Whew, glad to hear everybody got home safely. What a crappy drive with the rain and poor headlights. I think I went the wrong way home because I started seeing signs for Redmond (I made the connection...Redmond = Microsoft = Seattle! = $#@&*%!) which freaked me out so I got onto I-405 North and eventually got home. (I need an in-car compass.) One reason I love going into the US is because I get to drive fast! Our highways here on the island are generally limited to 50 or 55 mph, that's it. Down there, I get to go 80 or more, which is where the car starts settling in. The ride is not supple until 70 mph.
Darren, thanks very much for hosting and for the use of the tools. Thanks everyone for helping out. I can talk about cars, but I'm not very experienced in working on them.
I would say the DMD makes a subtle to large difference depending on what you are looking for. I'm not that used to the SVT (drove it for 1 day before the meet, and about 2 days a week earlier) so I couldn't actually do an accurate comparison.
It makes a subtle difference from 2500 and up when you tip into the throttle at highway speeds to pass. From 4000 rpm under hard acceleration, I don't notice much difference until 6000 when it's obvious that the engine is smoother.
I never hit the rev limiter, but I did today a few times for fun. During the fun run, I did find that the engine was noticeably smoother under engine braking at high rpm. Less vibrations in the clutch pedal. No, I still haven't done the TH mod.
By the way, the fun run was fun, and I'm glad I brought up the rear because I would have held you guys up. When we ran to the cars to chase the Miata guys down, I had my own fun trying to get the camera back in the case and secured so I could drive properly. I think I hit 95 mph on the straights trying frantically to catch up to you guys. I had visions of a night behind bars or upside down in a ditch.
Lance, too bad you couldn't stay longer. I think there were 10-12 Miatas that we chased around. I have pictures from behind the wheel with everybody in front of me. Will post tomorrow. Naturally they are a bit blurry.
Note to self: driving by looking thru the LCD screen on a digital camera is NOT safe!
- Kerry
