Myles Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Thank goodness for over ten-years sevening, a skid-pan course at uni and countless hours in the race-sim world! 😬 There's an awkward uphill 90+ degree turn in South Queensferry (near the Forth bridges) which isn't helped by the road narrowing to *almost* one lane due to nearby buildings. I was just cursing the Range Rover driver who had come unnecessarily-wide around the corner downhill when the rear of my mx5 let go at less than 20mph and with no provocation. It was second-nature to catch and contain the slide - but not for the first time have I found myself somewhat amazed by how much momentum a conventional car has in a slide compared to a seven - it just seemed to want to slide for ages and needed far more room than a 7 would. My sevens have run on relatively-slippy AO21s for years too - so it's not as if the ease with which I expect to catch a slide is too influenced by the rubber. The old-lady at the bus-stop halfway up the hill looked rather amazed/disapproving (not sure which)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 Meant to say that there must be a bit of spillage there - not too bad otherwise I'd have popped in to the cop-shop around the corner to warn them. I did a mini brake-test on the return journey and the fronts locked up easily - but with no significant cornering issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed White Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Interesting Myles. My Mrs had our MkI MX5 get away from her at "low" speed, and I thought "really"???? Maybe a skid pan session or two might be a good idea. I'm sure the car will learn to behave itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 It's only happened to me once before - but that time it was deliberate. Two winters ago, I decided to tickle the car in a straight line on a frosty patch of road to gauge grip at the start of a journey. The car did exactly the same thing - it went sideways (but I was ready for it). What surprised me was how reluctant it was to stop sliding. I ordered a set of winter tyres later that morning and have sung their praises ever since. There's an acute left-hander (main-into-minor) on my normal route home. In the winter, you can see through the hedges (or see headlights etc) and have a pretty-good idea if anything is coming the other way. Even with some hefty weight-transfer and a good bootful, I can barely get the inside-left to spin in the dry/semi-dry - let alone unstick the rear as a whole.  My conclusion has been that the 1.8 is far from over-powered or under-tyred - it has more grip than it needs unless you encounter ice/diesel/whatever. The absence of any traction or stability control can undoubtedly catch out the unaware - and even with my background, can open the eyes a little wider! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed White Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Ours I think is the 1.6 but I seem to remember the guy I bought it off saying they were slightly more powerful than the 1.8. There was I believe a logic for this but mazda changed it later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 Mine's a mk3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed White Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 We gave £1200 for ours off one of our customers, who had just about rebuilt it. £ for £ I cannot think what else would have been a better buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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