I got the full GWR exhaust coming in the mail (header, mid, super Q HV). I'm looking to go with the VersaTune/fab9 E85 tune here shortly. Early results look like at least 190whp. It's looking like the ND2 injectors are a little too small for corn at the top end, so it's not clear if they will go to either a corn blend or bigger injectors for their final solution. I would prefer corn blend, since I'll need to do a monthly pilgrimage to get corn anyway. Maybe custom tunes for E~60 & 92 octane are the right ticket for me.

 

I put on a Cobalt muffler. The Cobalt brand (Moss house-brand) never gets talked up around here, but this particular muffler was high-quality and one heck of a value (about half the price of other muffler-only options). The sound is perfect for a DD. Adds spark to the car, but really pleasant to drive. Never drones. I'm really happy with it.

I also got a set of Progress sway bars with Paco front sway bar mount reinforcements. Haven't put those on yet.

 

I think I might be selling my 2019 Sport and the pile of parts I have for it. I was going to have the 2019 as a track car and keep my 2018 124 Abarth as a street car, but I have too many car payments right now and I want to buy a house, so I need to downsize. I have so many parts for the 2019 already, but I can use some on the Abarth. I have a spare set of Recaros, full Verus aero kit, XIDA ACE’s, etc. Rick, let me know if you are interested in some cheap XIDA ACE’s for your ND!

 

That's a bummer. Pretty pricey too since it's DI.

 

I think there are several oem P&P DI injector options under evaluation. I don't think it's going to be very expensive.

 

Good to know. It's going to be a tough choice between a BRZ and an ND2 this fall.

 

I'm getting an ethanol blend tune, but I'll have to wait a couple weeks due to business travel. I got the full GWR exhaust on yesterday. They did a good job eliminating header rasp. Still a bit boomy decelerating around 4k. We'll see how it sounds after it cokes up.

 

Due they not offer a flex fuel tune, that will automatically change the tune for the % of E in the fuel? I'd probably want to wait and do the injectors and that kind of setup so I wouldn't have to be careful about mixing ratios or different levels of E coming out of the pump.

 

There is no flex tune. There is no ethanol sensing hardware, and no way for the ECU to interpret a sensor if there was one. I don't know if there is the capability to accommodate flex in the mapping. But corn definitely wakes up these motors.

Blending works for me, since I'll have to transport it to my property anyway.

 

Gotcha. Flex Fuel tunes are common in the BRZ world to accommodate it. They plug in a cheap GM sensor into the fuel rail and an secondary O2 harness so it can automatically adjust the tune from E0 to E100.

Here's an example: https://www.delicioustuning.com/flexfuel

 

We have the Delicious FF kit in our FRS. Makes life much easier. I'm guessing some vendor has a PnP kit for the ND.

 

I'm pretty interested to see how the new 86 responds to bolt ons & a tune.

 

This is fab9's preliminary header & E85 tune (~192whp). You can see it run out of injector up at the top.

 

I suspect pretty similarly to current one. The compression is going up by .5 to 13:1 vs 12.5:1 for the current engines. And it makes more torque at a far lower RPM than the FA20 while still revving out.

The current gen cars typically pick up 25-30whp with a header and E85 tune.

So if the next gen cars respond the same, they should end up around 225-230whp with a much fatter torque curve than the FA20. And they only picked up like 15 lbs over the existing model as well.

 

October before last, on my way back from the final Miata Reunion at Laguna Seca, I stopped off at Flyin' Miata for a few goodies. I had their 2.5" midpipe installed, along with the Verus underbody aero panels and rear diffuser.







They work exactly as advertised. Due to my, ahem, overactive right foot, I was typically tanking a gallon or so more than other ND2 drivers in our convoy. On the final leg of the return trip (north of 1,000 miles), I was now tanking about a gallon less than those same cars.

This winter, Verus had a sale and I decided to get the last set of panels - the rear suspension covers. Installation was a bit of a bear, as there is minimal room where the rear diffuser and suspension covers meet. I finally got it all together and it looks pretty decent. I hope that Mazda technicians never need emergency access to that area, as it's not gonna be easy to get it all apart again.

 

The other thing I had done was some undercarriage rust protection. Mazdas are typically pretty weak in that respect (just look at any old 3 or 6 that lived in the rust belt). I don't drive my car in the winter but the shoulder seasons can be problematic as well, with early snowfalls or residual salt/sand from winter applications. With my now-departed '93 L.E., I used to have it Rust Checked, which is an oil application. It works well enough but has three main drawbacks: 1) Annual re-application required; 2) It's really messy (attracting road grime to form a really gross slurry and 3) It played havoc with any rubber seals (mine fell apart and eventually required replacement). There's a local shop here called Sublime Surfacing, which offers a fantastic alternative. It's called HoneySeal, which is their tradename for what is essentially Cosmoline, the same treatment that Porsche, MB and Volvo use on their undercarriage. They first remove all undertrays, clean all grime and surface rust off using dry ice media blasting, then liberally coat all exposed surfaces. Steel/iron surfaces end up black and aluminum parts appear a golden honey-brown (hence the name). It's designed to last at least 15 years, so it's pretty much once and done. I'm very pleased with the result and it will be nice peace of mind when I take the car out on a nice spring day, but before the rain has washed all the crap away.


Accumulation from 3 days driving on snow-free (but not salt-free) roads:





After dry-ice media blasting:



Note the removal of the oilpan/filter cover:



After HoneySeal application:







He even removed the fender liners and applied in these critical areas:

 

What do you guys recommend for tow hooks when running track days?

 

I run the Flyinmiata ones, but that is just because I got them for free.

 

i haven't been on here in a while, but this gave me deja vu.

 

Got a full GWR exhaust installed. Does a good job of controlling rasp & drone. Got the 91 octane VT map loaded, & now I wait for my corn tune.