Finally got behind the wheel and took her for a spin today. Wow! Even only with half throttle it pins me in the seat. These 500 miles of break in might seem like forever.

Only concern I heard was a faint clunking out of the rear end when coming on/off the throttle at slow speed (probably happening at any speed but isnt audible). I'll have to keep an eye on it.

The heat coming thru the trans tunnel is pretty intense. Even with Lizard skin and carpet insualtion it makes it quite warm in the center console/shift boot area. Free hand warmer? Im thinking another pair of exhaust wraps might be in order after the winter.

I still dont have the Fuel level working after installing the Iron Canyon sender unit. I need to find a forum with more Aim dash/Miata users to see if Im uploading the correct fuel level to resistance readings. The dash is amazing though, absolutely no issues seeing it in the bright daylight sun.

The Xida Clubsports feel great so far. The car feels very stable in the corners yet soft over bumps and road surface changes. After much researching about height settings I ended up settling on 4.75"F/5"R ride height. Most people seem to run a bit lower but the ground clearance to the header collectors have me worried going any lower. I'll be dialing them in this week, once she gets out of the alignment shop tomorrow.

Im also happy to report the T56 is operating well, always a concern when buying used and untested. No grinding so far in any forward gears, although I havnt truly tested it yet. I havnt tried reverse as I have yet to get the PCM reprogrammed to give the grounded reverse lockout signal. The MGW shifter is as good as it gets. Incredible gear engagement and tight feel. It wasnt cheap but very worth it on a car that will see many shifts.

Overall a very Happy Miata owner here. Cant wait to break these tires in!

 

I remember reading that someone else had a similar noise issue. I turned out that using the proper knurled factory bolts that go through the rear end housing fixed it. David

 

exactly what I was going to suggest. Its on the two bolts on the cover for the 8.8

 

And no pictures?

 

Thanks guys, I also read about this issue prior to mounting the diff in the cradle and made sure to use the largest bolt I could fit thru the rear cover. Maybe I need knurled ones like Flava says?

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Car looks awesome buddy, congrats on getting her on the road!

 

One more update...this Mcleod RST clutch is amazing. Feels like stock miata pedal and is grabbing straight out of the box. Makes the car very easy to drive even with the cammed motor and 3.73's.

 

Way cool!

 

500 mile review:

1. Since this is my first time driving any Miata I have to say Im hooked. The car corners like its on rails. Im still tweaking the suspension a bit but the Xidas give such a nice feel for the road.

2. I need more tire.

3. Im getting a bit of vibration in the driveshaft at high rpm. I think my pinion angle is a bit off. Also, whoever installed the 3.73s in the diff must not have mic'd them because the clunking and whining Ive been experiencing is the result of way too much gear lash. So next month I'll be pulling it back out to address both these issues. I have an 8.8 rebuild kit including shims that I hope will be what it takes to get the lash into spec.

4. I need more tire.

5. I had a mobile tuner come today to get the motor dialed in. The car ran pretty well with the factory tune but he said it needed quite a bit of tweaking. The driveability has definitely improved with not nearly as much bucking/surging at low rpms. He increased the timing a bit and adjusted the fuel curve as it was running very lean at lower rpm and super rich at higher rpms. Seat of the pants says it picked up a few more horses. Im hoping to hit the track next week to see what she'll do. The tuner, who works mostly with the LSA and turbod LS motors, was seriously impressed with the power and quickness

6. Is that Maxxis 245 here yet????

7. So far Im really liking the feel of the depowered rack. I signed her up for her first autocross in a couple weeks to see how it feels on a tight course. The 350mm steering wheel gives me plenty of leverage and at midrange/high speed it has great road feel.

Cheers!

 

Where is the autocross? Brooksville?

 

If you find yourself wanting to drive south feel free to head my way lol. I want a ride and would love to trade some beers!

I'm actually not that far south, I'm in Indian river county

 

How the heck have I missed these updates --- going all the way back to Sept!!!??!!! Your little Roadster just looks fantastic - especially under the hood. Well done and glad you're pleased with the handling of the Miata platform. I, too, am running no PS and really like it (above 1.4 mph!). Hope you get your driveline vibrations and rear end tolerances to your liking soon.

Just beautiful.

I'm not clear: did you say you need more tire?

 

Its an SCCA event in Deland at Laketech

Hopefully us FL guys can meet up next month, it would be great to meet you and the rest of em.

Thanks bud!

 

Congrats on a great build and break in! Looking forward to that 1st autox report on her!

 

So I bought a digital level to measure my driveline angle and hopefully found why the vibration was happening. With the V8R front setup it puts the trans at 1.5 degree down slope. The modified boss frog mount has the 8.8 also pointing downward at 1.5 degrees. In my internet studies as of late, it seems both angles should in plane and parellel. My plan is to shim the trans up a touch to make raising the front of the diff mount less dramatic. Hope this solves the only issue Im having in an otherwise conpletely and rediculously fun car to drive.

Back in Dec. I took the car to its first autox. It had been about 15 years since Id been when I owned a CRX. The car did great besides the track being very dirty and wet from days of rain. It had a bit of push in the front in hard corners from what I think was a bit too much tire pressure. All in all, it was great to get back to racing and cant wait to get the car painted, rear end adjusted and back to the track.

 

Great news! I will be sporting the same clutch and gear ratio.

Congrats on the build. Sounds like the driveline angle should be spot on, but keep us posted on your findings.

 

Thanks bud, youre going to like that setup. I thought the 3.73 might be a bit too tall for the car but it really is a nice ratio. I usually short shift into 2nd, still pulls like a freight train.