What am I missing?

I wonder how many x-bikers bought Miatas?

That's the reason I bought one too, had a really big crash, paralysed me left arm, I still ride but it's just not the same, because I do not have the same control as before, I am really nervous, every time I get back im bloody exhausted from all the concentration, smiling but exhausted.

I found I really missed the bikes, the open out in the air freeness, so I bought a cabrio, its still not the same but I hate the feeling of being stuck in a tin box, at least with a cabrio you can feel the wind in your hair (while I've still got some). Rode a bike everyday for 6 years, and at least once a week from the age of

15, raced anything I could afford, Check out some of me bikes on it's about 2 years out of date but I can't be bothered to update it. I guess when you ride bikes a lot then you perception of comfort and distance change.

Grant I tried earplugs in me Miata yesterday, out on the motorway and in town, absolutely crap mate, I did not like it at all, but I never got used to the on the bike either.

Cheers Mark.

Natman, I think if you concentrate on the word DEDICATED mate you might find that your dizziness will stop.

There is a major difference between an "open top sports car" and DEDICATED sports car.

Ded-i-cated adj designed to carry out only one task, or set aside for a purpose.

Non one would argue that a Miata is a sports car, but in my opinion a dedicated sports car would be 1 or all of the car I listed.

Cheers Mark.

Hi Bruce,

Thanks it was, that seat is perfectly moulded to my arse. I can't say that it was all enjoyable, but 99% of out of town driving has been fantastic.

We managed to get 2 trips to the UK and back again last year, which was a good chunk of the enjoyable mileage, The 1st trip was 6194 miles, As we went via Bucharest and Gdansk, up to the UK onto Edinburgh and a bit of a tour of Scotland, then back via Paris then down to the south of France and along the coats down into Italy and got the ferry from Ancona. The 2nd trip at the end of October was 5890 Miles, A fairly straight route to the Uk, but we took the ferry from the Uk to Bilbao, Down to Madrid, took in the GP at Valencia, Barcelona along the south coast and through Italy and the ferry from Ancona again.

I also travel a lot with my work, I was offered either a company car or a car allowance when I joined, I choose not to take a company car, so I get a very generous car allowance, which is calculated on mileage, which I am extremely thankful. Can you imagine having to be stuck in a van for that mileage?

Don't know if anyone else has to log their miles, or even if anyone is interested. but I just dug out my travel expense report. Last year I did 99438 km (61744 miles) Used 12368 Litres (2720 uk gallons), Averaged 8.04 km/L (22.7mpg), Got a top fuel consumption figure of 9.97 km/L (28.16mpg) A worst of 6.51km/L (18mpg) (track days)

The scariest fact is that the average fuel cost was ?0.86 per litre, which meant and I spent ?10636.48 on petrol alone.

Ouch thank god for car allowances.

If you are interested more I have pictures on me web site,

it's about 2 years out of date, but I keep promising to up date it,I think its got our first trip from the UK to Greece, and maybe a couple of our European bike trips,It's a project I started while I was in bed after a bad smash, so if it doesn't make too much sense blame the Morphine not me. Cheers Mark.

Synchronicity?! Am just re-reading the book at the moment. I read it first

15 years ago and that's probably what got me into biking; maybe it's me missing my motorbike that caused me to read it again. It's better the second time round since you know the main twist already so can focus on the rest, and the meaning of the sentences, rather than trying to put the whole puzzle together.

Hah, so you'll never experience the joys of trying to make your way into a cage that's frozen completely shut and needs a few buckets of warm water to defrost, no? :-) (I refuse to use chemicals - an empty wine bottle filled up with hot, but not too hot, water poured over the windscreen and the other windows does the trick just fine. Though you'll need a few of those on mornings like this morning when the doors and the boot [trunk to you] are frozen shut as well.)

Eric

Looks like something on your car needs adjusting! The lowest I get is around

25/26mpg, average around 30/31, and best is 35mpg. I get the lowest fuel consumption when going at a steady 65-70mph. Any idea what's pushing your consumption up?

Eric

rammm@REMOVE_THIS_TAGdommelen.net (Leon van Dommelen) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Granted, I was just listing the actual point-to-point mileages and drivetimes (caveat: mappoint estimate, not necessarily accurate). My main purpose was merely to point out that taking the scenic route didn't require zig-zaging across the country and doubling the miles. Of course, one should assume that when taking the scenic route, many extra miles should be added for actually seeing the scenery. And of course any time taken to stop and/or detour to enjoy the scenery is added to the point- to-point drive time.

-Scott

"Eric Baber" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:

I read it several times, once I went through it with maps and just followed the route.... it's not a quick read.

NOTE: To those who don't know to what we're referring, it's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Persig. Don't be put off, it's got very little to do with Zen or with motorcycle maintenance. You may find the book in the philosophy section of your bookstore if that gives you a hint?

Hi Eric, I think it's a few things,

1/ Mine is an Automatic, which eats a lot of power and fuel 2/ I live in Athens, it's not uncommon for it to take 2 hours for the 30km journey to the office. 3/ It's Greece, my air-con is on nearly every drive during the summer, and a fair bit in winter (de-fogging) 4/ I do tend to be a bit heavy with the right foot, those averages also included track days. 5/ On all the trips the car is pretty much fully loaded, suitcase on a boat rack , the area between the windstopper and boot was chock bang full, as was the boot. 6/ I very rarely put my top up, unless it's raining. I don't know if anyone has every tested the wind coefficeancy difference between top up and top down, but I know I can consistently pull higher revs in top gear with the top down, than with it up.

Other than that I don't know mate, I have a Goodwin racing carbon filter kit, a custom exhaust, but I don't think they are going to affect the mpg either way. I roughly getting about 300km per tank.

Is yours an Auto?

They do take some getting used to, and I rarely wear earplugs in town. But, when driving all day on the freeway, I find I get much less tired and "numb".

During subfreezing temperatures, water (you know, the stuff that comes out of the faucet and disappears when you go outside) actually turns in to a solid substance, similar to the cubes you put in a drink!

I figured that dedicated was the key. Thanks for managing to come up with a list of cars that would actually be LESS suitable for a long trip than the Miata. Note that it is a short list.

Natman, please read my posts again, to help you I have copied and pasted my previous comments below.

"It would take me hours to write all the completely unsuitable cars"

"To be honest I can't think of many cars that are AS suitable as the MX-5"

It was as I said at the time, the list I came up with was, JUST A FEW that came to mind.

I am not going to sit for hours and write the name of every car I believe to be less suitable than the Miata.

I do not think it would prove too much of a stretch of your imagination to realise that if I did indeed write I list it would be extremely long, which is exactly the impression I gave from my previous posts. I would like to suggest that you should read through posts completely before commenting.

It would also be helpful to us and further your point if you would let us know, what cars (I think within the price spec of the Miata in the original post is fare, which I believe is a 20003 Special Edition) you believe are more suitable to the task discussed and why, so that we may comment on your views, rather than has been in this case asking for other peoples comments and then attempting to shoot holes in their views.

And please bare in mind that this is something that is completely subjective, one mans tourer is another mans sports car.

Cheers

The Miata is a fine car in many ways, I enjoy mine very much. But it is specialized, sacrificing comfort for handling and light weight. For the SPECIALIZED circumstances of driving a long distance freeway trip of 12 hour days droning along at 70 mph or so the Miata is not really suitable because:

It is tiny. I have found a position that is reasonably comfortable, but it is the ONLY one. Having to hold it for 12 hours a day would be awful.

It turns 4000 RPM at 70. Listening to the constant drone would be most unpleasant.

It rides like a sports car.

There is no room for luggage.

The fine handling and responsiveness that makes a Miata so great is wasted under these circumstances.

So again, *exclusively* for the specialized task of long distance touring, almost ANY car would be better suited. A Toyota Camry. A Dodge Neon. At least you could vary your position, hear yourself think and carry a cooler in the back. For 12 hour days of straightline cruising you WANT a little bit of that "rolling couch" in the mix. Comfort is key and the Miata simply doesn't have it.

If you can draw a night-and-day distinction between a "dedicated sports car" and a "sports car", surely you can understand the difference between a "sports car" and a "touring car".

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree Natman.

The furthest I can remember travelling in 1 day, was Athens to Bucharest which was about 700 miles, there is no way to travel this length of time (if memory serves it was about 20 hours with lunch & petrol stops and customs) sitting in one place, that can possibly be comfortable, if I spend 20 hours in bed, I would be aching the next day.

What I did find was that the Miata was as comfortable, as any other car I have driven (and that is many), if not more so, the low slung legs out in front of position, for me is extremely comfortable. I am 5'8 so not the exactly in Dennis Rodmen territory, I have also shaped the seat to fit me better, so small things can make a big difference, also mine is an Automatic so the gearing is really low in top, and we found a way around the luggage problem (luggage rack),

I understand what you are saying Natman, but from my experiences of long distance driving, in many different types, makes, engines sizes gearbox types, the Miata, is very near the top for long distance driving.

The only cars I have driven that MAYBE challenge the Miata are the old type BMW M5, an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage and a TVR Cerbera all of which were fairly new at the time and in a different country as far as price goes.

I don't know if it's the same car your referring to, but we have the Chrysler Neon in the UK, and I had the misfortune of having one as a replacement for my Ford Mondeo while it was in for accident repairs, I think it was a 2.0L but it was terrible, It was a supposed to be an upgrade from the Mondeo, as it was fully kitted with everything, in the 2-3 weeks I had it, went back to the garage at least

4 times, after the 3rd time I swapped cars with my wife (a 1994 VW Golf) it was that bad, so reliability is more important than comfort.

Each to their own though Natman, But I honestly feel you are missing out on so much, doing a trip in a open top car is a completely different experience than in a saloon, To me the feeling of the wind, the noise and smells are what make a trip memorable trip, rather than just a trip, and that to me outweighs any shortcomings with the car.

Cheers

nat snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Natman) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@netnews.comcast.net:

Really, like the stuff that runs in the irrigation canals?

I spent a few weeks in Rochester, Minnesota in the winter so I know a little bit about cold, I have to say I didn't like it much. :-(

Precisely my point.

I'm six feet tall. That extra four inches does make a difference in the number of positions the Miata offers.

Sorry you had a bad experience with yours. The Neon may not be the most reliable car out there, but your experience was NOT typical.

I love riding with the top down too. 12 hours at a stretch on the freeway would be a bit much for me though, especially through Arizona and New Mexico where odds are it is either blazing hot (100 F, 38C) or winter.

Let's let it rest at that. Best of luck.

With having to post 10 or so 10,000 word messages a day on at least this group, he must be averaging 50 mph at least. :)

Leon

Mine is very comfortable.

It is not tiny. It is big. Too big, if you ask me. But it does allow me to stretch out. Do I have a sneaking suspicion that you are selfishly putting a disproportionate stress on the world food supply by being over 5'7"? Also, a car *pollutes more* by having to accelerate oversize drivers, adding to *global warming*!

Absolutely. I love to downshift to 4th and have some bad engine and exhaust noise below overpasses.

So it does! :))

Correction. There is plenty of room for luggage for a month long trip, plus for about 6 six packs of bottles of beer if you want to avoid having to drink the local poison or, worse, budweiser, and a few bottles of Tio Pepe if you may be going through rural states where they may not have it, plus for full tools if you happen to have replaced about every part on your Miata with aftermarket and added a supercharger, plus for a computer with CD-RW drive for backups, full size mouse, cables, power protectors, etc, plus guide books etc, jump cables, spare parts and bulbs, etc.

I beg to disagree. Even on the Interstate, it is still good to carry the thought that you are driving a car, not a sled.

Uncomfortable. Puts you to sleep.

I believe I had a rental neon once. But I hope not, for your sake.

Sure. To upside down in the ditch.

Sure. "What a piece of s**t is this! How long to I get there? DID I ONLY MAKE THAT MUCH PROGRESS?? IS IT REALLY STILL MORNING?? This car still stinks and you are supposed to not notice after some time. I think it is chemicals coming from the plastic. Those seats are really uncomfortable. The seats are too high compared to the pedals. Wish the AC would not either freeze you or leave you boiled..."

Actually, I do carry a cooler in the trunk. The high temperatures, especially in the deserts, are not good for the wine and sherry.

Absolutely. No better thing than to fall asleep on a 12 hour day of driving.

It sure is.

What not? Breakdowns that allow you to stretch out at a shop?

I cannot. Have you met anyone who can?

That I can. The Miata is one of the best in both categories, in my experience. Now *muscle car,* there is where the Miata is out of its element.

Leon

Gee, I would think that a "dedicated sports car" would be one that could only be driven on a 'track"! What else would it be "dedicated" to ? I'm sure that Mazda did not have that in mind when they designed the MX-5 ! They would not have put in "air bags" for the US much less A/C, a radio, turn signals and a horn ! (Not used on any track I have driven on :-) ) Please let's not cross compitition sports cars with streetable sports cars. They just are not the same items. I know the UK and EU people love to throw around their talk about "True Sports Cars", but a street car is a street car and NOT a track only car !

Just my take on this. ( some of you are just blowing smoke out your ..... "nose". )

Bruce RED '91