Traded my 2018 S3 for a 2019 Miata RF Grand Touring this week.

[Elysian]

Have had this for just over a month now and lots has happened. Bought the OEM LSD unit:


Installed it:


Got the OEM strut bar setup, installed that:


Got a track alignment:


Replaced the stock door bushings with 3d printed ones:


Got a Sickspeed shift knob for it.



Got a Fiat 124 Spider steering wheel:


This is the original steering wheel, and it really let the rest of the experience down:


Got a spider crack in the windshield, opened up right in front of me on my way to autocross this weekend:


Autocrossed this weekend, it rained in the middle of my heat but I loved it.


Car was absolutely filthy after autocross:


Cleaned up, daily wheels/tires reinstalled:


Here's some pics from the event:







Absolutely love this car, it's absurdly fun any time I'm driving it. No regrets ditching the S3 for this, whatsoever.

[2mAn]

No regrets ditching the S3 for this, whatsoever.

Awesome

[zwill23]

Ayyyye, lime creek road! Ya must be another Austin guy, that road has been freaking me out more lately. Becoming more and more common with cyclists and heavy footed enthusiasts blowing out of their lane.

Miata is looking sweet!

[Elysian]

Ayyyye, lime creek road! Ya must be another Austin guy, that road has been freaking me out more lately. Becoming more and more common with cyclists and heavy footed enthusiasts blowing out of their lane.

Miata is looking sweet!

Yeah when I drove it with the Tejas Miatas club we didn't go too nuts.

[Elysian]

Acquired the OEM Bilsteins this week, just finished installing them. Verdict is they're very nice. Car handles a bit better, gives a little more oversteer, and seems to stay flatter in turns. With that, I've upgraded my car to have the full GT-S package.


There's an autocross event on the 25th, will be fun to be able to test out the car.

[Elysian]

Worked on all 3 cars today, nothing I did on the Golf is really worth posting. The Miata on the other hand... Got a few new bits from JBR. Battery bracket was the easiest bit:



And I got mud flaps. These are made from urethane and are really nice. Very happy with my purchase. I thought I clicked black when I ordered but somehow clicked blue, but decided to send it anyways, and honestly love the way they look. They add a nice contrast, and don't look out of place.






I also cut off the weird plastic flap Mazda put on these between the rear wheel and the rear bumper. Here's an old pic with that bit circled:



Looks much nicer without it, and it was pretty easy to fix since I own a bandsaw.

Car is dirty as hell, I'll probably wash it tomorrow.

[roguetoaster]

Never noticed the little winglet before, some aero thing, or is it there to keep debris from flying off of the tire?

[Elysian]

Never noticed the little winglet before, some aero thing, or is it there to keep debris from flying off of the tire?

I think it's to meet some kind of regulation since it doesn't have mud flaps factory, but not certain on what that is, it's definitely not aero.

[2mAn]

Loving the updates on this thing. I have been thinking about S3s lately too... but my mind is always wandering haha

[Elysian]

Finally washed my car...





Damn I love this thing.

[Slybeanx]

I love the ND. Currently drive my NA around and def considering selling to cop an ND for daily duties and so I dont have the oldest car at the firm by 3 decades....

[2mAn]

I spy an E30 in the garage

[roguetoaster]

I spy an E30 in the garage

At least it has less crap sitting on it compared to the first post. Despite this being r3v, the RF is the better car.

[Elysian]

At least it has less crap sitting on it compared to the first post. Despite this being r3v, the RF is the better car.

There's only a few things on top of the E30 now, I work on it regularly. Have a thread for it in the Project Forum.

I love the ND. Currently drive my NA around and def considering selling to cop an ND for daily duties and so I dont have the oldest car at the firm by 3 decades....

The ND2 is hands down my favorite car I've ever owned, and I've owned somewhere close to 30... Better than any BMW I've owned, better than any other Mazda I've owned (RX7s). It just a tremendous car. It's not even close to the fastest car I've owned, but it's absolutely the best.

[Elysian]

Did some work on the Miata tonight in preparation for autocross tomorrow.

Did the unorthodox thing and upgraded the rear sway bar to a JBR 16mm adjustable bar. Typically people staying in C street will do the front way bar, since you can only do one. I don't feel the car has too much oversteer, I actually feel like it doesn't have enough, so decided to try the rear bar. It's cheaper than the front bar anyways, so if it doesn't work out tomorrow I didn't lose much. Front bar is about 4x more expensive for the one I intend to get (Karcepts 1/8" wall 9 way adjustable bar).



I also swapped in Porterfield R4S brake pads up front, so far I'm really liking them. The brakes have more bite now, and don't fade as badly as the original brakes.

I also threw on my RE71R's. Went on a 30 minute test drive, hitting some turns and getting some stops in and got to say, loving everything all the way around. The car wants to turn in now, but it's predictable and controllable, and it's resolved some on-throttle rear end steering I was getting with the stock sway bar. Rear end is much more planted and body roll has definitely been reduced.