"MPGiata" modding thread: aiming for 50 MPG with a 1990 Miata. Update: success, 55 MPG!

[MetroMPG]

... when you're pricing a water pump & timing belt kit for your summer turd-mobile.

The pump started leaking pretty spectacularly the week I put it away.

Crap! I just realized I have both a winter beater and a summer beater. That's not how that's supposed to work.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Titanium

Yes, that helps since I always considered buying a Miata to daily drive.

I'll post an update once I get my 3.63 rear end installed and my car tuned for lean cruise on the highway. I'm expecting high 30's (provided I can stay out of boost lol) but we will see.

[MetroMPG]

First engine start of the year happened this week -- and it fired right up!

(I needed to move the car .... and couldn't just push it where it needed to go. I tried!)

I'm not planning to put the car on the road any time soon. Will do the water pump in June or July.

[MetroMPG]

I saw my Miata-owning buddy this evening, first time this year. His car is out of storage and the top was down.

He's got a factory tonneau cover for me that he never uses. (I may have posted about this before?)

It's gotta help aero a tiny bit. I'll tuft test it of course to see if there's any attached flow.

[Grinder74]

If the tonneau cover is not solid, maybe you can raise the center behind the seat for a downward slope?

[MetroMPG]

It's not solid -- vinyl with clips etc. But it's a fairly tight fit when in place, going by memory of my aunt's Miata from back in the day.

I'll see what the wind looks like and go from there.

I predict it's generally going to be a turbulent hot mess. Possibly some organized flow on the outsides. We shall see. (I'm not actually planning to press the car into service for a couple more months.)

[Grinder74]

I did some crude test the other day. I raised my hand all around to see where the air turbulence is and is not. I was surprised how high and far back I could reach before I hit the passing air flow. The sides came in near the seats. I have a 2003.

[MetroMPG]

Ooh, good tidbit. That's what I figured.

You should make a garage entry for yours so we see it under your username/info:

Your Garage: [ Add new vehicle

[MetroMPG]

I pulled the car out of (indoor) storage last night, and holy crap! A lot of the interior plastic/vinyl surfaces had mold growing on them!





The steering wheel in particular was super gross -- a fine green fuzz all over it. I wore work gloves to move it.



The last time I'd checked on the car was in May, and it was fine. I'm not sure what happened since then.


This is a car I was planning to neglect in terms of cleanliness (reformed car neat freak here!), but I just spent 45 minutes wiping down every inside surface with a bleach/water solution. Still need to vac/shampoo the seats. This is NOT how I want to be spending my time!

[Stubby79]

Windows up the whole time?