Reply To: Y.A.M. (Yet Another Miata) …

[Cameron Albea]

#466

Thanks Mark… at least ONE person is 😉 haha!

Well tire update… I did not get a chance to get the alignment or anything new done for the car for the Day Series (sorta on purpose… more on that later), so i just rolled with it as-is. The car felt much much better than the Night Series when the tires were new, and the car felt better and had a more secure feel to it (except that one time i accidentally drifted through all of the cones at the cross-over; +20 or so i think… haha!… sorry guys, totally my fault on that one. I let her get a bit to wide on the turn entry, and she really did not want to come back in as fast as i wanted her to…)

I’m also sure that was due in part to me figuring out more and more how to drive on them as well. These tires require a MUCH different driving style than the Hankooks did. And to be honest the Hankook style is a bit more how i like to drive… I’m not as much the “hang the tail end out on every corner” kind of driver, and that’s sort of what these Rival-S tires seem to respond well to. Even if you don’t drive like that though, the Rival-S still feels like a ‘faster’ tire than the RS3v2 without a doubt.

Of course most of this is all still likely just “noise”, as i’m still just trying to get used to driving this car as a whole. It responds very differently compared to what my S2000 did… but then again, the last year i ran my S2000 was a few years ago, and that was also on 285/18 Hoosier A6 tires… So this is other-worldly …. not in a particularly better or worse way, just… ‘other’

So anyway… its all still probably just chasing my tail around… which is also why i’m less than quick about going and changing alignment settings from my base-line, and even shocks/springs… the shocks/springs are still in ‘off the shelf’ configuration. I have not had them valved/stiffened yet, because i’m wanting to see how the car does as-is. Also, i have yet to do ANYTHING performance-related to the engine, so i’m sure there is still decent gains to be had there between intake/exhaust and STR-legal computer stuff. There is also more weight-loss stuff i could do also if i want to get a bit more crazy about it. I’m still just having fun though, and want to keep it that way… which is also why I’ve decided to scrap the ‘SSM Build’ plans for a while.

🙂

Looking forward to the next Day Series in Franklin!