My New 1996 Mx-5 Miata - 2017 Dixie Championship Tour

[Marcus Garvey]

Most of the students I've encountered learn best studying others. The best suggestion I have is to hop in other's cars on their runs when you're not running. Hopefully your club allows ridealongs, as that is where most things will 'click' for learning drivers. Video can help, but you'll get a lot more from ridealongs where you can feel what the car does to react to the driver's inputs. In all honesty you could watch my videos and not get much from them because you can't see what I'm doing with my feet. I see you're taking advantage of the fun runs as well; keep that up. 0 cones, Then 12, then 2. Crazy haha. You're going to have good days and bad days, and that will still happen 20 years from now. The idea is to become such that your bad days are better than everyone else's good days haha.

The video game's greatest contribution is teaching you how to spot lines. I don't expect you to have any problems with that, and after a while you'll notice that you've seen almost every course element before and it will require even less time to learn a course and its lines. You already know where you need to place the car and what sections to favour. The cool thing about local events is that you can experiment a lot with your lines as you get more runs and you don't get as much offline marbling unless you're running in a sandy area. At larger events with more cars on course and a lot of fat sticky tires the line becomes more defined and that can restrict you a lot, but that is a bridge you will cross later. With fewer runs to get your fast lap in, you also don't always want to take the same risks that you would at a local.

Don't beat yourself up about mistakes. There are a lot of fast drivers out there and a lot of fast cars. In the tight classes the one who wins is the one who makes the fewest mistakes. You'll get some near perfect runs from time to time, but most of them won't be. Most fast people will know what to do in each element most of the time; but having the right plan and being able to accurately execute it are not the same haha. That is where not only looking ahead, but looking exactly at the location that will send your inputs to direct the car properly comes into play. And sometimes things that feel like mistakes can set you up differently for the next element and send you through that faster and you learn from that. It's a fun sport. I'm glad yhou're enjoying it, because you'll do well with it.

The braking issue is inherent in the design of the car. In a straight line often the RF will lock first because it has less weight on it, but when it locks just after turn in it will lock whichever wheel is inside. Fixes range from running more aggressive rear pads to this >

The cars like any production model are a compromise and that what stock class is all about. Adapting to and overcoming the shortcomings of the cars is the defining characteristic of the class, and why many racers looking for the highest level of competition run there.

For now, just drive it and enjoy.

 

[carracerptp]

Most of the students I've encountered learn best studying others. The best suggestion I have is to hop in other's cars on their runs when you're not running. Hopefully your club allows ridealongs, as that is where most things will 'click' for learning drivers. Video can help, but you'll get a lot more from ridealongs where you can feel what the car does to react to the driver's inputs. In all honesty you could watch my videos and not get much from them because you can't see what I'm doing with my feet. I see you're taking advantage of the fun runs as well; keep that up. 0 cones, Then 12, then 2. Crazy haha. You're going to have good days and bad days, and that will still happen 20 years from now. The idea is to become such that your bad days are better than everyone else's good days haha.

The video game's greatest contribution is teaching you how to spot lines. I don't expect you to have any problems with that, and after a while you'll notice that you've seen almost every course element before and it will require even less time to learn a course and its lines. You already know where you need to place the car and what sections to favour. The cool thing about local events is that you can experiment a lot with your lines as you get more runs and you don't get as much offline marbling unless you're running in a sandy area. At larger events with more cars on course and a lot of fat sticky tires the line becomes more defined and that can restrict you a lot, but that is a bridge you will cross later. With fewer runs to get your fast lap in, you also don't always want to take the same risks that you would at a local.

Don't beat yourself up about mistakes. There are a lot of fast drivers out there and a lot of fast cars. In the tight classes the one who wins is the one who makes the fewest mistakes. You'll get some near perfect runs from time to time, but most of them won't be. Most fast people will know what to do in each element most of the time; but having the right plan and being able to accurately execute it are not the same haha. That is where not only looking ahead, but looking exactly at the location that will send your inputs to direct the car properly comes into play. And sometimes things that feel like mistakes can set you up differently for the next element and send you through that faster and you learn from that. It's a fun sport. I'm glad yhou're enjoying it, because you'll do well with it.

The braking issue is inherent in the design of the car. In a straight line often the RF will lock first because it has less weight on it, but when it locks just after turn in it will lock whichever wheel is inside. Fixes range from running more aggressive rear pads to this >

The cars like any production model are a compromise and that what stock class is all about. Adapting to and overcoming the shortcomings of the cars is the defining characteristic of the class, and why many racers looking for the highest level of competition run there.

For now, just drive it and enjoy.

They do allow ride alongs, I need to start trying to find rides. My goal for this coming week is to just figure out the tires, they are low on feedback so I think it will be harder this time.

 

[carracerptp]

Back from my last autocross. It was very enlightening.

TL;DR
I don't think I'm slow anymore, it was car the car doing it at a long Really fun time with crazy nice people as always.

Unfortunately, not many pictures. I had a whole set-up ready to go to film my runs with the camera on a stand, and set it all up only to find I set it up for the wrong run group. Didn't have time to do it on my actual run group, so that stinks.

The track layout was actually quite fun. When I looked at the map, I didn't think I would like it, and when walked the course I still wasn't sure if I'd like it. But after doing my first lap, I quickly realized I would like it.

My first lap was playing it safe. Brand new tires I really had never driven hard on. I would give them a 5 out of 10, but because of the price, I'll give them a 6 out of 10.

So, the tires I got were Sumitomo HTR A/S P01 195/60/14. The lateral grip was lacking. But the longitudinal grip was excellent. Compared to my old tires, my stopping and accelerating grip was greatly improved. Cornering grip was improved, but not as much as I'd hoped, honestly. They feel kind of weird when they start giving up grip in the corner. They do it really slowly and they start early, which might be "safer on the road" but I actually found it annoying.

Back to my runs. My second run was a little quicker. I managed to hit the cone on my first run (I was just trying to see how close I could get to the cones going at a slightly slower pace, to get a feel for it), so this was my first clean run. I was okay with the time, but I felt I still had a ways to go before I got the best out of my tires.

Thankfully, the guy that runs the event offered to drive my car, which I quickly jumped on it, as he's really good. In the passengers seat, I realized I was not using up the tires for everything they had in the corners. As I mentioned previously, the car gives up grip, but slowly, so even though you feel it give up grip you can still keep pushing. On my old tires, once they broke traction, they were done for. Nothing you could do about it except slow down and wait for them to regain grip.

This is actually something I think iRacing simulates better than any sim. In iRacing, you really get that push understeering but still turning feeling when you crank more wheel angle into it that I've yet to feel accurately in any other game.

After he drove my car, he told me I needed shocks badly and the ones I have are trashed. Personally, I thought my shocks were fine. Before my miata, the only "sports" cars I have ridden in are one BMW ( I was like 13 ) and a very unmaintained 80s Pontiac Trans Am. The rest are a few trucks ( small toyota ), and a minivan ( 1998 ) and an hyundai elantra ( 2012 ). he asked another driver in my class ( 93 black miata, he finished 3rd ) if he would let me ride shotgun, so I could get a feel for a car with good shocks (@Marcus Garvey , they were koni sports with Falken Azenis tires ). Oh my. I thought my shocks were good enough, but after that ride, I can see just how wrong I was. I could clearly feel the car was much more stable, and didn't even come close to as much body roll as I get.

And then the good news: he offered me to drive the car ( pictured with my car below)!

This was my first time driving someone else's car at an event ( or at all outside family ), so I was really excited about this. I didn't push too hard, because obviously the last thing I want to do is hit a cone or flat spot the tires in someone else's car, but man was it easy to knock two seconds plus off my best time ( 49.8 vs 52.3 ) that I ran just moments earlier. It was actually a decent time. I finished 4th with it , in a car I've never driven and I only had one shot at. And it was only 0.032 Off his fastest clean run that day. There was another second and a half in the car for sure. Unfortunately he had a stream of bad luck with the cones and a slide so he never got it.

The tire grip was so much fun to have, and the shocks made the car so stable. I could run exactly the line I wanted with not even half the effort it takes in my car.

That really makes me think maybe I'm not as bad I thought. driving his car at ~7/10ths I was WAY faster than driving my car at 9/10ths. His car is easily 2 seconds faster ( at the very least, and this is compared to my new tires ), my car just isn't in the same league of grip or handling. I was thinking my car was only around 1 second slow with the new tires vs better ones like the Azenis but I was definitely wrong about that. So just how much was a disadvantage was I at with the old tires? I was thinking 3 seconds but now I'm thinking it was way more than that now.

So after crushing my best time, I came back to my car with the goal to try to get within a second of my time in his car. Thankfully, we had six runs, and on my fourth run, I found in my opinion a perfect line ( brake points, throttle points etc ) for my car through the last part of the course, and on my fifth run, I found I could push even harder through the first part. So I put the two together and actually got within a second of the time, a 50.7! But I really got everything I could out of the car.

So I came away happy that I could get within a second of a car that's easily two seconds, if not more, faster than me, and I could put a lot of the blame of my times so far on my car. There is no way my car was capable of running the same time that car could. But it's a little depressing realizing ( well I already knew this but it finally sunk in ) I'm going to have to spend money on my car to actually make it competitive, because I could drive the wheels off it and still have a slow time.

More pictures and video coming later, not many of my car but other cool cars at the event.

 

[Ronald6]

Very impressive performance. Excellent time in the other car. I want to see what you can do with your car on a better suspension.

Your tyres actually sound nice. It sucks that they loose grip sooner but I believe it's much better to loose grip at a progressive rate than all at once.

 

[carracerptp]

I want to see what you can do with your car on a better suspension.

That makes two of us

Your tyres actually sound nice. It sucks that they loose grip sooner but I believe it's much better to loose grip at a progressive rate than all at once.

Well they have great grip under braking ( IMHO it wasn't that far off the Azenis ) but in the corners they have a slow turn in, then they grip, then they stop griping and start "oozing" away grip but that can be some what fixed by turning the steering wheel more than I think I should need to scrubbing speed. The grip loss isn't natural feeling, almost like it was made to do this ( probably was for safety ).They also lack feedback making it annoying. Over all they are just "mushy" in a turn ( at around 33PSI ).

It would make for a very safe road tire but under braking was the only place I felt it really was good ( almost great ). Otherwise I give it a solid "meh" but they work.

Wait, they are really good in the rain. They vastly exceed my expectation and loses very little grip even in bad conditions.

Now the Azenis was on a different level of feedback. Spotting the optimal steering angle or braking force was so easily. They are much less progressive but it is really easy to find the limit without stepping over.

All in all, I got what I paid for and I don't think it was a bad choice ( price to performance seems good ). But if they cost much more I would have a lot less happy with them.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

Just catching up on this again.

Good to see you have gotten a small taste of the difference even a low level of prep can provide. The Miata responds significantly to certain changes in different ways than other cars do. Being nearly 20 years old and appearing mostly original even new stock shocks would be an improvement. I'm not in the business of putting hard number gains on specific modifications as they all affect each other and many respond differently to different course designs(for example, having those double adjustable degassed pimpshocks make huge differences in transitions like slolams, but won't gain you the same on a sweeper heavy course). As you progress you'll find much more that even the little things matter(shocks are a big thing, for perspective). Even missing a tenth in each element from equipment adds up to multiple seconds at the end of a run. Being familiar with your driving I am not surprised at your findings driving others' cars. You'll becoming increasingly aware that really fast drivers coupled with really fast equipment aren't necessarily common and I think you'll do better than you expect. I can often of spot that sort of thing.

I'm sort of smiling a little reading the bit about realising that you'll have to spend money to be competitive. That is the nature of the sport. The hobby. Whatever term you choose. You wouldn't show up to a serious GT race without having changed the oil on your newly purchased car? That's maybe what, 10hp on a miata in the game and it can equal whole seconds per minute on track. That's not unrealistic. That's not far from accurate. Just as you wouldn't enter an open tuning GT6 room with a stock FRS on Comfort Softs and expect to succeed, such will be the case as you progress in real life. However, you may find you can jump into your random public session(local event) and be competitive in untuned cars off the recommended list(stock worn components). That's the closest I could describe it relating to the game haha.

That's where the decisions come in later on, but for now just keep enjoying yourself and obtaining more seat time. As you may now realise folks also codrive. It may not be as apparent at the local level but a significant number of cars have more than one driver. As you may find locally others may offer you to drive their car, and that may extend to other events as well.

 

[carracerptp]

Just catching up on this again.

Good to see you have gotten a small taste of the difference even a low level of prep can provide. The Miata responds significantly to certain changes in different ways than other cars do. Being nearly 20 years old and appearing mostly original even new stock shocks would be an improvement. I'm not in the business of putting hard number gains on specific modifications as they all affect each other and many respond differently to different course designs(for example, having those double adjustable degassed pimpshocks make huge differences in transitions like slolams, but won't gain you the same on a sweeper heavy course). As you progress you'll find much more that even the little things matter(shocks are a big thing, for perspective). Even missing a tenth in each element from equipment adds up to multiple seconds at the end of a run.

The first section of this course layout was really the biggest places that showed my cars shortcomings. It was a big slalom but my car really couldn't keep up.

Being familiar with your driving I am not surprised at your findings driving others' cars. You'll becoming increasingly aware that really fast drivers coupled with really fast equipment aren't necessarily common and I think you'll do better than you expect. I can often of spot that sort of thing.

I'm sort of smiling a little reading the bit about realising that you'll have to spend money to be competitive. That is the nature of the sport. The hobby. Whatever term you choose. You wouldn't show up to a serious GT race without having changed the oil on your newly purchased car? That's maybe what, 10hp on a miata in the game and it can equal whole seconds per minute on track. That's not unrealistic. That's not far from accurate. Just as you wouldn't enter an open tuning GT6 room with a stock FRS on Comfort Softs and expect to succeed, such will be the case as you progress in real life. However, you may find you can jump into your random public session(local event) and be competitive in untuned cars off the recommended list(stock worn components). That's the closest I could describe it relating to the game haha.

I always figured I could "learn" how to drive my car well enough to make up for it's shortcoming but after riding/driving in that car I really saw just how hard that would be. I'm sure it could be done when all the stars align ( everyone in my cars class has bad day and I have a great day ) but I just can't see how I alone could "drive" the car to make up the difference ( even if I ran a perfect run with triple my current skill level ). I also asked the guy that drove my car, he said my car was not capable of it ( even of hitting a 49.XXX on this layout ), mainly because of the shocks then tires.

That's where the decisions come in later on, but for now just keep enjoying yourself and obtaining more seat time. As you may now realise folks also codrive. It may not be as apparent at the local level but a significant number of cars have more than one driver. As you may find locally others may offer you to drive their car, and that may extend to other events as well.

Yep, we have codrivers / 2 driver cars. It would be fun to have some co-drive in my car or theirs. Then I could have a 99% equal time to compare with

As I typed this I remembered my main goal of doing this, have my real life car pace match my virtual car pace and have fun doing it. So far I feel at almost each event I'm moving towards that goal ( my 2nd event was fun but my driving was worse than my 1st... so 50% goal achieved on that one ).

I just need to keep that in mind. That will help make the wait for the koni sports and sticky tires easier ( it will be a few events before I can get them ). And it's not like my car isn't still fun to drive in it's current state

 

[Marcus Garvey]

You have a good perspective. Just keep getting more seat time and having fun. I wouldn't go too crazy spending money if your goal is simply to build skill, because you can do that with any 'adequate' equipment. I drove slow cars in various racing venues for years and learned a lot from it. I still prefer stock cars for instructing, because not only are there fewer setup variables but everything comes at you slower. Much slower than say a Formula Ford or Legrand B Modified. This provides you more time for your brain to make the necessary calculations(inputs needed) for the various options(different lines) in front of you approaching a given element as well as more time to conduct the judgement required(deciding which line/how to execute) to select one of those various(line) options. That is one of the reasons the miata is considered a great learner. That, along with the nature of the car to respond in a traditional manner to traditional inputs as well as the ability to improve the car as you progress your skills through different classes.

As I said before prep is a necessary part of a successful effort at the higher levels, because further you move along in the sport the higher the bar is. In a small pond you can overcome some lack in equipment, but at the top when 1st-5th can be separated by a couple of tenths or less; the preparation becomes more significant. I've won an event by .009 seconds before. A close friend of mine has lost a national championship by .002. It is difficult to even conceptualise such small intervals, but it is round 2 inches at the finish. When there is $ on the line you do not want to be able to blame anything but yourself for the result. Again, for now just enjoy yourself, meet some cool people and learn a few things. You have a lot of time on your side.

 

[carracerptp]

I spent 10 hours saturday helping the local group run their autocross school, they needed people to help with the course work ( AKA picking up the knocked over cones, they had a lot ).

When lunch came we ( the volunteers ) got about ~40 minutes time on the course. It wasn't in the "autocross" configuration ( still setup for the school sessions ) so it was more like an obstacle course than an autocross.

Everyone got to sit in on the classroom sessions so it was great getting them and course time for free! , plus 2 future events free.

I had a lot fun watching the groups improve. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The bad part of the day was when I noticed my car won't shift into 2nd or 3rd happily. It has been doing this randomly for the past week now and I think it might need a shifter rebuild. It also could be the transmission oil I used because on hot days it shifts nice and smooth. On cool days it is a 50/50 chance it will shift like junk.

So far ( except for the AC ) everything that has gone wrong on this car is a cheapish repair I can do myself. If I was taking it to a shop for the repairs I would have had to think twice about getting this car

I'm planning on some major suspension work next year. My goal is to get the car like new in regards to handling. Ball joints, bushings, shocks and maybe OEM springs.

 

[carracerptp]

Someone posted some pictures of my first event ( thanks to apexpix ), finally I have a shot of my car moving!

http://www.apexpix.net/p993133413/e1c060dcf



Also, that cone was not the apex of the curve

 

[carracerptp]

I thanks to an instructor letting me borrow his go-pro I have video of one ( my best ) run from 15th!




:disclaimer: I had 3 hours sleep the night before so I wasn't really in my best form.

For some reason I had a case of "I forgot how to do this" again. I was really slow in my first 2 runs, then I had drive my car and that showed my what I "should" be doing, then I drove REALLY badly in my next run but at least I was pushing the car.

On my 4th run ( video above ) I had an instructor again riding side and I felt like I started getting again. It was a 53.2 but really I should have been hitting ~52.2. On my final run I was caring a lot more speed and having to keep it off the limiter in 2nd so I feel I was good for that 52.2 but I over cooked it in the turnaround. I was trying to use the same brake point but I was going to fast for it. Hit cones and lost time then messed up the trip back.

Still happy to have a video of my 1 good run, so far it looks like I need to be smoother overall with smaller input like I was told, I was messy and late getting into the section by work area 3, and I was late setting up for the last turn. Also I was over slowing the car, something I thought I stopped doing after my first event. I really didn't need the video to tell me but it confirms it.

This was an ok run overall, great when compared to the runs I did before it. Still I feel I was a lot better at the 18th event. I wasn't messing up the basic stuff as much then, in my best run.

Now my car will hopefully have new shocks before the last event of the year. I can get new Bilstein shocks at a really good price

 

[carracerptp]

Between cooking and eating turkey I got a chance to wash the car today.

 

[carracerptp]

Last autocross of the year this Saturday

Pre Flight checks are getting started. The bad news is I decided against new shocks because my transmission is so "odd" it has me worried. One day it is fine, the next day it feels like I have no clutch or synchros. Both the slave and master have been replaced so I figured it's best I hold out on anything major until I'm sure I don't need any critical expensive parts.

I can autocross on old shocks but I can't autocross without a running car

 

[Brutaka]

Just wanna say that your Miata is beautiful, I would kill to have one.

 

[Pootis]

It looks very nice 👍

 

[carracerptp]

Back from another autocross, car was fine all day

If in doubt, flat out convertible top down.

The drive up was foggy but for the most part it was a fun and safe ride. After reaching the air strip the fog was still hanging.

It made the first course walk interesting.

I wasn't running in the early season but I did get my car ready, I'm going to need to start factoring the cost of tape into my autocross budget.

The fog lifted during the drivers meeting, by the end of the first group the sky was bright.

At the last event I talked about getting a gopro and one of the drives offered to bring his old one for me to use. I didn't think he would remember but he did! Here are my timed runs of the day



I finished 4th out of 12 cars ( in my class ), I figure not bad considering my shocks and tires. I'm still making many small mistakes as you can see in my runs. They are costing me and I really need to "clean up" my driving. After that ( and shocks ) I think I'll start extracting some times good for podiums.

 

[Ronald6]

Well done. 👍 Congratulations on such a high finish. It's obvious you felt more confident on the later runs.

If I tried to launch my Legacy like that my clutch would go Kaboom. Love the sound of the squeeling tyres on those tiny cars. Never gonna happen with my car.

 

[carracerptp]

Well done. 👍 Congratulations on such a high finish. It's obvious you felt more confident on the later runs.

If I tried to launch my Legacy like that my clutch would go Kaboom. Love the sound of the squeeling tyres on those tiny cars. Never gonna happen with my car.

I pushed it a bit much but I baby the car everywhere else so I think it will be fine with the wheel spin. I was actually trying to get a clean launch but my clutch is nearly binary when it comes to bite.

 

[carracerptp]

Just wanna say that your Miata is beautiful, I would kill to have one.

Please don't kill me

Thanks.

It looks very nice 👍

Thanks.

:edit: sorry double post, forgot about that rule.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

What is the clutch doing that has you troubled?

 

[carracerptp]

What is the clutch doing that has you troubled?

When I push the clutch in it acts like I didn't push it in all the way, but only sometimes. It has a new slave and cylinder, and both aren't showing any signs of leaking. The problem is it won't do it every time or even every day. For 2 days it will shift nice and smooth, then on the next day it shifts poorly every other shift.

Also the clutch pedal catches REALLY high up in the travel ( it's nearly a switch ), it makes trying to get a clean hill start or a quick take-off very difficult.

Also, I did a comparison between my runs that are about 1 second apart and found most of my time was made in the start and the first "chicane" or slalom. Also I need to push the car more and have more confidence in the grip in my early runs.



Sidenote: Even flat out, a miata looks slow.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

When I push the clutch in it acts like I didn't push it in all the way, but only sometimes. It has a new slave and cylinder, and both aren't showing any signs of leaking. The problem is it won't do it every time or even every day. For 2 days it will shift nice and smooth, then on the next day it shifts poorly every other shift.

Also the clutch pedal catches REALLY high up in the travel ( it's nearly a switch ), it makes trying to get a clean hill start or a quick take-off very difficult.

Also, I did a comparison between my runs that are about 1 second apart and found most of my time was made in the start and the first "chicane" or slalom. Also I need to push the car more and have more confidence in the grip in my early runs.



Sidenote: Even flat out, a miata looks slow.

Push the clutch in and hold it, and keep then engine at around 2k rpm. With the clutch held in and the engine held at 2k rpm shift back and forth between 1st and 2nd gear and see if has trouble getting into either gear. The likely culprit may be the clutch. The high grab point does suggest you may have a new clutch in your future. When the car idles in neutral does it make any noises from the bellhousing area?

 

[carracerptp]

Push the clutch in and hold it, and keep then engine at around 2k rpm. With the clutch held in and the engine held at 2k rpm shift back and forth between 1st and 2nd gear and see if has trouble getting into either gear. The likely culprit may be the clutch. The high grab point does suggest you may have a new clutch in your future. When the car idles in neutral does it make any noises from the bellhousing area?

I'll try that test today.

Also the car in neutral doesn't make any noise.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

As well, let me know if the difficulty shifting is apparent in all gears when it occurs, or just in certain gears. Also if the issue seems to occur during specific conditions(temperature, running time, etc).

 

[carracerptp]

As well, let me know if the difficulty shifting is apparent in all gears when it occurs, or just in certain gears. Also if the issue seems to occur during specific conditions(temperature, running time, etc).

1st 2nd, and sometimes 3rd, will have the problem. 2nd is by far the most frequent.

4th and 5th are always smooth.

It seems to happen more often if we have a temperature change ( don't seem to matter if its warm to cool or cool to warm ). Nothing major though, about 15 degree differences. I'm not if that's really enough to effect the car.

It seems more likely to happen the first time the car is used that day. But I have had it do the exact opposite a few times ( shifts fine all day only to start acting up at night ).

When it's not having problems it shifts very smoothly.

 

[carracerptp]

Push the clutch in and hold it, and keep then engine at around 2k rpm. With the clutch held in and the engine held at 2k rpm shift back and forth between 1st and 2nd gear and see if has trouble getting into either gear. The likely culprit may be the clutch. The high grab point does suggest you may have a new clutch in your future. When the car idles in neutral does it make any noises from the bellhousing area?

Today it was shifting fine so it is probably not a good test. I tried this a few times and it never had any problem getting in or out, to or from of 1st or 2nd.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

I would bet the clutch is on its way. It would be rather odd for the synchros in 2nd and 3rd to give up at the same time(but not impossible) and if it were the transmission it wouldn't be intermittent. Reading that you recently changed the gear oil also eliminates the notion that old/poor fluid might be a part of the cause. I might give the transmission fluid level another peek just to make sure its right but my suspicion is the clutch itself is on its way out. With the mileage on the car; if it hasn't been done I'd put it near the top of the list anyway. Reading up on some of the prior posts in this thread also lends me to that same conclusion.

 

[carracerptp]

Update:

Bad news, it's now smoking on start up on some mornings, it stops after a few minutes but I don't like it. I may be doing a rebuild sooner than I wanted to...

Also the clutch is working for the most part but now it is REALLY hard to get a clean launch with, it either slips like mad or grabs and holds.

Needed a new ( ok, non-hackish ) PCV hose so I got one at the dealership.

I also have new front rotors that will be installed soon:

I have been trying to take advantage of the only good weather in florida so I have been driving around to all the local parks recently and racked up the miles. Almost time for another oil change.

Also I did another autocross, huge course ( the fastest cars didn't go under a minute ), fun but I just wasn't doing well. Ah well, I'm hoping the budget holds for the new shocks this month unlike last month.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Have you tried adjusting the clutch pedal travel?

 

[carracerptp]

Have you tried adjusting the clutch pedal travel?

Yes, I'm trying that tomorrow.