mazda roadsters in one of your posts instead of just talking about what people do or do not know.
Failing to do that will get you tossed into the kill-files of what is not a very long list of people posting to start with. Your choice, because the pattern repeats itself every time.
Of course, that's just my take on the subject. ;-)
Telling the truth in the Delusional States of America has historically not been the key to popularity. It worked for Obama last November, however, and it's working for him now, as demonstrated by the fact that his opponents are becoming more and more shrill and the neocon lie machine is having to work overtime, and still losing, as their audience dwindles.
I have a white '92 that I bought new 17 years ago next month. You may see it here and here . There were only two "models" in '92; one was called the "Deluxe," and had a tan top and tan leather, and, in an apparent nod to Henry Ford, was available only with black paint. I don't like leather in any car, much less an open car, and I do not buy black cars, so my choice of models was made for me. I bought a hardtop with the car. I made a hangar for it in the garage, sealed it in plastic, and there it has hung for 17 years.
I have a 15-year-old niece and I have promised her that the Miata will be hers when she gets her drivers' license, if her father approves.
I grew up in more modest circumstances, some would say poor, where many families had no car at all, and certainly none of my cohort had cars of their own. If someone had given me a sports car two years older than myself and in showroom condition for my 16th birthday, I would have, well, I don't know what--it's just inconceivable. Whether an overprivileged child of this century will feel that way remains to be seen.
My niece has had a bit of driving practice on a back road, and she is doing a creditable job with the 5-speed. I suspect she'll be the only kid on her block who knows how to use a clutch! I haven't decided what to buy next.
Cool, I like black cars and will take either leather or cloth, but that white and black looks very nice and well taken care of.
The observatory looks cool too.
It's possible, I am kind of scared by how many kids I see demanding auto over manual because they do not know how to drive it. Even if they are getting an automatic, it is really good to learn how, imho.
I am on my third Miata. First was a 1990 red with hardtop. We towed a tent trailer for vacation with it, one trip of over 5,000kms (3,000 archaic miles). We turbocharged it and did quite a number of upgrades, then hit the recession of the '90s and we had to sell it. Next was a '91 silver, which I kept bone stock. Had to sell it when we had another downturn in our business. Spring of 2008 I acquired a '91 BRG Eunos Roadster (JDM) with tan leather and hardtop, and only 69,000kms on it. Right hand drive and 5 speed is much more fun than any automatic could ever be! Now we have another bloody recession, but I am hanging on to it as long as I can.
I never could figure out why Mazda detuned the 1.6 on all the automatics so they produced even less power than the standards.
Stuart H. Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada
p.s. Thank god for our health care system. My Doctor ordered some non-urgent tests last week, and I had them all done today. NO COSTS INVOLVED!
Where are you at? And what color is that baby? I went to look at the PRHT at a dealership but all they had on the lot was a couple of automatics so I passed on the test drive, but that robo-top was a ton of fun to fiddle with. Zoop! up, zoop! down, zoop! up, you could play all day. It looks great too.
A guy who bought a new one last year told me that the tires that came from the factory on the '08s (the 16 inch ones on the base model) suck and you won't really appreciate how well it handles until you get your first set of replacement tires. By that he meant, if you're used to ordinary cars you'll be knocked out by the handling of a new MX-5, and when you put good rubber on it it will blow you away again.
Also, get a hat, watch out driving wearing shorts with the top down (the front of your legs will get sunburned) and definitely don't leave a pile of valuable paperwork unanchored on the front seat like I did the second day I drove mine. That's all the useful Miata-oriented information I can think of right now. Happy driving!
Davoud, Where have you been all of our lives!? I have no doubt that you can assist in some sort of resurrection of sorts around here. This wonderful newsgroup has been wilting from lack of interest / interesting discussions. I think in part, what so many of us truly love about this newsgroup (it's the most focused and on task newsgroup I've ever read) is what hurts it in some ways because there is not a wide breadth of subjects / topics discussed here. People tend to get board here and wander off.
I hope you'll hang around some, there are quite a few interesting characters here, many of us kindred spirits with a wide range of experience. OK, so you're our first foreign diplomat ;-) When I polled this group at the end of
07 (man, time flies!) 75 people responded. 59 were from a combination of 27 of the U.S. Nine foreign countries were represented.
On another subject, I too like your car, I've stolen the picture of it in front of the .......azalea? bush quite some time ago from somewhere. I also fell in love with your photos of the galaxy and such. IIRC I stole a bunch of those too, amazing stuff.
Hang around and help make it more interesting, no doubt you've got some Miata experience too although, judging from the miles / year, you've been spending WAY too much time speeding in foreign countries and probably in boring cars. I too recommend you get another Miata, it's a great platform to enjoy or use as a building block. I hope your niece appreciates what she's getting.
See, I knew there were a bunch of NC guys here! Hopefully we didn't scare off the new guy (the OP)! I haven't seen a comment back from him, have I ?
Chris
99BBB
As the other newbie in this thread with a new 09 MX-5 PRHT, I went and checked my stock tires. Bridgestone Potenza RE050A
205/45R17 It handles the corners better than a go-cart : )
I did test drive the automatic to try out the paddle shifters. The drive feel and performace were too similar to tell the difference, though I know the horespower is lower and the shocks are softer on the automatic. The shifting experience was ... interesting. If I was going to be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic every day, the automatic has merit, but why would I buy an MX-5 to be stuck in traffic every day?
The roof is a beauty. I chose the mica red because it's a cross between black & red (I like them both but didn't want either) and it had a black interior (the beige interior is not attractive imho).
Because it's ever so much more amusing than being stuck in traffic every day in a Camry or an F-150.
Beside which, you'd be surprised how much cheap fun a really bored commuter with a stick can get out of precisely gauging shifting and throttle so as to minimize use of the brakes (turn gasoline = motion into heat NOOOOO!) while _at the same time_ keeping up with traffic at a smart pace. Lot of attention involved, keeps the eyes and wits alive.
Whereas with a g. d. automatic you dont haveto do any of that cause it just goes wuuuuuuh and when you wanna catch up with everybody you jam on the excellerater pedal thats the one on the right an it goes WUUUUUH an then whe u see all the red lites come on upahead you jam on the left side pedal (thats the breaks) and it goes w u u u u h and all the ppl behind you are like "W T F!!!!" and then when it starts going again you just go wuuUUUH an like that.
Not to mention practicing up/down shifts without using the clutch. [Disclaimer: if you do that too much and you're not good at it, you might wear out your synchros.]
On the topic of fuel grade and mileage- I presently have an 06 GT 6AT and always use premium. (90-91 octane). My experience over the years is that with a compression ratio of a little over 10:1, it is best to stay with premium. As noted, modern electronics will retard the timing to accommodate the lower octane and prevent detonation, but you loose performance and fuel mileage as a result. With the '93 I drove for 180k miles I alway used mid grade (89 octane around here). Did a few mileage runs with regular and mid and thought the mid fuel economy was better and that the engine sounded better with mid. My son still has it as a daily driver at around 220k miles, and it is still running strong. Also note that I am particular about where I get the gas also. I avoid the discount fuel stations and try to stick with top name brands of fuel. I know that they all get it from the same refineries, and most of the additive talk from one brand to the next is a bunch of bull. Just found that over the years, the name brand stations tend to be more consistent with what you get, and seldom cause issues with extra moisture or dirt from running their tanks too low. The non brand name stations are cheaper because they will cut more corners, and what you get may not be what they say you are getting. After all, they take bulk delivery of whatever the tanker is carrying after the name brand outlets have gotten their quota.
As for your mpg. It sounds about right. Some have claimed better even with the AT, but I average 28 to 30 mpg in my normal driving. Have seen it as high as 34 to 36 on long interstate drives, and as low as 24-25 with a lot of stop and go in winter when the gas around here has extra oxygenators added (ethanol) to meet emission standards. That ethanol just doesn't have the same energy density as gas, so the more there is the lower the fuel mileage.
I think that a small performance hit is irrelevant off the track, except perhaps psychologically. How often do you drive in such a manner as to need every last bit of performance your Miata can provide? If you drive in that manner, where do you do it? If we wanted exotic performance at a bargain price we would have bought 'Vettes, no? Fuel economy is quite relevant, however. Is the mpg difference between premium and regular fuel so great as to make it more expensive to drive with regular-grade fuel? Can you quantify the difference over an extended period of mixed city/suburban/highway driving?
("Loose" as a verb means to release, set free, let go. I think you meant "lose performance," which means to not have as much performance as one had previously.)
If you did mileage runs you shouldn't have "thought" anything; you should have some hard data. The problem is that you and I can't easily collect hard data--starting with the fuel tank empty and disconnected and fuel coming from a carefully calibrated container and driving over a closed course until the car runs out of gas--and doing this repeatedly with identical speeds and braking at each point, using different grades and brands of petrol. Not to mention identical loads, same temperature and humidity...
Real-world testing is inaccurate because of significant variance between the quantity of fuel in one "full tank" and the next and because of significant variance in the kind of driving one does. The only way I know of to get a reasonable real-world estimate of fuel consumption is to measure carefully for about one year. Then use a different grade of gasoline for the next year. If you live in Kansas and decide to visit the Rockies one year, (or vice-versa) you are going to have to do the same thing each subsequent year. Repeat for each grade and brand of fuel you want to test, and after perhaps 10 years you might have some reasonable approximations. But then you run up against the problem of an aging system; perhaps there is a way to calibrate for that, but I don't know what it is.
People want to know what kind of mileage I get from my Prius. I have to tell them that I /think/ it's between 45 and 55, depending on conditions--but I'm not sure. What conditions? I don't know. I haven't checked my Miata for years, but see above.
It's hard to argue with 220k miles and running strong! Off-brand fuel is cheaper largely because the seller profits from high-volume. If one is to do that and succeed, one cannot let one's tanks run dry, and they don't. I can't guarantee that every off-brand petrol is equivalent to premium brands, but on average the differences are due largely to urban legend. My wife buys mid-grade fuel from premium names for her Avalon. I buy the cheapest I can find for my Miata and my Prius, as I have done with all of my cars that did not absolutely demand premium-grade fuel. No ill effects over the past 46 years, but I don't know what tomorrow will bring.
Actually the NB styling is reminiscent of a style family? that goes back into the 1950's and 60's, and came from an amalgam of several designs from famous racing cars that ran in European road races of the time. There was even an illustration in a readers digest condensed book (1960's) that is very similar. There is even a "family" resemblance to some more modern models of Jags and Vettes.
Davoud, Have you read the book: "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by any chance? If your sense of humor is half as good as your attention to grammar (I know, it's probably not the correct word), I think you'd enjoy it. To be honest, I haven't read it myself but it's all about punctuation and what effect (affect?, I can never remember) it has on our sentences. Here's the teaser from the back cover;
A Panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. "Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. "I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up." The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, he finds an explanation. "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
I love it! I really need to read it I guess! Later, Chris
Davoud, it is hard to determine exactly how to take your posts. I do not know you yet, so will reserve judgment, but you make it difficult to believe that you do not try to be argumentative and authoritarian. I am often accused of the same.
Regarding performance - This is a Miata. Performance for a Miata is not straight line performance, and no I do not drive it to the limit all the time. I do drive it to the limits of my ability and its ability in spots most every time I take it out. That means letting the engine go up into its power band >5k rpm in spots. That is usually on entrance and exit ramps, but also includes some wonderful 2 lane blacktop. It does not mean exceeding the speed limiet, but means finding the line through a turn at the maximum speed I can achieve. There are also times on the interstate or when using those entrance and exit ramps that I want all that the car can deliver so as not to endanger myself or other drivers. At those times, a few percentage difference in hp at a given rpm may be important.
But ultimately, if you want the a fixed answer about fuel grade, my owner's manual calls for premium, and I am sure that they did all the necessary scientific tests. ;)
Yes, I made a grammer mistake and all of these modern computer tools did not catch it for me. I am human.
I did not claim scientific accuracy or any absolute. I offered the same syntax that you offered regarding the mileage of you Prius. Mine:
Yours:
The difference that I observed with a few tests was only 1-2 mpg. The difference in price between the 2 grades in my area is such that I decided to use the mid grade. YMMV.
That may be with some, and you may have worked in retail fuel channels, and have specific knowledge. I am not an expert and have not worked in that field myself. I am passing on information I have received from someone who does work in the retail fuel industry. As passed on from that source, all fuels are refined to the same specs at the refinery. Specific additives are added after the basic refining to meet specific brands requirements (marketing?). Tankers are dispatched with the "custom" blend to the name brand outlets first. Discount outlets take whatever is available, or basic refining without the additives to get a better bulk purchasing price so that they can retail at a lower price. Based on that you may get no additives, or the same as the name brand outlet. Whether or not you find the additives worth while is up to you. It is also open to debate as to whether the tankers are dedicated to a single brand and grade to ensure no dilution of the specific blend. the information I was given is that is Not the case.
My bad experiences with discount gas occurred before modern engine management, and may not show immediately or at all with modern engines. Having a car stop running due to bad fuel has stopped me from using them. In one particular case, the car stopped running within about 3 miles of a purchase of discount regular. Spark and fuel were present at the engine. The problem was corrected by adding 2 gallons of premium name brand fuel. It was not cold enough for carburator icing, or fuel line icing. Nothing else was changed. You can make of that what you will. I made my conclusion and will stay with it.
I did not claim that Oxygenation = ethanol. I said that in my area they add more ethanol in the winter to meet EPA emission standards. I did use the word "oxygenators" since that is the terminology that the EPA and the fuel suppliers use to describe what they are doing to the fuel to reduce emissions.
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