Terence and I both took the 'Budget' miata as our 3rd runs
(our 1st ever drive in a '99 miata). Interestingly, I got 43s
both in the '99 on the 3rd run and in my own '90 white on the 2nd
run. Even more interestingly was that Terence got 45s both in the
'99 on the 3rd run and in his own '90 red on the 2nd run. Yet,
even more interestingly, both Terence and I improved our times by
about a second by the end of the day and beat our '99 run. Does
that mean a stock '99 is as fast as a modified (CSP) '90 miata?
Power on the '99 didn't feel
significantly more than my '90, probably because the power came
smoother on the '99 and was therefore harder to 'feel'. Steering
response was still a miata-style, but just a little bit less
responsive than my '90 even in stock form. That didn't mean the
'99 was bad. My '90 in stock form didn't steer as precise as the
'99. But the difference could be due to my 77k km old stock
shocks back then used for comparison and the fact that my '90 in
stock form was 3 years ago. And it could also be due to the
ultrawide 225 rear tires on the '99. The 205/225 tires used on
the '99 might also be the reason to the higher level of
understeer compared to my '90 in stock form. On the slalom, the
rear of the '99 never wanted to come out while my '90 in stock
form would have needed very much attention on steering and
throttle input. In short, the'99 is easier to drive than its
predecesor. But if you can drive both cars at the limit, I don't
think there'll be any significant advantage on the '99. Although
the stock '99 and my street-prepared '90 seemed to come out with
similar times, that doesn't mean a stock '90 will be a lot slower
than a stock '99. Remember Harry's stock '90 (before supercharged
and huge 245 tires) were able to meet or beat Rob Fram's SS '90
and my SS '90 which were in turn able to later on meet or beat
Harry's supercharger debut with his 215 R1s. To date, Rob Fram's
SS '90 is still able to meet Harry's SP '90 and mine.
Some other minor things about the '99 include softer/weaker
clutch/brakes than the predecesors. Could that be because of the
fact that that particular '99 was a rental car? One interesting
thing about me driving the '99 was that when I started
hard-braking at the far corner, somehow I felt like the car
should have got ABS (probably because the interior feels more
high class than my '90) and almost wanted to slam on the brakes.
Fortunately, the softer brakes saved me from locking up the
wheels.
So... Am I going to trade-in my '90 for a '99? Na... It's
still a miata. I'm already enjoying the fun of a miata. Will the
already-high fun level be increased so much with the '99 that can
shave a fraction of a second off an autocross course to motivate
me to trade in my '90? I doubt so. Until one day when all the
miata folks including Terence traded in their cars with '99s, I
think I'd still be driving my same old '90.
Power on the '99 didn't feel
significantly more than my '90, probably because the power came
smoother on the '99 and was therefore harder to 'feel'. Steering
response was still a miata-style, but just a little bit less
responsive than my '90 even in stock form. That didn't mean the
'99 was bad. My '90 in stock form didn't steer as precise as the
'99. But the difference could be due to my 77k km old stock
shocks back then used for comparison and the fact that my '90 in
stock form was 3 years ago. And it could also be due to the
ultrawide 225 rear tires on the '99. The 205/225 tires used on
the '99 might also be the reason to the higher level of
understeer compared to my '90 in stock form. On the slalom, the
rear of the '99 never wanted to come out while my '90 in stock
form would have needed very much attention on steering and
throttle input. In short, the'99 is easier to drive than its
predecesor. But if you can drive both cars at the limit, I don't
think there'll be any significant advantage on the '99. Although
the stock '99 and my street-prepared '90 seemed to come out with
similar times, that doesn't mean a stock '90 will be a lot slower
than a stock '99. Remember Harry's stock '90 (before supercharged
and huge 245 tires) were able to meet or beat Rob Fram's SS '90
and my SS '90 which were in turn able to later on meet or beat
Harry's supercharger debut with his 215 R1s. To date, Rob Fram's
SS '90 is still able to meet Harry's SP '90 and mine.
Won
the Championship Again