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Volume 26 Issue 10
October 2015
What’s Inside
Page 2 “Controlled Over-steer” continued
Membership update
Page 3-4 Upcoming Club Events
Page 5 2015 Regional Events
Page 6-7 Stories, Event Report & SJ photo
Page 8 “Not So” Technical Report
. Page 9-10
Another Event Report
Page 11 Funny Stuff?
Page 12 Advertisers
Page 13 Halloween
Controlled Over-Steer … By Tom Lewis, President
Last month I wrote about replacing the worn-out shocks and bump-stops
on our new-to-us ’95 M-Edition Miata. When we purchased the car with
80,000+ miles on the odometer, it wore its factory-original shocks and rock-
hard bump stops that had the rear suspension bottoming out against the
chassis on medium-size bumps in the road, particularly with two passengers
in the car. A 3-day shipment from Rock Auto dot com delivered a set of new
KYB Excel shocks and new bump-stops to my door, and provided me the
opportunity to get intimately acquainted with the underside of the M Edition.
I learned a lesson about paying attention to directions after installation of
the shocks and reassembling the suspension. The lesson was learned while
driving in the Rally for a Cause last month when I found the back end of the
car did not feel too well-planted. It was confirmed in a sharp left hand turn
taken while off-throttle when the back end lost all grip and began to rotate on
me. I somehow managed to steer into the rotation and catch the car before it
spun out, and kept it moving forward. I knew then that something was not
the way it’s supposed to be. Upon my return home, I reviewed the
instructions and found that before tightening the bolts that attached the sway
bars to the end links, the car must be flat on the ground, with the car’s full
weight on the suspension. While I had done this on the front sway bar, I did
not do it for the rear. This apparently had the rear sway bar preloaded,
making the rear a bit lighter and more prone to losing traction. Five more
minutes under the rear of the car, loosening and retightening the end-link
bolts while the car sat on the ground was all it took, and we were back to
Continued on page 2.
The Official Newsletter of the Indy Miata Club
See page 4 for the registration form to our 2015 annual Christmas dinner/party.
The Holiday Party Committee asks all Christmas party
attendees (and anyone else who wishes to) please send us a
picture of yourselves when you were a child. Please include
your name and the decade when this picture was believed to be
taken. Send to Editor@ indymiata.org, or K. Crouse, 7001
Peacock Lake Court, Plainfield, IN 46168. Scan and email is preferred.
These pictures will be integrated into our “Ice Breaker” exercise at the party.
(No dartboards will be involved!) Please consider this ASAP. Thx.
Indy Miata Club Officers
2015
President Tom Lewis
Vice-President Ken Koehler
Treasurer Ken Rabbers
Membership Director Darlene Evans
Secretary Joan Rabbers
Website Editor Sara J McBride
Newsletter Editor Steve Crouse
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 modi-fication tips expressed are to be used at the reader’s discretion. Individual contributors and/or the editors express no approval, authentication, or en-dorsement. Thank you.
Page 2 Open Road October 2015
Controlled Over-steer, cont.
normal!
All of this experience under the ‘95 M emboldened me to show some love to
the poor, neglected 2001 LS sharing garage space with the M Edition. After
hearing about the merits of sway bars, even with a stock suspension, I began
educating myself on sway bars, and which ones might be the best for me, and the
stock suspension on the ‘01. Sway bars act to keep the car flat in a corner, making
the car more responsive, and complimenting the already great handling character-
istics of the Miata. A bit more research online and I settled on the Flyin’ Miata
Sway Bar kit for $199, which includes larger and stiffer bars for both front and
rear. Plus, they are both adjustable to suit your needs.
Installation was simple and straight forward, requiring the removal of the
plastic under-tray beneath the engine compartment. (This thing has a “million”
bolts to unscrew, so a power drill with the appropriate socket attachments comes
in handy. Ok, so there’s only about a dozen or so bolts, but while simple to do,
screwing and unscrewing them by hand is just tiring and monotonous! Dealing
with the under-tray is always a pain – seems like wrangling it on and off took half
of the time to do the entire job in front!) Once past the under-tray, it’s two bolts
each on two brackets holding the sway bars, and one bolt on each of the end links
attaching the sway bars to the lower A-arm on the front suspension. Same applies
to the back, except no under-tray to deal with. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezie! Out
with old, in with the new, thicker, stiffer bars!
The verdict? Not sure why it took so long for me to do this easy and,
relatively, inexpensive upgrade! The effect is immediate and very noticeable. The
car corners flat and the steering is ultra-responsive and instantaneous. I simply
cannot wait to get the car on some serious curves, and not just those “Carmel-
Curves”, the dreaded roundabouts (an auto insurance agent’s nightmare – I speak
from experience).
I’m sure hoping to get the car out soon and not have to wait until the much-
anticipated Annual Hidden Drives in early November. Rain, cold, snow… well,
maybe not snow, but any other kind of weather won’t prevent us die-hards from
attending this now famous and traditional final drive of the season. Sara J never
fails to reinvent this annual event, making it seem new each year, even if you’re
driving 2012’s route in reverse! But let’s not wait that long! How about someone
out there in Indy Miataland go to the Routes page on the website and pick out a
route to rerun while we still have some great top down weather? Leaves will be
turning soon… there’s lots of good routes in, around and through Brown, Morgan
and Monroe counties! Come on, let’s take a drive, people!
Membership Update: 96 members.
Welcome New Members !
Anton & Michele Cabellon
Dean & Sheryl Stine
CLASSIFIEDS
FREE Miata Magazines from Fall 1989 (premier issue) through May 2001.
Full set of all issues to the first contact to make arrangements for pick up.
Contact Gary Collings 317-873-4224.
Page 3 Open Road October 2015
Upcoming 2015 Indy Miata Club Events
October 2, “French Lick Concours” - CANCELED
November 7, “Hidden Drives” Rally
December 5, IMC Christmas Dinner-Party (See page 4) We will again this year have the “Steal a Gift” gift exchange. If you want to participate, bring a
“creative” wrapped gift (of about $15-20). Questions? Contact [email protected] .
If you are thinking about organizing an event for the club, please report the date to Event Coordinator, Ken Koehler ASAP.
Contact him at [email protected].
Page 4 Open Road October 2015
Regional Miata Events in 2015
Page 5 Open Road October 2015
Here are some of the regional Miata events scheduled for the balance of the 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.
October 1-4, Zoomin’ in the Fall, Tri-Cities Miata club This will be an organized social event, laid back, fun runs, good food, great scenery, fun times with old and new friends.
October 2-4, Silver Jubilee Celebration, Sacramento Area Miata Owners (SAMOA)
October 3-4, Miatas at Mazda Raceway 2015
October 8-11, Surf 'N' Safari 2015, San Diego Miata Club
Page 6 Open Road October 2015
A Tall Guy’s Review of the 2016 MX-5 Miata By: Scott Hrbacek (6 ft. 5 in.)
Gateway Miata Club
The new ND Miata has arrived in town. I had seen photos posted on Facebook about Bommarito Mazda on
Manchester MO having one in the showroom, so we went to look at it on August 1st. As many have seen in
photos, it is a visually stunning car, especially in the Launch Edition Soul Red hue, but I was there to see if I fit
in the new car. I had some grand aspirations, with the new redesign, but all were dashed when I attempted to
get into the car. With the top down, headroom is obviously not an issue, however, knee room was! My right
knee crashed into the dashboard right at the Engine Start/Stop pushbutton. No adjustment of the seat could
give my knee any “breathing” room.
With the top up, things got even tighter. No further seat adjust-
ment could get my head away from the fabric of the soft top. The
seat simply does not go back far enough, nor recline enough to ac-
commodate one as tall as I. No big deal, as I understand that new
regulations require more and more safety equipment, one of them
being the roll bar hoops behind the seats. I would have to say that
the maximum height of a driver to be comfortable in this car will be
6-3. It appears to be a well thought out vehicle and many people will
enjoy driving it. We will stick with our 2002 for a while, as it works
wonderfully for us.
I am Having a Love Affair with a 25-year Old By Fred Hecker
July, 2015
If you thought, “you did what”, you are not alone! Some of the responses go from raised eyebrows, the big
eyes, a wistful smile, “I’m jealous”, or other expressions, and then wonder what it’s all about. Since I’m an
octogenarian and have been happily married for 58 years, people look at me with envy. I am sure you have
been wondering who “she” is. Here are some clues. The 25-year-old is a “red” head. She looked
exceptionally lovely when Jimmy Buff-it’s spruced her up for the birthday event. She even went topless on a
get-away trip. Also, she performed automatically, but not with the turbo power of some of her younger
siblings. All in all, it is a great experience to have a love affair of this type.
About the author:
My wife, Alice, (the “parent”) is the owner of our 25 year-old
“red head” Mazda Miata, and I am the chauffeur. Our “young gal”
now has under 50K miles. We hibernate her in the wintertime.
The model year 1990 was the first year for the Miata (also now
known as MX5), a two-seat convertible sports car.
We are proud to have an Indiana Historic license plate in
celebration of her 25th
birthday.
Our original 1990
was totaled in front of
our driveway. Our present Miata is our second “arrest-me-red”
1990, and we are its third owner.
We have been members of the Indy Miata Club since 1990.
This article is a modification of our original contribution in 2011
to The Open Road, “I’m having a love affair with a 21-year old.”
Page 7 Open Road October 2015
A “selfie” from S.J.
Rally for a Cause: National PKD Foundation September 5, 2015
The group met at Billy Creek Village for a scenic tour of the
Parke County Covered Bridges, re-using an existing route
created by Roger Burrill. We had thirteen cars participate and
collected rally fees totaling $250.00. The entire amount was
donated to the Indianapolis Walk for PKD (Polycystic kidney
disease) on Sept 19.
As we headed out, top
down, the weather was
hot & humid under partly
sunny skies. We stayed together as one group…most of the time. At
our second stop in Bridgeton, many of us enjoyed Wright’s ice cream.
As with many IMC rallys, we ended our drive at a restaurant, The Beef
House in Covington, IN. The AC was a welcome relief, the salad bar
was plentiful and the rolls were delicious!
Thanks again to all who
participated!
Dar & Jeff Evans
Photos curtesy of Eric Drumwright.
Our “Not So” Technical Page
Page 8 Open Road October 2015
Experience sharing, from Bill Walters
This may be old news to you veteran Miata owners, but I just went through an experience I thought was worth
sharing.
My rear end (well, the mx5, not me) had developed a whine over the past 7 or 8 months. I had my local
technician look at it and test drive the car during a service interval check up and oil change. They agreed there
was noise from the rear differential and found a service bulletin for me. I contacted the dealer (Skillman
Westside). After checking the bulletin, they had me bring the car in. It took a couple of days for them to drop
the rear differential, photograph and confirm with Mazda, then get the new part and replace it. What a
difference in the way my Miata runs! Smoother, quieter, tighter - it's like a new vehicle. I'm in love all over
again.
I hope this information will be useful to any member that may be having a similar experience.
Page 9 Open Road October 2015
Fireworks weekend in St Louis By Steve Crouse, with addendum by Kathy.
I could begin this report by telling you how hard it is to plan a
weekend trip out-of-town, but it’s not really – assuming you have
crazy Miata friends in the location where you are headed. But let me
digress:
A couple of years ago we learned about a large, charitable
fireworks event in the St Louis area for police K-9s called PAW
Stoppers. The description by our St Louis friends persuaded us to
make the weekend trip, taking along a few of our Indy Miata friends.
We were NOT disappointed. It was fantastic! Unfortunately, we
missed these fireworks last year, due to a date change and scheduling
conflict. We swore we wouldn’t miss it this year.
We were pleased to have 10 other Miatas join us on this year’s
trip, several who attended in 2013, and some new members too. Plus, as usually happens when we head for St
Louis, the Gateway Miata Club makes special efforts
to see that we have lots to do during our visit, in
addition to the fireworks exhibit.
We arrived at our hotel on the southwest outskirts
of St Louis about mid-afternoon on Friday,
September 18. No sooner than we had registered and
unpacked, Gateway members began arriving in
anticipation of a drive and dinner for the evening.
Our longtime StL friends, Connie Welsh & Mike
Thompson had planned an evening drive taking us on auto-ferries across two rivers with dinner at a riverside
restaurant in between. Dinner was followed by a moon-lit tour of some twisty local roads before sprinting
back to the hotel to get some sleep for the
next day.
Early the next morning following
breakfast, we met drive leaders (also Gate-
way friends), Keith & Marci Monteith, who
led us on a drive, initially passing through a
local wildlife sanctuary, and over many
winding roads in the far west area of St
Louis. However, while the bulk of the group
carried on, a few of us broke off from the tour and headed back to the hotel for a quick lunch and a little rest
before our departure for the fireworks of the evening.
At an appropriate time in the afternoon, we headed for the farm where
the fireworks program was presented. It’s difficult to describe the extent
and beauty of the pyrotechnics this show presented. I will post some short
videos on our website for everyone to see, and, hopefully, find some
YouTube links to more professional videos of the show too. Keep checking
our club Photos tab for additional photos and videos.
Even though the day had been very pleasant, when the sun went down,
because it was situated in a farm valley, it became rather chilly for the
show. We had been warned that it would cool off, but we were very
thankful that one of our member/friends brought along some extra blankets.
It would have been very uncomfortable otherwise.
Continued on page 10.
Page 10 Open Road October 2015
Continued from page 9.
After the 2+ hour show was over, around 10 PM, we all raced for the hotel and some quick sleep before the
final leg of the weekend on Sunday morning.
After breakfast the next morning, we followed Connie, Mike and Gateway
president, Brian Buchholz, on a tour eastward of Illinois territory. Illinois’
reputation for flatness was confirmed although we did manage to drive some
interesting roads closer to the Mississippi River. Our drive culminated at a
pleasant restaurant along I-70, known as the home of “Mile High Pies”. The
food was great!
With lunch over, it was time for us to “hit the road” for home, the long
drive across Illinois and western Indiana. Yes, we were glad to be home, but
we had a fantastic weekend to remember for a long time. I’m betting we do it
again next year.
Many thanks to Connie, Mike, Brian and all the Gateway friends we got to
see again. Maybe we can talk them into coming this way next year.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Right off the bat” St. Louis Gateway Club gave us Moonpies,
moonlight reflecting on the Mississippi/Missouri Rivers… and ferryboat
rides! The ferryboat operator apologized for the moisture on the off-ramp
that required one of our members to have to “peel out” to make it up the
incline – sure, sure, sure! That had to be the reason for all that sputtering
rock!
The Gateway Club arranged for us to be greeted by The Lone Elk in
Lone Elk Park. How did they arrange that?
Our hearts were warmed by the beauty of Saturday
night’s fireworks. Our bodies were warmed by the FIRE
BOMBS! Wow!!! Great Balls of Fire! And, alas, Steve &
John found out they were not VIPs – “the authorities” said
they weren’t allowed in the special tent!
On Sunday we had the fireworks ash swept from our cars
by THE PREZ of the Gateway Club!!! (Those California
dusters are great. Thanks, Brian.) Indy folks learned that there is a place flatter and with more perpendicular
roads than Indiana. And small towns! Now we can say we’ve been to Millstadt, Smithton, Mascoutah,
Trenton, and Highland, Illinois! But Highland takes the Cake! Ooops. Actyally, it was the PIE! Giant, “Mile
High Pies.” The meringue had to have been 6 inches high! Yum!
Page 11 Open Road October 2015
FUNNY STUFF ?
Just think about it for a while.
Which one is the
“water Miata?
A Notre Dame fan, a Purdue Fan and an Indiana fan were standing on top of a
mountain. They were all good friends except during college football season
because of their rivalries. The Notre Dame fan said he was going to show
that he was the biggest Irish fan in the
world by jumping off the mountain. So he did. Then the Purdue fan declared
that he was going to prove he was the biggest Boilermaker fan in the entire
world. He then pushed the Indiana fan off the side of the mountain.
A police officer pulled over a Buick that
was going 87 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. He was surprised to see a little old lady
barely tall enough to see over the wheel. He said to her, “Ma’am! Do you know
how fast you were driving?” She calmly
replied, “I almost had her up to 90, sir.” The officer asked her why she was going so fast in a 35 MPH zone and she replied, “I was just trying to follow the rules of the road.” And the officer said, “What?” She
replied, “I was going 35 and then the next sign said, ‘Speed Zone Ahead’.”
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 31 North @ 169th Street Westfield, IN 46074 800-891-3056
Page 12 Open Road October 2015
INSURANCE GROUP
Tom Lewis
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 e-mail Indy Miata Club member Tom Lewis today!
317-984-9228 [email protected]
Have a few dollars invested in upgrades? Ask about Agreed Value Coverage for your Miata!
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.
Page 13 Open Road October 2015
