Controlled Over-Steer

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1 The Official Newsletter of the Indy Miata Club Volume 26 Issue 2 February 2015 What s Inside Page 2 Curves Ahead (cont.) Page 3 More 4th Gen. MX-5 photos Page Regional Events Page 5 Windy City 25th Anniversary Celebration Page 6-8 Our Not So Technical Pages Page 9 Advertisers Page Club Events Advertisers Controlled Over-Steer By Tom Lewis, President We had a great turnout for our first quarterly Board Meeting of 2015, and Annual President s Luncheon on Saturday, January 24 th with nearly 30 members in attendance at Daddy Jack s Restaurant on Indy s North Side. Most encouraging, the majority of those in attendance came early and participated in the Board Meeting, offering good feedback and ideas for the upcoming year. Special recognition goes to Tim Miller, who drove all the way from Valparaiso, Indiana, a nearly 3 hour drive. One way! But this isn t anything unusual for Tim he s in attendance for just about every event on the club s calendar, whether it is a drive, mingle, or board meeting. Thanks for your dedication and participation, Tim! As mentioned in the last month s Open Road, I ve set a goal of 14 events for this year s Indy Miata Club calendar, and I believe we re going to get there, maybe even early in the year. Excluding the President s Luncheon on January 24 th, we currently have 12 events listed on the Events page and this will likely grow. We do, however, need someone to host 3 of our annual Mingles the Night Before the Indy 500 Mingle, the Night Before the Brickyard 400 Mingle and the Night Before the MotoGP Mingle. These are extremely easy to organize simply choose your favorite spot that has enough space for a dozen or so Miatas to park and show up! Your membership Absolutely, Positively expires this month. RENEW NOW! Do you read our website regularly? You should. There is a lot going on Plus Please check the information on your member page. Send corrections or revisions to webmaster@indymiata.org That s it! Past Mingles have taken place at Culver s Frozen Custard, Dairy Queen, Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, and other restaurants. Kind of a pattern here, you see we seem to really enjoy those frozen treats! So, how about it? Can you help out and throw your name in the hat to host one of these Mingles in need of a coordinator? Contact Ken Koehler at Events@IndyMiata.org and we ll get you on the calendar! Realizing we have many members who may not know how to put together a driving event, our experienced Rally-Planners will be organizing and hosting a continued on page 2 Leavenworth Inn weekend! April 10-12, See our website for information. Make your room reservations NOW!

2 Page 2 Open Road February 2015 Indy Miata Club Officers 2014 President Tom Lewis president@indymiata.org Vice-President Ken Koehler vicepresident@indymiata.org Treasurer Ken Rabbers treasurer@indymiata.org Membership Director Darlene Evans membership@indymiata.org Secretary Joan Rabbers secretary@indymiata.org Website Editor Sara J McBride webmaster@indymiata.org Newsletter Editor Steve Crouse editor@indymiata.org The Open Road is published monthly for the members of the Indy Miata Club. The Indy Miata Club assumes no liability for any information contained herein, or injury or damage resulting from the use of this information. The ideas, opinions, maintenance or modification tips expressed are to be used at the reader s discretion. Individual contributors and/or the editors express no approval, authentication, or endorsement. Thank you. Thinking of planning a club outing? Please reserve a date with Event Coordinator, Ken Koehler ASAP. Contact him at events@indymiataorg. Controlled Over-steer, cont. Membership Update: 45 Renewals. Welcome to new members: Phil & Marilyn Fitzpatrick, James & Kathleen Lockwood Rally Planning Seminar during the month of February. This casual get-together will show members how to plan a route utilizing available resources like maps, the internet and past routes. The goal is to provide first time rally-planners with the tools, resources and mentoring from those experienced in planning events, and enables them to host their first, and hopefully many more, driving events. Watch your and the club s Event Page for date and details. There are several notable events already on the 2015 calendar. We ll usher in the driving season on April 10 th with one of Indy Miata s most looked-forward-to events each year, the annual Weekend in Leavenworth. Rally Master extraordinaire, Steve Crouse and his equally talented and tolerant wife, Kathy, are teaming up with the over-qualified rally planning team of Roger and Nancy Burrill to put together another memorable weekend of driving, eating, driving and eating some more, and lots of socializing at the historic Leavenworth Inn overlooking the mighty Ohio River in the don t-blink-as-your-passingthrough town of Leavenworth, Indiana. Keep your eyes on the Events Page on Indy Miata s website as the details unfold, but you may want to contact the Leavenworth Inn immediately to reserve a room - the Inn fills up very quickly. But, don t worry if none are available by the time you call there are plenty of overflow accommodations a short drive away in the Original State Capital town of Corydon, Indiana. You simply do not want to miss out on this fabulous weekend of fun with your Miata friends as we enjoy the days on great roads along the river and evenings in the family room of the Inn, playing cards games, socializing, perhaps enjoying a glass of wine or other adult beverage if you re so inclined. It s kind of like a weekend in a Miata frat house with a bunch of reasonably well-behaved grown-ups! Register on the website now and call the Leavenworth Inn right away to reserve your room ( ) be sure to let them know you re with the Indy Miata Club so you ll receive the lower winter rates. Looking further down the calendar, we have a tentative date of April 18 th scheduled for another annual event, the Post Tax Blues Rally. The month of May means racing in Indy, and Indy Miata will be heading to the track for Community Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The weekend of June 26 th is scheduled for another annual event, Marietta Madness, when Indy Miata sends a delegation of members to the southeastern Ohio River town of Marietta for the premier driver s weekend event of the year. The roads surrounding Marietta offer some of the most thrilling curves and scenery you ll experience outside of the famous roads in and around Deals Gap and the Tail of the Dragon. The difference is that the roads in SE Ohio are not clogged with every other sports car and motorcycle known to mankind. Join us for a weekend of spirited-driving-roads listed on Car and Driver s magazine s list of the Best Roads to Drive Before You Die! We ll keep updating the calendar as new events are planned, so keep checking back to the Events Page at It looks like we ll easily reach my goal of 14 events on the 2015 calendar how about we go for a record number of events this year!

3 Page 3 Open Road February 2015 I really hope they make some of these colors! How about you? What would you say to a coupe of the new ND MX-5?

4 Page 4 Open Road February 2015 Regional Miata Events in 2015 Here are some of the regional Miata events scheduled for the coming year. If you haven t attended a BIG Miata rally, you are missing a grand gathering of Miata-philes. Need help finding information? Contact one of our club officers, or search Miata.Net. March 26-29, Miatas at Myrtle Beach IX, Triad Miata Club June 4-7, Zoomin' the Mountains of East Tennessee, Tri-Cities Miata Club June 5-7, 25th Anniversary Celebration, Windy City Miata Club (see next page) CORRECTION July 24-26, Miatas at the Gap (MATG XIX) August 7-9, Canada's Capital Miata Meet, Underground Miata Network October 8-11, Surf 'N' Safari 2015, San Diego Miata Club Coming to Road Atlanta, April 24-26, 2015 The first ever international invasion of V8 Miatas at Mitty! This will be a world record-breaking event, with the most ever V8 Miatas gathered in one place! No, really, we have a couple cars coming from Canada and the old record is 13, so we should break it... If you know of any V8 owners, please give them this info and come check out the V8s at Mitty! Here is the website for more information:

5 Page 5 Open Road February 2015 Need more information? Link from our website, non-imc page. Fun, Friends, Folly A party that has been 25 years in the making! A week-end long celebration of the Miata and the People who love them! June 5-7, 2015, Pheasant Run Resort, St. Charles IL Windy City Miata Club is pleased to present a 25th anniversary event to celebrate our favorite sports car and the club dedicated to it. Windy City Miata Club has over 300 members and over 200 Miatas, making it one of the largest Miata clubs in the country, and we are passionate about the Miata. Come join us from near and far for a weekend to celebrate all that is great within the Miata community with old friends and new. The weekend will start on Friday June 5, 2015, at Pheasant Run Country Club in St Charles, IL. Pheasant Run is a resort with indoor/outdoor pool, bars and restaurants, an indoor Bourbon Street, golf, tennis courts, and more! Come early before registration for a round of golf (optional). Before leaving for dinner we will have a meet and greet/ welcome reception. We will take a short drive to dinner. Dinner will be buffet style (cash bar) with activities such as volleyball, horseshoes, bags, wiffleball, and bocce ball. Saturday morning breakfast will be on your own, Pheasant Run has various options to choose from or other local restaurants. We will enjoy a group drive having fun in our favorite little cars, followed by lunch out on the road as a group. We will make our way back to the resort to relax and shine our cars for a car show. Our dinner Saturday night will be at the resort. Raffle prizes valued at over $2, will be given away; along with our 50/ cash raffle will be drawn at Saturday night dinner. 50% will go to the Northern IL food bank and the other 50% will be split between 2 winners! Car show awards will also be given away. A live band will be performing for your entertainment. Sunday, grab a cup of coffee and head out to our Miata parking lot. We will have the Miata version of Cars and Coffee. We will then make our way to Autobahn Country Club for a day at the track. Autobahn Country Club is a private race track that contains a clubhouse, two racetracks, and a karting track all in one location. We will be enjoying time on the track having a spirited track tour in our Miatas. After all are they not the greatest little sports car ever! No helmets are required for this event, and you can have a passenger riding along with you. There will be many cars at the track that day. Lunch will be catered at the track, so grab a bite to eat and have fun watching all the excitement on the track. WCMC hopes that you will join us in this weekend long celebration of 25 wonderful years of the Mazda Miata and the Windy City Miata Club.

6 Page 6 Open Road February 2015 Our Not So Technical Page This month I m including some articles published in the Gateway Miata club s newsletter, the Miata File. Both of these articles contain some basic information that can be useful to the most inexperienced automobile owner. Take some time to read these. I ll try to find some more for our future newsletters. Cleaning Your Intake Manifold By Doug Allen, Gateway Miata Club Recently I had service at the dealer, and the mechanic drove my car into the garage. He did the service, and then contacted me about the rough takeoff when driving the car. He said the induction system needed to be cleaned. I asked the price, and he said normally $ but because you just had service we will lower it to $ I must say it was the best $ I have ever spent on my car. He raised the hood, and suspended a pressurized container of cleaner. He then disconnected the intake hose, and inserted the hose from the cleaner tank. He sat in the car and kept the RPM about The process took about 20 minutes and he showed me the after of the intake, which was then shiny and clean! I drove away and was amazed at the smooth take off in first gear. I recommend this procedure to all members! Gas is NOT as good as years past. It is unstable when old in just weeks. Get that intake system cleaned and enjoy smooth acceleration and better gas mileage too! Doug s comment on his engine cleaning reminded me of our Tom L s report on his use of the SeaFoam products, rejuvenating his M Edition and mosquito fogging his neighborhood. Tom passed me a YouTube post on How to SeaFoam a Miata, ( which covers a couple of different products, and includes a demonstration of the fogging (starting at minute 6:40). Just beware that there are supporters and naysayers on the use of SeaFoam. Let me add that I too endured poor running with our 99 at one time. My regular shop tried some kind of cleaner on the intake system with only moderate success; it still hesitated and bucked after this cleaning. Only after removing the intake and cleaning it thoroughly by hand was the rough-running eliminated. So, if your Miata isn t running smoothly, a good intake cleaning may solve your problem. Trying the DIY/cheap route surely won t hurt. But don t be disappointed if you have to go to the next step or two for the results you want. Steve C. Importance of fuel octane rating. By Scott Hrbacek, Gateway Miata Club A few weeks ago, I was at a car show when a fellow Miata owner came up to me and asked about my car. We exchanged some information about our vehicles, both being of similar vintage, 2003 vs He then asked me about the type of fuel that I use in my car. I told him that I use premium, because under the fuel door, there is a sticker that indicates PREMIUM RECOMMENDED. Specifically, I use QT premium fuel, because they advertise it as 93-octane, for the same price as other brands 91 rating. He said that he runs the cheap fuel in his car and it seems to run poorly at times. I told him to try a tank or two of the 93-octane fuel to see if he can feel

7 Page 7 Open Road February 2015 any difference. Why would a vehicle have a sticker under the fuel door indicating premium fuel is recommended? There is a logical explanation. It has to do with the way the engine is configured. First, a little theory to start the story and the boredom. Think of an engine as an air pump, air goes in, air goes out. It has a piston that moves up and down in a cylinder pulling air and fuel into the cylinder, compressing it, igniting the mixture, driving the piston down, then pushing the burned gasses out the exhaust. Pretty simple, eh? The volume of air above the piston when it is at its lowest point of stroke (BDC or Bottom Dead Center) divided by the volume above the piston when it is at its highest point of stroke (TDC or Top Dead Center) will give you a value that is called the compression ratio. Broadly speaking, the higher the compression ratio of an engine, the more power the engine will be able to develop. But, like many things in an internal combustion engine, there is a limit to this. Getting technical, we can use the Ideal Gas Law (PV=nRT) to help explain how air heats up when it is compressed. In the aforementioned equation, P is pressure, V is volume, n is the amount of gasoline in the system, R is the ideal gas constant and T is temperature. As the piston moves up, the pressure increases and the volume decreases. The amount of gas stays the same. As the process can be considered sealed in this experiment, R, the constant will not change. As the pressure rises inside the cylinder and the volume decreases, it also increases the temperature of the cylinder charge. An example of this is to feel an air compressor that has been running. It will feel hot to the touch. This heat can be somewhat contributed to friction inside the cylinder, but mostly it is from compressing the air. The more you compress it, the hotter it will get. An engine is no different. As it compresses the fuel/air charge, it heats up. In a perfect world, the mixture will be ignited by the spark plug and the engine runs as designed. But if the fuel/air mixture is compressed enough, and the temperature rises to a point that the mixture ignites (auto-ignition) before the spark plug fires, you have pre-ignition, which is a very bad thing. Why is it so bad? Because the mixture starts to burn, and the gasses start to expand, pushing against the piston while it is still moving upward. Also, the pressure waves developed inside the engine can damage engine components like the pistons or valves. Somewhat backwards to what you might think, the octane rating of the fuel actually indicates its resistance to burning. The auto-ignition temperature will increase as the octane rating increases. The higher the temperatures and pressures inside the engine, afforded by a higher compression ratio, the more power the engine can develop. Higher octane fuels are required in engines with these higher compression ratios. Our 2002 Miata has a static compression ratio of 10:1. Most standard engines designed to run on 87-octane will have a compression ratio of about 9:1. The extra heat developed by that difference in the compression ratio requires a fuel with higher pre-ignition resistance. A clean combustion chamber is also very important to avoid this pre-ignition. A higher octane fuel may not necessarily have any more detergents than a lower grade fuel, as one would have believed in the past. Some call minor pre-ignition pinging ; while major pre-ignition can cause knock, as the pressure waves are bouncing off the cylinder walls. If the combustion chamber is dirty and contaminated with deposits of carbon on the piston top or valves, these deposits can absorb heat from the combustion process, creating a hot spot (ignition point) for the next compression stroke. This hot spot can act like a small glow plug inside the engine, pre-igniting the air/fuel mixture. Using a quality fuel can help clean out the combustion chamber. Another factor is the variable valve timing on the engine. This feature adjusts the timing of the

8 Page 8 Open Road February 2015 intake camshaft in relation to the crankshaft. It is a small amount of adjustment, but it helps to develop more torque at lower engine speeds and more power at higher engine speeds. The engine computer can also make adjustments to the ignition timing. If running a lower octane fuel in a car that recommends premium, the computer may make adjustments to the ignition timing to reduce pinging, which would reduce the power output of the engine. Specialized sensors in the engine listen for pinging or knocking and inform the computer if drastic adjustments need to be made. Chances are that the car will run ok on the lower grades of fuel, but the computer is designed to adjust the timing based on a higher octane fuel. A week later, the same fellow dropped by to tell me that changing to the higher octane fuel made the car drive much better, and it seemed to be much more powerful. The few extra cents per gallon seems to have made quite a difference with his car. Newer vehicles, like our Mazda6, are being equipped with Direct Injection. This means the fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber instead of upstream of the intake valve. Why does this make a difference? This means that as the piston is moving upwards, it is compressing only air (similar to a Diesel engine), not a fuel/air mixture. There is no risk of pre-ignition as there is no fuel present. The fuel injector sprays the fuel into the chamber when the piston is close to TDC, right before the spark plug fires. This procedure has a benefit of cooling the air in the chamber. Since pre-ignition is no longer an issue, the compression ratio can be increased, in the case of the 2.5L engine in our Mazda6, to a number like 14:1. This higher compression ratio allows for the efficiency of the engine to be increased, all while using standard 87 octane fuels. FUNNY STUFF?

9 Page 9 Open Road February 2015 Now celebrating 40 years! Exclusive Discounts for Indy Miata Club Members Tom Roush Mazda, Indiana s first Mazda dealer established in 1972 has not only the most experienced sales and service staff in town, but also is the highest volume dealer in Indiana. We hope to serve you in our next 40 years as Indy s premier Mazda dealer. In support of the Miata Club member s we would like to offer the following benefits: 15% off regular door labor rate 15% off any accessory purchase S-Plan pricing to eligible customer s Extended Saturday service hours 7:30 3:30 US th Street Westfield, IN Tom Lewis INSURANCE GROUP Hughes Insurance Group is an Independent Agency representing over 35 insurance companies. Our ultra-competitive rates assure that you receive the most value at the best price for all of your home, auto or business insurance needs. For a limited time, I m giving away a $20 gas card with an insurance review and quote for your home, auto or business with no obligation! If I m competitive, consider allowing Hughes Insurance Group to write your business. If I can t provide you with a better value, you ll have the peace of mind knowing you re properly insured at a fair price. Call or Indy Miata Club member Tom Lewis today! tom@hughesinsurancegroup.com Have a few dollars invested in upgrades? Ask about Agreed Value Coverage for your Miata!

10 Page 10 Open Road February 2015 (Tentative) Club Events for 2015 April 10-12, A Return to Leavenworth (IN) weekend April 18, Post Tax Blues Rally 2015 May 20, Indy 500 Festival Community Day May 23, Night before the 500 Mingle June 26-28, Marietta Madness weekend July 18, Dream Cars at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (with Cinti club) July 25, Night before the Brickyard 400 Mingle August 1, Scouting Out Columbus IN August 8, Night before the Indianapolis MotoGP Mingle September 11-13, St Louis Fireworks weekend October 2-4, French Lick Concours and rally November 7, Hidden Drives Rally December, IMC Christmas Dinner-Party Volunteers are needed to organize some of these events. Here are opportunities for you to contribute to the club s activities. February Holidays Feb. 2, 2015 Feb. 14, 2015 Presidents Day, Feb. 16, 2015 Benefits for Indy Miata Club Members -First year dues to the Indy Miata Club after purchase of any Mazda -S-Plan Pricing to Current Members -15% off All Parts & Accessories -15% off Labor Rates -Maintenance for Life with the purchase of Any Mazda -Saturday Service Hours 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM -Free Cookies!! Contact Lauren Auld for more information.