2008 Miata - slipping out of 4th gear?

Well, each to their own--
One thing I noticed as a big improvement was the way the cruise control
works in the mountains. Helps reduce downshifting to go up grades. (At
least I told my insurance company that the car was "modified for high
altitude use in the mountains".) <G>
There is no change in top speed, since the Miatas (1.8s anyway) are RPM
limited to about 128 MPH.
In theory my 99 will go (with enough road) just a bit faster than that, due
to a small change in the 5th gear ratio. The change was made to reduce the
"buzzing" at 70 MPH or so. Just reducing the engine RPM by a few hundred at
70-75 MPH gets it just low enough to make a noticeable improvement. (And,
the turbocharged gas mileage on the road is virtually the same or very
slightly better than stock mileage.) If I remember correctly, the 1/4 mile
time is about 3 seconds faster than stock.
With me in it, 1/2 tank of gas, and additional sound proofing, as well as
the turbo stuff, the 99LE weighs in at 2600lbs.

Corvettes and Vipers are just too big, heavy, and expensive!

"XS11E" > wrote in message
. 236...
> "Chuck" > wrote:
>
>> If you think it moves now, wait until you have the chance to drive
>> a supercharged or turbocharged Miata.
>
> My stock 1.6 has all the power I want or need. If I wanted to go fast
> I would have got a Corvette or a Viper. Balance is much more important
> than speed.
>
>
> --
> XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
> The Usenet Improvement Project:
> http://improve-usenet.org

Well, come on now, I didn't say how many gears you could run thru ;-) I much
prefer being able to run the Miata thru the gears than dogging around a
supercar that does 60 something in first and over 100 if you run second up.
Where / how often can you use that?

Ya, I'd take one but, I'd be in my Miata allot!

Chris
99BBB
>
> With an even bigger smile on the face of the guy behind you as he
> switches on the lights and siren and flexes his ticket writing
> fingers.....
>
>
>
> --
> XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
> The Usenet Improvement Project:
> http://improve-usenet.org

Carol, you are my kind of girl / woman! There are some decent roads closer,
you know. LCR is getting pretty built up and I'm getting where I feel pretty
guilty tearing up and down major parts of it (rich folks building houses all
along there). Oh well, we make the best of it, eh?

Chris
99BBB

"Carol" > wrote in message
...
> >Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
> .. .
>> When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting
>> 1/10th of the fun / performance out of your car shifting at 3000. Put
>> your foot into it and run it up to 5000 as a regular thing and keep it
>> planted up to / near redline for the real fun! You won't be able to get
>> the smile off your face.
>>
>> Chris
>> 99BBB
>>
>> "J." > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Thank you both. I have an appointment with the dealer to look at it
>>> next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing
>>> it was caught early and still under warranty.
>
> I did this TWICE on the way to work this morning - the lid was down and I
> was the only car in sight. MAN does this car move. It was SO MUCH FUN!!
> Now I need to install a bunch of stuff to tighten up the whole body and
> take it to Austin for Lime Creek Road. Where DID I leave that check
> book... :-)
>
>
>

Chuck, what did you do to change the 5th gear ratio? I'd LOVE to drop my top
gear cruising rpm's by 1000!

Help!

Chris
99BBB(no FI here)

"Chuck" > wrote in message
...
> Well, each to their own--
> One thing I noticed as a big improvement was the way the cruise control
> works in the mountains. Helps reduce downshifting to go up grades. (At
> least I told my insurance company that the car was "modified for high
> altitude use in the mountains".) <G>
> There is no change in top speed, since the Miatas (1.8s anyway) are RPM
> limited to about 128 MPH.
> In theory my 99 will go (with enough road) just a bit faster than that,
> due to a small change in the 5th gear ratio. The change was made to reduce
> the "buzzing" at 70 MPH or so. Just reducing the engine RPM by a few
> hundred at 70-75 MPH gets it just low enough to make a noticeable
> improvement. (And, the turbocharged gas mileage on the road is virtually
> the same or very slightly better than stock mileage.) If I remember
> correctly, the 1/4 mile time is about 3 seconds faster than stock.
> With me in it, 1/2 tank of gas, and additional sound proofing, as well as
> the turbo stuff, the 99LE weighs in at 2600lbs.
>
> Corvettes and Vipers are just too big, heavy, and expensive!
>
> "XS11E" > wrote in message
> . 236...
>> "Chuck" > wrote:
>>
>>> If you think it moves now, wait until you have the chance to drive
>>> a supercharged or turbocharged Miata.
>>
>> My stock 1.6 has all the power I want or need. If I wanted to go fast
>> I would have got a Corvette or a Viper. Balance is much more important
>> than speed.
>>
>>
>> --
>> XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
>> The Usenet Improvement Project:
>> http://improve-usenet.org
>
>

Hey Chris - The last time I was on LCR it was in my sport suspension '04.
This was about ... 6 months ago? Even then it was getting so full of rich
people houses that I was a little worried about taking the blind 90 degree
turns without really braking at all... didn't want to get creamed by a
cement truck. That would have been ugly.

That's by far been my favorite "close to home" road for a long time. My next
favorite Texas road is down on the border ... Basically you airlift your
mx-5 to the Rio Grande... no really... either Marfa on 67 down to Presidio
and go left on 170 or from Alpine 118 down to Study Butte and take a right
on 170. All that matters is that you get to 170. They say "nobody gets on
170 by mistake".

It takes about 10 hours to get out there (without stopping to pee) but you
want to leave about a week to be out there - because you'll be driving all
the way back and forth on this road all day every day. This is the road they
BUILT the MX-5 for. It's one of those that has signs on it that say "If your
vehicle weighs more that 3,000 lbs, turn around now or pray and bring an
extra set of brake pads". It makes LCR look like a bumper car track for
toddlers. Just thinking about it makes my clutch foot itch.

You say there are decent roads closer -- what's on your list -- even though
I will name my first child FM170 -- it's too far for a day trip. -Carol



"Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
...
> Carol, you are my kind of girl / woman! There are some decent roads
> closer, you know. LCR is getting pretty built up and I'm getting where I
> feel pretty guilty tearing up and down major parts of it (rich folks
> building houses all along there). Oh well, we make the best of it, eh?
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "Carol" > wrote in message
> ...
>> >Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
>> .. .
>>> When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting
>>> 1/10th of the fun / performance out of your car shifting at 3000. Put
>>> your foot into it and run it up to 5000 as a regular thing and keep it
>>> planted up to / near redline for the real fun! You won't be able to get
>>> the smile off your face.
>>>
>>> Chris
>>> 99BBB
>>>
>>> "J." > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Thank you both. I have an appointment with the dealer to look at it
>>>> next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing
>>>> it was caught early and still under warranty.
>>
>> I did this TWICE on the way to work this morning - the lid was down and I
>> was the only car in sight. MAN does this car move. It was SO MUCH FUN!!
>> Now I need to install a bunch of stuff to tighten up the whole body and
>> take it to Austin for Lime Creek Road. Where DID I leave that check
>> book... :-)
>>
>>
>>
>

The only way I know to get a big change is to change the rear axle ratio.
Ring and pinion ratios are available to about 3.6:1 instead of 4.1:1 (~)
The stock NA & NBs may not do well with the 3.6 due to local driving
conditions. (hills, etc.)
To me the difference due to the axle ratio might be worth it in terms of
fuel useage.
It's not a cheap mod.

Minor changes can be made if you have the 5 speed tranny. (Fifth gear ratio
change, using gear sets originally for the RX 7s
There is quite a bit of info in Miata.net about this. Originally, I had to
tear down my 99s tranny to replace what turned out to be a cracked fifth
gear syncro ring. This made the ratio change just a matter of putting in a
new gear set, since I had to tear down to it anyway.

I'd LOVE to drop my top gear cruising rpm's by 1000!

"Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
...
> Chuck, what did you do to change the 5th gear ratio? I'd LOVE to drop my
> top gear cruising rpm's by 1000!
>
> Help!
>
> Chris
> 99BBB(no FI here)
>
> "Chuck" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Well, each to their own--
>> One thing I noticed as a big improvement was the way the cruise control
>> works in the mountains. Helps reduce downshifting to go up grades. (At
>> least I told my insurance company that the car was "modified for high
>> altitude use in the mountains".) <G>
>> There is no change in top speed, since the Miatas (1.8s anyway) are RPM
>> limited to about 128 MPH.
>> In theory my 99 will go (with enough road) just a bit faster than that,
>> due to a small change in the 5th gear ratio. The change was made to
>> reduce the "buzzing" at 70 MPH or so. Just reducing the engine RPM by a
>> few hundred at 70-75 MPH gets it just low enough to make a noticeable
>> improvement. (And, the turbocharged gas mileage on the road is virtually
>> the same or very slightly better than stock mileage.) If I remember
>> correctly, the 1/4 mile time is about 3 seconds faster than stock.
>> With me in it, 1/2 tank of gas, and additional sound proofing, as well as
>> the turbo stuff, the 99LE weighs in at 2600lbs.
>>
>> Corvettes and Vipers are just too big, heavy, and expensive!
>>
>> "XS11E" > wrote in message
>> . 236...
>>> "Chuck" > wrote:
>>>
>>>> If you think it moves now, wait until you have the chance to drive
>>>> a supercharged or turbocharged Miata.
>>>
>>> My stock 1.6 has all the power I want or need. If I wanted to go fast
>>> I would have got a Corvette or a Viper. Balance is much more important
>>> than speed.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
>>> The Usenet Improvement Project:
>>> http://improve-usenet.org
>>
>>
>

Well I got it back from the dealer after they had it for 3 days and
they could NOT replicate the problem. They took it out every day and
drove it around doing all kinds of things (accelerate, deaccerlerate,
lugging, cruising, etc.) and nothing. They said that other than
opening up the transmission (which they couldn't justify having not
experienced the problem first hand and therefore unable to justify the
"charge" to Mazda for the warranty work) they checked everything else
related to the transmission.

They called Mazda to see if any other Miata's reported a similar
problem and there was no other reference to this issue. He said if it
happens again, document what was happening and call him.

Of course, it happened to me twice this morning driving in to work.
It happened about 7 minutes after starting out so the engine was warm
(about halfway between C and H), going about 40 mph on a flat at
around 3200 rpm. I have been very deliberate about making sure the
gears are in solid. It happened again in a couple of minutes. I have
a stretch of road about 5 miles that I go about 40 mph on the way to
work and this is where it has often happened (of course because I
drive it so often at this speed in this gear). It has also happened
to me on acceleration (at around 4000) but mostly while just cruising.

I'm not much of an engine head so I don't understand a lot of the
lingo, but they said the transmission is all internal and without
being able to duplicate the problem themselves, they can't open the
transmission to check inside because it would take too much labor and
Mazda wouldn't reimburse them for it without justification for doing
the work. I'm not sure how all that works internally, but I would
think if a customer says there's a problem, they should make some
effort to do a serious check into why it's happening. To me, this is
a serious driving hazard.

I searched the web and I could only find one other similar occurrence
in a 2000 Protege - nothing on Miata's. My next step is to setup a
camera in the car while I'm driving to give them visual proof that
it's happening showing the dash and shifting.

Any other ideas? Are they right about the transmission being
"internal" and that they can't open and check it/replace it without
experiencing the problem first hand?

P.S. I took the advice here and opened my baby up a lot more and you
all are right! I'm having so much more fun with it - love the
power!!!! :-)



On Aug 4, 2:26*pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote:
> When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting 1/10th
> of the fun / performance out of your car shifting at 3000. Put your foot
> into it and run it up to 5000 as a regular thing and keep it planted up to /
> near redline for the real fun! You won't be able to get the smile off your
> face.
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "J." > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Thank you both. *I have an appointment with the dealer to look at it
> > next week. *I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. *Good thing
> > it was caught early and still under warranty.

Now you're talking! Good luck with the tranny hopefully it'll stop doing it
or it'll start doing it often enough that they won't have a problem
experiencing it next time.

Chris
99BBB

P.S. I took the advice here and opened my baby up a lot more and you
all are right! I'm having so much more fun with it - love the
power!!!! :-)



On Aug 4, 2:26 pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote:
> When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting
> 1/10th
> of the fun / performance out of your car shifting at 3000. Put your foot
> into it and run it up to 5000 as a regular thing and keep it planted up to
> /
> near redline for the real fun! You won't be able to get the smile off your
> face.
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "J." > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Thank you both. I have an appointment with the dealer to look at it
> > next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing
> > it was caught early and still under warranty.

I had an ongoing problem with a rattle in my 2004 Miata. Three times at the
dealer. They couldn't replicate. Finally I made an appt and got the service
guy to ride with me. I kept him out about 30 minutes before he figured out
where the sound was coming from but when he heard it he knew - he was
excited! He was saying "that's it isn't it! That's the rattle!! I had been
right all along. Turned out that there is now a service bulletin out about
this rattle problem.

I my case I think he heard it because I was driving and his style or
whatever of driving it was different than mine so he wouldn't go over the
bumps at the speed I would, or whatever. Maybe you can get your service guy
to ride around with you for a while with you driving and you can replicate
the problem? Couldn't hurt. -Carol

"J." > wrote in message
...
Well I got it back from the dealer after they had it for 3 days and
they could NOT replicate the problem. They took it out every day and
drove it around doing all kinds of things (accelerate, deaccerlerate,
lugging, cruising, etc.) and nothing. They said that other than
opening up the transmission (which they couldn't justify having not
experienced the problem first hand and therefore unable to justify the
"charge" to Mazda for the warranty work) they checked everything else
related to the transmission.

They called Mazda to see if any other Miata's reported a similar
problem and there was no other reference to this issue. He said if it
happens again, document what was happening and call him.

Of course, it happened to me twice this morning driving in to work.
It happened about 7 minutes after starting out so the engine was warm
(about halfway between C and H), going about 40 mph on a flat at
around 3200 rpm. I have been very deliberate about making sure the
gears are in solid. It happened again in a couple of minutes. I have
a stretch of road about 5 miles that I go about 40 mph on the way to
work and this is where it has often happened (of course because I
drive it so often at this speed in this gear). It has also happened
to me on acceleration (at around 4000) but mostly while just cruising.

I'm not much of an engine head so I don't understand a lot of the
lingo, but they said the transmission is all internal and without
being able to duplicate the problem themselves, they can't open the
transmission to check inside because it would take too much labor and
Mazda wouldn't reimburse them for it without justification for doing
the work. I'm not sure how all that works internally, but I would
think if a customer says there's a problem, they should make some
effort to do a serious check into why it's happening. To me, this is
a serious driving hazard.

I searched the web and I could only find one other similar occurrence
in a 2000 Protege - nothing on Miata's. My next step is to setup a
camera in the car while I'm driving to give them visual proof that
it's happening showing the dash and shifting.

Any other ideas? Are they right about the transmission being
"internal" and that they can't open and check it/replace it without
experiencing the problem first hand?

P.S. I took the advice here and opened my baby up a lot more and you
all are right! I'm having so much more fun with it - love the
power!!!! :-)



On Aug 4, 2:26 pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote:
> When you get it back don't forget what Chuck said. You're not getting
> 1/10th
> of the fun / performance out of your car shifting at 3000. Put your foot
> into it and run it up to 5000 as a regular thing and keep it planted up to
> /
> near redline for the real fun! You won't be able to get the smile off your
> face.
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "J." > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Thank you both. I have an appointment with the dealer to look at it
> > next week. I hope they can verify the problem and fix it. Good thing
> > it was caught early and still under warranty.

In order to prove to the service guys that it happens, I video taped
it this morning - watch at 2:26.

http://janinephotography.com/misc/Mi...p_8-8-2008.avi (about
40 mb)