Drove the '97 Miata up to New Jersey after work on Friday, arrivign at my hotel at midnight, some 225 miles from home. The car ran flawlessly at the prevailing traffic flow of 75-80mph, returning about
28.5 mpg. Top down the whole way, listening to a couple of new CDs.Saturday morning I made my way the remaining half of the trip to a small town about an hour northwest of Boston proper, arrivign at my friend's house at noon, having averaged almost exactly 60mph including two brief stops for soda and stretches. The car got a smidge under
30mpg, at 29.8 mpg for 223 miles. Again with the top down.Had a nice visit with Dom and his family; a four year old and an 18- month-old may be the secret to my 52-year-old buddy's youthful exuberance (he has already raised a family of four kids ranging in age from 30 to 21) but it just made me tired playing with them for 24 hours! I think I shall await the arrival of grandchildren, rather than starting all over again!
Overnight Saturday, rain moved in, so I had my first chance to drive a fair distance with the top up on Sunday morning. Interestingly, there was a small leak at the front of the driver side window when the car was stopped, but it did not leak while moving. Traffic was blastign along, and the Miata was nt strained at all at 80-83mph most of the way home on Sunday. I did have a fill-up of 11.4 gallons before reachign home, prompting me to check the owners manual to discover that the car has a 12.6 gallon fuel tank; larger than I recall on my old '92 1.6 liter model. Only got 28.1 mpg on the return trip, thought the rain did taper off and end, allowing me to put the top down for the last 200 miles of the drive home.
Today I washed it and waxed it and cleaned and conditioned the seats when I got home from work.
Looking forward to a cool (48-degrees F) drive into work with the top down tomorrow morning.
Tim