Miata Mailing List: May 1993, Message #190
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   From: (none)
Subject: Re: Introduction and questions
   Date: (none)


On Sat, 22 May 1993, Craig Boyle wrote:

> 
> I'm new to the Miata lsit, I just bought an A package 91. It has
> a limited slip, rollbar and a wooden gear lever knob! Other
> than the complete lack of straight line power its the most
> fun car I have ever owned - I'm taking the long way home
> from work!

First, about the lack of power... As others have already said, the Miata
has plenty of power for most purposes; off the line, a determined Miata
driver can beat a *lot* of more powerful cars, up to about 40 mph. Not
that straight-line acceleration is the Miata's forte; the handling is
where the car *really* shines.

> At weekends I intend to autocross the car as often as possible,
> I usually run in Austin, San Antonio and College Station TX.
> 

The Miata is an excellent, competitive choice for auto-x, right off the
lot (icky tires excepted :-{)

> Now for some questions, hopefully these haven't been beaten
> to death to much previously:
> 
> 1) Anybody installed a trailer hitch? Whats a good one to get?
> 

I've seen people with trailer hitches on Miatas, but don't have one
myself. What I want is a hitch that has the attachments for the hitch
permanently mounted, but the hitch itself removable, so that nothing is
visible except when I'm towing a trailer.

> 2) Any recommended after market mufflers? 
> 

HKS and Borla are two well-known aftermarket suppliers of performance
enhancements. I've got an HKS system on my car, and I like it. The Borla
system is more expensive (it's stainless steel), but some say that it sounds
better. An exhaust system will give you approximately 3-5 bhp, plus a
wider peak on the engine's power curve.

> 3) Splitfire plugs - the consenus on rec.autos was that they do
>    nothing that Bosch platinums wouldn't - any feeling from
>    Miata owners on this? 
> 

I tried them, but found *no* difference in either fuel efficiency or
power. I no longer have them.

> 4) Were headrest speakers standard on 91 A packages? I hear
>    they weren't on 90's. The fader for my hr.sp does not work -
>    known problem? take it back to the dealer?
> 

No, the headrest speakers weren't standard on the 91 A package. If you
have headrest speakers, they were installed by someone other than Mazda,
and I'm not too surprised that the HR speaker fader doesn't work. The HR
speakers are probably wired in parallel with the door speakers in your car.

> 5) Any reason *not* to join the Miata club?
> 

Absolutely none. The Magazine is nice, and the folks in the local chapters
are great.

--
Ken

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  Ken Warren             |"Nothing good has ever been reported about the
                         | full rotation of a race car about either its
  E-Mail: kenw@netaxs.com| pitch or roll axis."            Carroll Smith
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