Yeah it's like 130 or so for the first year for top of the line from AAA. Still going to do it, why not, that's cheaper than 1 tow.

I guess my next question (never used AAA before) is how is the service when you actually need a tow? Are you waiting for hours, or is it pretty quick?

 

That totally depends are where you are, where the local towing service provider is based, how busy it is, etc.. I've had it take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours.

 

It's slow, unless you're in an urban area with a variety of AAA responders to increase coverage and availability.

One other thing to note about AAA... they won't drive on dirt to tow you. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen, but here in AZ, AAA coverage stops when the pavement ends, regardless of the road condition.

Probably not a big deal with a Miata, but it severely limits their usefulness in this rural state.

I picked up AAA a few years ago when we had a C6 'Vette (says a lot about the 'Vette...), and kept it after we sold the car. I pay ~$150 including my wife and motorcycle coverage. IIRC you get one long tow a year here.

 

I get 3 100 mile tows. 1 200 mile tow. They picked me up at the dragstrip when I blew my diff.

Told them I was there to spectate.

 

Did they ask? Or would they care if you were racing vs spectating?

 

They didn't really ask. I also had a cool tow truck driver. 2 people needed a tow, he had a flatbed the other guy had a truck. So they took me on the flatbed even though the truck had called an hour earlier.

Pulled the main relay and told him I parked it to watch and it wouldn't start.

 

They towed my car from the paddock at Laguna Seca after I stripped the teeth off third gear in 2009. Other people have told me that they refused to tow a car from Laguna, but they didn't care on mine.

I suspect that the policy may say they won't tow competition cars, but the only person who would know is the driver, and he doesn't get paid if he doesn't tow anything, right? So I suspect as long as you give him reasonable doubt about whether you're racing or spectating he'll probably go along with it.

--Ian

 

AAA speed varies based on time and location. I have had them to me in as little as 20minutes, while one Friday night it took 3 hours. I have never had a driver question why I was getting the car towed. I have used them twice to move non running cars I have just purchased to my house. Once for a random one I was working on from my old place to my new one, once in Texas when I crashed hustlers car, then twice for my car actually dieing on the interstate.

I always tip the tow truck driver $20 when they get me. Generally makes their day and then they are more then willing to go above and beyond.

Just make sure you ask for a flatbed when you call.

 

To be fair Ian's car looks somewhat un-racekor like.

 

Tip everyone.

 

I've had them tow cars that I just bought and were in pieces... just loaded it all up and toss it in the car. It all depends on the driver.

+2 And yes, Tip the guy who might be out in nice conditions to get you... but **** awful ones another day/night.

+1 ask for flatbed

 

Can we stop talking about AAAs and get back to ETs? Puh-lease!

 

Pat, get a chunk of aluminum and mate a powerglide to your BP

Or buy this and get some built auto trans to go with it

http://www.sriperformance.com/quickt...tm-rm-4097.htm

 

Built this today. Magnaflow cat/magnaflow muffler, 5x11x22 big one. Very impressed with this muffler to say the least, it exceeded my expectation by a lot. Very quiet, I think quieter than a stock exhaust miata by a good bit. Sits lower than I'd like, exits on wrong side. This is all I could do with a muffler this size, and all the other crap in the back of the car.

Next to do is weld up subframe, shift light, put trunk/sound deadening back in, and fix boost control bleed orfice size for more booossstttt.

 

in for sparks when it drags

 

It doesn't drag, but I haven't launched it on a prepped track hard enough to break an axle yet either. I can adjust it up about 1/4" higher if needed, but I think it will be fine, test drive was fine.

 

Damn

I wanted some of this

 

I was hoping for something more like this:



Argh. I suck at embedding youtube videos.

--Ian

 

good news is that you can weld your wheelie bar directly to the muffler!

 

Dat muffler