I went to Lime Rock with the SCDA yesterday, and borrowed Henry’s Miata while my Miata awaits a coil-pack replacement. I was completely blown away by how solid and rewarding of a driving experience his old ratty car afforded.

Although Henry’s car started life with the original 1.6L engine, we did an engine swap on it last year and now it sports a second-generation 1.8L Miata engine. Make no mistake, it is still pretty slow with two people in it, though that is to be expected with any car in this power-to-weight range. What I was most impressed with was its extremely solid and confidence-inspiring demeanor on the track. The car would literally do exactly what you wanted it to do, and behave exactly as you’d expect it to. And all this with over 215,000 miles on just about every part of the car (suspension included).

For the $1200 Henry paid for this Miata, I cannot fathom a more suitable track car. It is not the fastest track car, but it does what is asked of it, which really the most important thing when driving around a track.

At the last SCDA track day on May 27 at NHMS, I instructed a student in an Audi R8. My student had 15-20 auto-cross days under his belt, but it was his first time out on a larger track.

The R8’s specs are pretty impressive. It produces 420 bhp from its 4.1 liter V8, does 0-60 in 4.6 seconds, and will top out at 185 MPH. It is a heavier car, with curb weights estimated at between 3400 - 3600 lbs. The interior is typicaly Audi quality - elegant and refined without being excessive or gaudy.

I was overall very impressed with the R8, even from the passenger’s seat. The car exudes an air of confidence and assurance, both when parked in the paddocks and when rocketing full steam out of the Bowl at NHMS and past the treehouse. It would do what was asked of it smoothly and without fuss.

The best feature of the R8 is its sheer utility. It is a perfectly fine daily driver, as well as a formidable track beast, and can migrate back and forth without pause. It is the perfect car for driving a track event by day, and taking my supermodel date to the Capital Grille by night, a dual feat few cars are truly capable of performing.

Remember when I said that racing brake pads are terrible for driving on the street? Well, I lied. Most race pads are terrible for driving on the street, but Carbotech has proven that they don’t all have to be!

I bought some Carbotech race pads last fall to replace the Hawk Blues that I had eaten through. I ending up getting XP8s for the front, and AX6 for the rear, at the recommendation of the rep whom I spoke with at Carbotech. He said that both would have sufficient heat capacity for a stock-power-level Miata, but that the XP8 would last longer. He recommended the AX6 in the rear to bias the brakes forward - improving trailbraking ability.

His assessment seems to be pretty spot-on. The front and rear pads are wearing evenly, despite the fact the front does most of the braking. When I ran Hawk Blues at all 4 corners, the fronts wore much faster than the rear, probably almost twice as fast. I think that next time, I’m going to try XP8 in all 4 corners though. I tend to trailbrake conservatively anyways because I don’t like to spin, and I’d rather give up a little trailbraking flexibility for the longer life of the XP8 in the rear. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve owned and driven some fairly pathetic vehicles: An ’85 S-10 that shifted out of first the way a subway lurches from a stop. A ’94 Buick Skylark “coupe” with no front suspension bushings (not worn—none) and vibrations so bad that the entire steering column would shake up and down about 2 inches. An ’89 Probe Turbo, purple with pink pinstriping, that ran for a week and then suddenly decided to make about 10 horsepower. An ’82 Suzuki 650 motorcycle with a backlit gear indicator, but no second gear. But none of these are quite as bad as the mid-90s maroon Saturn sedan that Noah drives. It brings shame to us all—especially when Noah drives it carefully and deliberately after donning his driving gloves.

The car is officially a Saturn SL. Powered by a laughably anemic 1.9L I4, it makes…some horsepower. The redline is low and the powerband is narrow; you essentially have to drive between 2300rpm and 3500rpm to avoid lugging the engine or making it sound like a wheezing old crone. The car was relatively unchanged from 1990 to 2002 (during which time, the average desirable car was updated at least 3 times), so at least you knew that when you were driving around in your ugly 1992 Saturn, you weren’t really outclassed by the slightly less ugly 2002 Saturn trundling along in the lane next to you.
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Last spring, it was time for a new set of tires, so I decided to try a set of Falken Azenis RT-615s in 205/50-15. For the two years prior, I had been running 195/50-15 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s on my Miata. Now that I have some experience with more than one set of tires, I can give a meaningful comparison and review of them.

My Miata’s Setup
I’m going to be talking about how each tire feels, but that doesn’t mean much without knowing exactly what has been done to the rest of my car. So, here is what I’ve done to my 1999 Mazda Miata: Flying Miata Springs (the older models); KYG AGX 4-way adjustable shocks; Flying Miata sway bars, set at the stiffest setting front and rear; Kosei K1-TS wheels, 15×7 inches (the older, 11 pound model). I also have a racing seat (a rebadge of a Cobra Monaco), and a 6-point, 2 inch Willans Harness. The racing seat and harness help immensely with feeling connected with the car, and really make the subtle nuances of each tire stand out. My car has no ABS, so threshold braking feel is also important. Read the rest of this entry »

The G-Force Sport is BFGoodrich’s moderately aggressive summer tire. The Tire Rack classifies it as an “Ultra High Performance” tire, grouping it with the Bridgestone Potenza RE750, the Dunlop Direzza, and the Yokohama AVS ES100. At $75 (from Tire Rack) for a 195/50/15, it’s middle of the pack in terms of price. For your money, you get a tire with good grip and response and decent rain characteristics.

Dry Grip

Compared to other tires in its class, the G-Force Sport has fairly high limits. It will never go toe-to-toe with the Kumho Ecsta MX or the Azenis RT615 in pure grip, but it easily outdoes the AVS ES100. At NHIS I found I was able to carry a few more mph into several corners after switching to the G-Force Sport.

Dry Response

Turn-in is sharp and sidewall stiffness about what I would expect from a tire of this class and size. Rollover is still a problem (particularly in switchbacks and chicanes). At 29psi cold (about 34-35 hot) I was probably getting about 1/4 of the way down the sidewall when really trying to beat on the tires; adjusting pressures up and down seemed to take the tire out of its element. The G-Force sport communicates well at the limit, squealing and getting palpably rubbery before breaking loose. Inexperienced drivers would benefit from this communication.

Wet Grip

There was no opportunity to drive this tire in heavy rain, but in moderate rain it does well. The tread has plenty of void area and deep channels. Judging by tread pattern alone, the AVS ES100 would appear to be better in the rain, but in practice the G-Force Sport bested the ES100 easily.

Complaints

Before I bought the G-Force Sports Noah warned that there were reports of chunking and uneven heating. This is indeed true. After 2 very hot track days at NHIS (80-90 degrees and much hotter on track) the tires showed some raggedness. No dangerously large chunks tore off, however. When the weather and the track temps are a bit lower, as they were when I went to Lime Rock in September, chunking was much less of an issue.

Final Reccommendation

Though the G-Force Sport is not the best tire for the money, it is a solid all-around performer that likely will not let you down. I would choose the MX, RT615, and Goodyear GS-D3 over the G-Force (and would have, had any of those tires been in stock or available in my size when I was buying). For a tire that makes no claims to be extreme, that’s not a bad group to be behind. I would certainly consider another set if I again find that those other tires are unavailable.

The other day I reached in my basement to grab an extra spare for a long trip and pulled out one of my Green Diamond Icelander tires from last season. Now we seem to be a long way from winter, and I certainly haven’t grown sick of hot, dry tarmac, but snow driving has been on my mind recently — specifically winter tire selection — as in which rubber innovations should I try for ice racing competition this season.

But I noticed something that hadn’t been apparent when they were removed last spring:

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The Carbotech Panther Plus is Carbotech’s street/track pad. It is probably more track than street. With a MOT (maximum operating temperature) of 1250 and an operating range of 150-1250, it is one of the most versatile pads available. Carbotech changed the name from Panther Plus to AX6 recently; as far as I know, there were no changes in the pad itself.

I have been using the Panther Plus on both my VR-4 and my Protege (the Protege has been seeing some summer track use this year). They are my only pads and see regular and aggressive street driving as well as track miles. In my VR4, which is still fairly heaving despite my hacking, the Pather Plus have performed admirably, with no signs of fade. At Watkins Glen, where most of my decelerations were from the 115-60 range and peaked at 145-70, the Panther Plus did not fade at all.

These pads have been equally good in the Protege. The Protege has only been to NHIS, a much slower track, but the Protege also has much smaller brakes and, by extension, a much weaker ability to dissipate heat than the VR4’s Stoptechs. Even when braking so aggressively that it borders on recklessness (at times), the Panther Plus have held up well. I got a bit of fluid fade, but absolutely no pad fade.

The only complaint I have seen regarding the Panther Plus is that the modulation is worse than competitors’ equivalents. However, in my experience the modulation is very good. Any sacrifices in modulation are offset by the pad’s wide operating temperature range.

You may find, though, that the Panther Plus leaves uneven pad deposits after prolonged street driving (if the idea of pad deposits are foreign to you, see my recommended reading list from Stoptech’s webpage). It is because the Panther Plus is still a high-temp pad. At lower temperatures, abrasive friction wears down the pad layer a bit. You can avoid this by making a point of braking aggressively a few times each time you drive the car.

If you’re not a 3/S, Miata, or Protege driver and are worried that Carbotech doesn’t make pads for your car, visit their available product page. Click on your manufacturer to see a complete listing. At the very worst, you’ll have to wait a few weeks while Carbotech makes the pads.

Finally, you may get a better price by asking your favorite tuner to put the order in for you (if it’s an uncommon pad).

Most people should know that snow tires give better traction in the snow, but few are aware of how snow tires perform during the summer. You’re probably ask, “Why would anyone ever run on snow tires in the summer?” It is a good question, and typical answers include apathy, amusement, ignorance, and disdain.

I have been running my beater, a base 1993 Nissan Sentra, on snow tires since I put my summer rims on this past spring. Actually, I am running on 2 snow tires, mounted in the front, and then 2 different all-season tires mounted in the rear. My reasons for doing so are a healthy mixture of amusement at how ridiculous the setup is, disdain for my car (being a beater, and all), and, above all else, an insurmountable sense of apathy that permeates me to the core. More pointedly, I purchased used alloy rims for my Sentra as summer rims (so that I’m not running around all summer on my Blizzaks), and the previous owner had the aforementioned tires mounted on them which I haven’t bothered to replace.

So how do snow tires perform in the dog days of summer? In a word, poorly. Read the rest of this entry »

When I bought Tein Flex (www.tein.com) for my VR4 a few years ago, I bought the EDFC as well. In fact, I made a conscious decision to go with Teins instead of JIC coilovers (which is the best mainstream suspension on the market) because I thought the easy adjustability would be handy in a street/track car.

At first, I used the EDFC quite a bit. I would use different settings for highway, rough roads, and city driving, and I would fiddle with the settings while driving. But, after a few weeks, I found that the affect of the EDFC was mostly psychological. I found one dampener setting that worked very well and started to use it for everything. (Remember that the range of useful dampener adjustment is significantly less than the full range available, because the spring stiffness is going to render a large portion of the full range useless.) I even found this setting (8 in the front, 6 in the rear, for you Flex owners who want to know) to be favorable for track use. I haven’t changed the dampening or used the EDFC since.

The EDFC motors also have some quality issues. The shaft of one of the stepper motors began to bind after about 6 months, and another one of my stepper motors broke in two: The threaded ring with which you attach the stepper to the head of the strut body sheared off from the body of the motor itself. Replacements are expensive (70 dollars or so).

It certainly is a fun little gadget, and the screen, buttons, and noises make you feel like you’re driving the Batmobile. But Tein’s EDFC has minimal practical value. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t spend the money.