Back on the 18th, I spent a couple of hours on Shannonville’s “Long Track” layout (much more fun than the Fabi lay-out). I’m happy to report that the Big Enchilada sure made a difference in horsepower. Back in June, pre-mods, Ginger topped-out at 145kph on the long back straight. This time around, she hit 180kph — a 35kph increase is pretty huge, I would say.

Another interesting comparison was that in June, I was taking the turn at end of that straight at between 110 and 120kph, which I’m told is pretty respectable. This time around, the higher approach speed, coupled with my braking much later, appears to have driven me to brake more than needed, thus reducing my cornering speeds to the 90 to 100kph range.

My last outing with Ginger will be November 1, again at Shannonville. I’ll be using the time to work on that corner entry, which might be even more interesting if my new boost controller profile increases that terminal velocity even more.

The cooler weather has revealed the cost that accompanies the simplicity of the manual boost control — it starts to peak much higher than desired. So, for $50, I purchased the Ingersoll-Rand boost control solenoid sold for Hydra by Flyin’ Miata.

As expected, install is easy as pie, but set-up is pain, although its all done from the car using the laptop. I’ve been tweaking for a couple of weeks now and I’m getting closer to a pretty nice set-up.

If you have the patience and you drive in wildly variable conditions (sub-freezing to over 30C), then this thing is for you.

October 17th was our 11th wedding anniversary and we celebrated with a weekend-long excursion to the Kingston/Prince Edward County region that culminated in a day of driving adventures. (more…)

Sick and tired of the horrid Sony Xplod speakers, I ponied up for a set of Clearwater, 8″, miata-specific speakers. Super easy install, quality construction, and awesome sound. Couldn’t be happier for $160USD.

After the adventures in Picton, I toyed with the idea of just running the Racing Harts and Star Specs for the rest of the season (what littel remains), but decided against it and placed an order for one rim. Emilio filled the order quickly from his crash replacement reserve and the new rim should be ready to roll later this week.

Thanks for the quick service and turn-around!