New Miata (er, MX-5)

On 26/04/2010 3:02 p.m., Chris D'Agnolo wrote:
>
> "Me" > wrote in message news:hr2ic8$eo9>>
>>> Case in point, I let a guy drive my '04 MSM a couple months ago and he
>>> promptly tried to go into reverse instead of 6th as we took off down
>>> the road...bad noises ensued.
>>>
>>> Chris
>> There's supposed to be a reverse lock out in the transmission so you
>> can't select reverse when moving forwards.
>> That said, I've never been game to try it out to see if it works.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Could be the reverse lockout WAS the bad noise that he heard. Maybe they
> make it sound nasty to keep you from thinking you just haven't jammed it
> in there hard enough, and keeping trying?
>

Heh - I can't imagine that they'd use the sound effect of gears
graunching as an alarm.
I think you aren't supposed to be able to move the shifter to the right
where reverse is. Mine's a '98 (JDM) with 6 speed - I'm too scared to
try it in case they didn't implement that feature on the first
production run.

"Me" > wrote in message > Heh - I can't imagine that
they'd use the sound effect of gears
> graunching as an alarm.
>

i CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING AS EFFECTIVE ;-)
CD
99bbb

> > If you mean NBs, then most n/a 6 spd are 7,000 rpm, JDM models with
> > different intake cam are 7500 rpm.
>
> By Mazdaspeed, I meant the MX-5 Mazdaspeed, which *is* limited at 6500.

Which makes no sense to me because the naturally aspirated version of
the engine in that car has the redline set at 7300rpm. I've hit that
several times in my 97 without ill effect, and did the same in my Kia
Sephia on a nearly daily basis, and that engine had nary a complaint
about being pushed that hard... but those engines were not turboed.

If you go to the hydra nemesis ECU you can raise the redline, but in
the interest of "not-grenading-your-engine" you might not want to. Did
your car come with the little enchilada or the big enchilada from FM?

Chris

> >> Chris
> > There's supposed to be a reverse lock out in the transmission so you can't
> > select reverse when moving forwards.
> > That said, I've never been game to try it out to see if it works.
>
> Could be the reverse lockout WAS the bad noise that he heard. Maybe they
> make it sound nasty to keep you from thinking you just haven't jammed it in
> there hard enough, and keeping trying?
>

I have the FSM for the 6 speed Aisin gearbox, and I see no evidence of
a reverse lock-out. I could be wrong, but my experience with the guy
driving the car who tried reverse at 45mph seems to indicate that it
either isn't there, or isn't working on my car.

As a possible point of interest, it seems there is no reverse lockout
in the 5spd box in my '97 either. However, the G5M that I had in my
Kia -did- have a reverse lockout, and it was easy enough to test it
even with the car off. Clutch in, shift into 5th, then try to come
down into reverse. It won't go. Let the shifter go back to the neutral
position and then try reverse, and it works. If you listen closely you
can hear the lock-out click when you proceed forward into 5th gear. No
such thing exists in either miata as best I can tell. The G5M and the
mazda 5 speed box seem to share a very common design in the way the
shift forks are arranged, the only thing missing is the final drive
which on the G5M is in the gearbox(hence the term transaxle) whereas
the miata puts that back at the rear wheels, i.e. a transmission.

Chris

On 26/04/2010 5:52 p.m., Hal wrote:
>>>> Chris
>>> There's supposed to be a reverse lock out in the transmission so you can't
>>> select reverse when moving forwards.
>>> That said, I've never been game to try it out to see if it works.
>>
>> Could be the reverse lockout WAS the bad noise that he heard. Maybe they
>> make it sound nasty to keep you from thinking you just haven't jammed it in
>> there hard enough, and keeping trying?
>>
>
> I have the FSM for the 6 speed Aisin gearbox, and I see no evidence of
> a reverse lock-out. I could be wrong, but my experience with the guy
> driving the car who tried reverse at 45mph seems to indicate that it
> either isn't there, or isn't working on my car.
>
Yeah - I've got the 6-speed FSM too, and after a quick scan I can't see
anything that looks like a reverse lock-out either. So perhaps there
isn't one...
So I'm glad I haven't tried it out. Must tell my wife.

Hal wrote:
>>> If you mean NBs, then most n/a 6 spd are 7,000 rpm, JDM models with
>>> different intake cam are 7500 rpm.
>>
>> By Mazdaspeed, I meant the MX-5 Mazdaspeed, which *is* limited at
>> 6500.
>
> Which makes no sense to me because the naturally aspirated version of
> the engine in that car has the redline set at 7300rpm. I've hit that
> several times in my 97 without ill effect, and did the same in my Kia
> Sephia on a nearly daily basis, and that engine had nary a complaint
> about being pushed that hard... but those engines were not turboed.
>
> If you go to the hydra nemesis ECU you can raise the redline, but in
> the interest of "not-grenading-your-engine" you might not want to. Did
> your car come with the little enchilada or the big enchilada from FM?
>
> Chris

Little.

Frank Berger wrote:
> My '96 died, as I reported earlier. It was dying a slow death, then the
> engine gave out. I sold the remains today. I suspect it will be junked. I
> also suspect it would pay somone to put an engine into it. I just wasn't up
> to it. Tomorrow, I'm flying to LA to complete the purchase of a 2004
> Titanium Gray Mazdaspeed, 40K miles, with various FM upgrades, driving back
> to Dallas. I toyed with getting a 2006 or 2007 Mazdaspeed6, or even a 2010
> Mazdaspeed3 (they're just too bizarre looking) but in the end went back to
> the MX-5. The only thing I'm a little worried about is whether the 6-speed
> is too much of a pain in the ass in traffic.

Nice choice! Assuming I can afford it, my choices on a newer Miata are
down to the 2004 MSM and "maybe" some variation of the NC.

I am really leaning towards the MSM though, maybe with thoughts towards
a low mileage 5 or 6 year old NC with the PRHT a few years down the road.

Congrats!

Pat

pws wrote:
> Frank Berger wrote:
>> My '96 died, as I reported earlier. It was dying a slow death, then
>> the engine gave out. I sold the remains today. I suspect it will
>> be junked. I also suspect it would pay somone to put an engine into
>> it. I just wasn't up to it. Tomorrow, I'm flying to LA to complete
>> the purchase of a 2004 Titanium Gray Mazdaspeed, 40K miles, with
>> various FM upgrades, driving back to Dallas. I toyed with getting a
>> 2006 or 2007 Mazdaspeed6, or even a 2010 Mazdaspeed3 (they're just
>> too bizarre looking) but in the end went back to the MX-5. The only
>> thing I'm a little worried about is whether the 6-speed is too much
>> of a pain in the ass in traffic.
>
> Nice choice! Assuming I can afford it, my choices on a newer Miata are
> down to the 2004 MSM and "maybe" some variation of the NC.
>
> I am really leaning towards the MSM though, maybe with thoughts
> towards a low mileage 5 or 6 year old NC with the PRHT a few years
> down the road.
> Congrats!
>
> Pat

Thanks. I'm enjoying it. I still have to master the 6-speed. I'm finding
little use for 5th, so far. I've missed gears a few times, which I never
did on the 5-speed. The only negatives are pretty trivial. There really
isn't enough space to the left of the clutch to rest my foot without it
catching on the clutch pedal on the way up. And I have pretty small feet!
And the spot where I rest my right elbow on the console is right on the
hinge of the lid of the second cup holder. So my elbow sinks a little as
the lid raises up. Also, I live in a townhouse and we don't have enough
storage as it is, now I have to find a place for all the stock stuff that
was replaced with the FM upgrades.

It's different than driving a stock MX-5, that's for sure. The extra power
almost gets in the way in traffic. The car just wants to accelerate faster
than you can.

(I said they were pretty trivial problems.)

Frank Berger wrote:
> Thanks. I'm enjoying it. I still have to master the 6-speed. I'm finding
> little use for 5th, so far. I've missed gears a few times, which I never
> did on the 5-speed. The only negatives are pretty trivial. There really
> isn't enough space to the left of the clutch to rest my foot without it
> catching on the clutch pedal on the way up. And I have pretty small feet!
> And the spot where I rest my right elbow on the console is right on the
> hinge of the lid of the second cup holder. So my elbow sinks a little as
> the lid raises up. Also, I live in a townhouse and we don't have enough
> storage as it is, now I have to find a place for all the stock stuff that
> was replaced with the FM upgrades.
>
> It's different than driving a stock MX-5, that's for sure. The extra power
> almost gets in the way in traffic. The car just wants to accelerate faster
> than you can.
>
> (I said they were pretty trivial problems.)

I will have to pay attention to the pedal placement when I test drive
one again. My feet are not that large but they are wide. Makes me wonder
if the pedals can be tweaked a bit towards the passenger side without
causing a problem.

Padded armrest upgrade for the elbow? That is cool that the PO gave you
the stock equipment. It sounds like you found a nice one.

I would have picked it up for you, heh.

Sounds fun!

Pat

pws wrote:
> Frank Berger wrote:
>> Thanks. I'm enjoying it. I still have to master the 6-speed. I'm
>> finding little use for 5th, so far. I've missed gears a few times,
>> which I never did on the 5-speed. The only negatives are pretty
>> trivial. There really isn't enough space to the left of the clutch
>> to rest my foot without it catching on the clutch pedal on the way
>> up. And I have pretty small feet! And the spot where I rest my
>> right elbow on the console is right on the hinge of the lid of the
>> second cup holder. So my elbow sinks a little as the lid raises up.
>> Also, I live in a townhouse and we don't have enough storage as it
>> is, now I have to find a place for all the stock stuff that was
>> replaced with the FM upgrades. It's different than driving a stock MX-5,
>> that's for sure. The
>> extra power almost gets in the way in traffic. The car just wants
>> to accelerate faster than you can.
>>
>> (I said they were pretty trivial problems.)
>
> I will have to pay attention to the pedal placement when I test drive
> one again. My feet are not that large but they are wide. Makes me
> wonder if the pedals can be tweaked a bit towards the passenger side
> without causing a problem.
>
> Padded armrest upgrade for the elbow? That is cool that the PO gave
> you the stock equipment. It sounds like you found a nice one.
>
> I would have picked it up for you, heh.
>
> Sounds fun!
>
> Pat

Actually, a friend offered to drive it back if I bought him a plane ticket
to LA.