(UK. )Waiting delivery of new MX-5 Tech Sports (10 days I hope), Tyres??

The 99 NB I have develops about 200-220HP at 9.5-10psi when it is tuned to do so. Normal tune for daily use limits the engine to 160-180. (Stock internals, etc.) Due to cooling issues, sustained high speed above 100 is not the best thing to do. The 99 will easily reach gear/RPM limits when it is tuned to do so. (And the gear limit is slightly higher than stock, due to a different 5th gear ratio.) A front air dam, side skirts, and a cooling scoop, along with an effective oil cooler would make a big difference. Unfortunately, the state laws in my area have gotten draconian concerning speeds 20 or more over the limit. Somebody decided that average speeds of 85 on the Atlanta area interstates were too high, given the poor mechanical condition of many Atlanta area cars. Besides, the state and local governments are getting desperate for cash any way they can get it.

As to the autobahns in the 70's--someone was always going faster than you were. There were at least two very high performance sports cars in the local area (Trier, Bitburg, Eifel area, etc. that commonly were well above 120mph when noticed on the autobahn. One was a Ferrari, and the other a German made mid engine car with no obvious makers mark. Of the two, the German car looked like speed incarnate, even when parked. It may have been a prototype, or a custom build, I never found out the details.

Both have 6 Gears& ratios are the same, maybe the hard top has slightly less air resistance. However, the acceleration figures are also interesting:- Soft top 0 to 62 in 7.6 secs , Hard top in 7.9secs. Power to weight ratio has more influence at lower speed perhaps. Don

I did a little research and recollection. The OEM tires on my '96 were Bridgestone SF 325. I replaced them with Dunlop Sport A2.

I think that you have it correct on it being the better aerodynamics causing the higher possible top speed.

If I remember correctly, the PRHT assembly is 89 pounds, and the soft top with frame is a little over 45 pounds, equaling less than 50 pounds of weight difference.

Obviously, every pound counts for handling and acceleration, but not necessarily on top speed with such a small difference.

Pat

That picture is beautiful, but my Miata has no heater! I can wear more clothes but the damn windows fog up.

yrs jp

sounds like maybe a BMW M1, ever seen those bad boys? They never 'officially' came to the US but they were barnstorming Europe and I think their looks could be described as 'speed incarnate' ;-) Google it and see if it brings back those (high speed) memories!

Chris

99BBB

My NA topped out at an indicated 116 or so with the top down. Didn't seem to be any stability issue at that speed though. I've had the NB around 120 allot of times (very stable) but haven't taken the risk to hold her down long enough to see what she's capable of. The value of a (even a very good) radar detector is pretty much nil at those speeds.

I would like to know though!

Chris

99BBB

I was not aware that the Miata was capable of speeds above 120mph. I actually have always thought that they top out just below 110mph or so. Have I been wrong all these years? (Not that I am interested in checking it out in my '97 M-edition; I save the triple-digit speeds for my Ducati on the racetrack.)

119 for the 1.6, 123 for the 1.8..

Of course you must consider the color, the white ones being much faster due to less photon flow resistance.

If Leon were here he could explain it....

The only identifying thing I remember was a stylized two letter script in the center of each wheel. It might have been DB, or DH, but was not easy to make out, since one letter was intertwined with the other. At the time, production BMWs were a favorite by some, but had two nasty habits. The worst one to me was that the rear tires would "break loose" abruptly without warning in a high side force turn. The next one was a penchant for having expensive tranny problems well before 100k miles.

Another car that, for what it was, amazed me was a ~ 77 German Ford Fiesta. At 95 to 100 mph they were quite stable and handled well. I didn't think that they would go that fast, and did not expect good high speed handling. (We drove a rental Fiesta from Luxembourg to Bremerhaven and back in much less time than I had expected.) It's also possible that Hertz was "cheating" on the odometer and speedometer. We just about "cooked" a rental Opel on the same run at similar speeds. Seems that nobody bothered to tell us that the Opel was happiest with premium.

I still remember my uncle's expression when they came to visit. He worked for United, and the tickets were part of his compensation. We picked up he and his wife at Frankfurt, and took the Autobahn to Trier in my then fairly new 76 Buick Regal. The Buick was a story in itself, as it was the only Regal in Germany with Hurst hatches and red in color. Anyway, my uncle looked at the speedometer, noted the reading, and said something to me about it. (Remember, the US was 55MPH then) I replied with something about running at that speed for about an hour at a time (at night), then I had to slow down to let the tires cool off. The Buick had US NATO plates, and was generally waved through such things as roadblocks, border customs, and such. This was actually a pain at times. I occasionally had to carry NATO "stuff" as a courier. Paperwork had to be signed and stamped at the borders with a special stamp. The German Holland border was the worst, because a walker's tunnel under the roadway was closed for repair. This left me with the dubious pleasure of walking across three lanes of autobahn traffic to reach the customs building. At least there was a speed limit at the border to allow customs to stop and search when they felt like doing so.

Actually, I always was of the opinion that white was slower, because the photons get bounced off, and there must be a reaction.

As to the BMW M1, none of the pictures I've found have much similarity. The BMWs have a distinctive grill structure, something that was not (as I remember) part of the car mentioned. It was a shade of silver grey. Some black cooling grills were evident on the rear deck. Single large center rear exhaust. The headlights were under glass (not plastic), that conformed to the front body contours. The last time I saw it, it was parked on a street in Trier, and not too far from a major hotel complex. (Didn't have my camera with me, drat!) This was in about 1980. There were no visible emblems of any kind, and no clues as to it's mfr. or owner, other than plates showing that it was licensed in/for the general Trier area. Kind of like a state license in the US. The body lines were slightly more angular than the expensive (fast) Italian sports cars of the time.

The latest (UK)MX5 brochure quotes 132 mph for the Sport Tech (soft top)

Don

Chuck, I wish we could meet for a cup of coffee and you could tell more great stories! It sounds like you might have a few ;-) Remind me, what country would I have to travel to?

Chris

99BBB