Scaxx

And longtube 1 3/4 primary headers make less power than 1 5/8 short tube headers on a cammed ls3 too. What a place!

18psi

iTrader: (76)

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Instructed a guy with a 2016 Sport this weekend. Lightly modded with suspension, RE-71Rs and full exhaust. Otherwise stock. GREAT CAR! We had a ton of fun. Really nice torque and balance. Has me seriously looking at 2019s. Hornetball's Build #5 or 6 anyone? I see that Emilio has a nice selection of parts for these . . . .

z31maniac

I've been forcing myself to not go check out the '19 one of the dealers in town has.

White, Club, 6 spd manual..........exactly how I'd order one.

shooterschmidty

I drove a 19 and 18 back to back recently and the 19 is a big improvement. I can't say that it necessarily felt a ton faster, which the test data I've seen seems to support, but the revised engine feels MUCH more "special". The added 500 (700?) RPM to redline is very satisfying and put a smile on my face. Other than the engine, I didn't detect any other changes, e.g. the suspension is still too floppy.

Chilicharger665

iTrader: (2)

I have 6 months left to pay off my '16 Sport.

I have a '17 Fiat 124 Classica, too. I drive them exactly the same and the ND averages 35 mpg and the 124 averages 30 mpg. The 124 has an intake, intercooler, exhaust, and a tune. It is barely faster than the ND, which is stock. The tunes for the 124 apparently all way overestimate the power gain...

The weak transmission issues are what keeps me from making the ND a track car and keeping the Fiat as a DD. I also would swap the rear ends between the cars. The ND has a 2.9 rear and the Fiat has a 3.4. The ND is geared to do 180+ mph on the top end, so for track work the 3.4 would be much preferred. The Fiat has gobs of low-end torque and the 2.9 would drop the rpm's on the highway a bunch, so that the mpg would improve a lot.

I am really considering trading in both on a new 2019 ND GT, but the smart play would be to wait until the next model year comes out. Mazda might have a cool special edition for the 30th anniversary and some decent paint colors. Fiat also might update the 124. I also really like the Mare Blue Metallic paint that is exclusive to the Fiat...

I still need to test drive a 2019, but I have to drive 5+ hours for that.

I am a mess.

Chilicharger665

iTrader: (2)

I drove to St. Louis from NM and test drove a cheap, leftover 2018 124 Abarth and a 2019 GTS Miata. I left with the Soul Crystal Red miata. The engine feels much, much better than the old one.

ITOzann

Hi!

wackbards

iTrader: (2)

Test drove a couple '18's yesterday. Did not gusta the RF. Blind spot, less engaging & visceral with the top down, plus the outboard rib of the top implanted itself in my skull when I closed the top. Overall the RF reminds me of a couple girls I've dated: very hot, but expensive, kind of annoying, and honestly maybe just a little too much junk in the trunk.

Each to their own tho. The ND is gud. Much gud.

FIMX5

WTF is it with new cars and terrible blind spots? I've driven one too and it's not great. Since driven my father in law's BMW X3 and it's SHOCKING. Seems to be a common trend in anything 2016 onwards.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

Usefully large mirrors are not aesthetically pleasing in a way which sells brand new cars, and the masses who buy brand new sports cars buy them primarily as a means to show off to other people - as a result, it matters far more what a car looks like from the outside than what the experience is from the inside. Even though Mazda is the most driver-centric value car company out there, their existence still depends largely on marketing those cars to the masses; before you can convince someone to buy your car with a test-drive, you must convince them to take a test drive in the first place.

Also, itsy-bitsy mirrors probably affect the make-believe EPA fuel economy numbers.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

We've gotten used to NA and NB miatas. Even my SS has horrible blind spots. A pillar the size of the empire state building. Almost impossible to nail an apex of a corner.

codrus

Hm. IME, modern cars actually have significantly larger side mirrors than those of the 90s -- the ones on my 2016 Audi or my wife's 2016 CX-9 provide vastly more field of view than on older cars we've owned.

*sports cars* tend to have small mirrors. The ones on my FD are tiny.

--Ian

FIMX5

The crazy thing is, when you check over your shoulder to check the blind spot in some newer models, there's an enormous pillar in the way. Anyway, whinge over.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I'm still amazed so many people don't know how to adjust their side mirrors.

Public Service Announcement - If I'm driving directly behind you and I can see your face in your side mirror you are doing it wrong.

If you are looking in your side mirror from the driver's seat and you can see any portion of the side of your own vehicle you are doing it wrong (Unless convex and/or towing a trailer).

Side mirrors are for blind spots and changing lanes. They are not for seeing behind you. The inside mirror is for seeing directly behind you and to the left and right behind you.

Properly adjusted mirrors mean that nothing should be able to hide behind a B or C pillar.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

On my track day, my instructor's 1st two items:
1) What have you done for brakes?
2) Move the mirrors out (as Six has demonstrated). Why have we been taught incorrectly for so many years?

Midtenn

iTrader: (15)

Can't given enough cats to Sixshooter for your post.

DeerHunter

When I instruct, those two items are always on the pre-flight checklist. I'd say 80% of my students have them adjusted incorrectly. I suspect that more than half of those revert back once they leave the track. Change is hard for people and, I guess, it's comforting to see exactly where the side of your car is.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Yeah, you wouldn't want that 6in of paint to get away from you. Got to keep track of it.

I think a lot of people don't understand the idea of a panoramic view between the three mirrors. I'm traveling down the road and pass a fixed object to the left of my vehicle it will first appear in the outside edge of my left mirror and then shortly after it disappears from the Inside Edge of that left mirror will appear in the left edge of the inside mirror. If you can still see the object in the left-hand mirror when it appears in the inside mirror then your left hand mirror is adjusted inward way too far.