Miata Mailing List: October 1992, Message #9
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   From: (none)
Subject: Track Bar review
   Date: (none)

Last week I posted a long description of my installation of the Technosports
Track Bar.  Since then I have "exercised" it and here's what I found:  Not
much.  The differences I notice are so slight that I could very well be
imagining them.

The most noticeable improvement was on the freeway.  Until a few days ago I
didn't think my car had the notorious vibration at 65 mph, even though I
have on occasion searched for it.  Now at that speed, much to my surprise,
my car is smoother than it ever was.

The writers of the Track Bar review in the last Miata Magazine thought that
the bar removed the slight rear-end wiggle after a big bump.  I think so
too, but I don't think I would if I hadn't read about it first.  Not only is
the wiggle tiny to begin with, but even with the Track Bar you're still
going over a bump which makes it hard to tell what's really going on.

On an all-out excursion on Sunday whose goal was to cover the twisty
mountain miles as fast and as smoothly as possible (which I try to do once
in a while, it's very therapeutic for both the driver and the car), I might
as well have not had the Track Bar at all.  The MM review mentioned it
improving steering response, but I cannot confirm that.  Perhaps it helps
most on the hairy edge of performance, an area I still enter only in
emergencies (like a year ago when I came around that tight blind corner at
red line in second gear and saw a cow standing in the road, I was glad I had
some spare stickyness to help me stop.  Race car drivers and autocrossers
can drive at the limits of adhesion because they don't have to worry about
children and Cadillacs and cows where they're not expected, but on the
street ya gotta watch out... oh sorry, where was I?).

Anyway, so to the bottom line.  "If I knew then what I know now, would I
still have spent the $141.00 for it?"  Yes.  Maybe in time I'll really
notice it helping, when I improve as a driver.  Besides, I like car toys.
--
Michael J. Abbott		mja@kpc.com
Kubota Pacific Computer Inc.	Santa Clara, CA		408-987-3303