I've not driven competitively on snow (well, there was the Jeep bowling incident, but that's best left to legend), but as a former denizen of Central Colorado, I've put close to 100,000 snow miles on my Miata. The Chaffee County snowplow turned around in my driveway, so I could generally drive it year-round and let my Jeep sit until roads up to the good places melted out in summer. For winter tires, I ran Blizzaks or X-ice, size 175/65/14, pumped to about 20 psi, very cold. I tried to get driveway string alignments as close to zero toe and camber as possible, and I'd set the yellow Konis fully soft. Other than that, the suspension stayed the same as for summer autocross. The behavior of the car was just beautiful! Now that I live in South Carolina, I no longer drive on snow. For one thing, the meager snow we get here is sloppy and icy. Plus, nobody here, including me, has snow tires and almost nobody has a clue how to drive in those conditions. I miss Colorado winters; I don't miss snow tires much. }}}}
I have always kept my NC Club on the road in winters but not when there is snow accumulation. It gets full of salt from wet roads but with the good body wax-sealer and under carriage treated by Krown, I have no rust whatsoever. I drive it through salty conditions in Michigan at least 20 times a season.
My 1.6 miata had around 10 psi of oil pressure at idle after I did a 6500 rpm shift. It was good while driving just low at idle, oil was good when I checked 2 days ago. What are some things I should look at first? Running 5w30 valvoline restore and protect and it is getting below freezing at this point.
My 1.6 with 160k on it drips to only a few lbs at idle once it’s fully warmed up but jumps over 20 with any revs. I run half 5w30 and half 20w50 Valvoline VR1
The first thing to do is to verify the oil pressure with a known good mechanical gauge. If it confirms low oil pressure, you could increase the viscosity but you don't want it too thick or it won't be able to squeeze between the bearings. Mazda is pretty forgiving with hot oil pressures and I think the book is OK with around 15 at idle. Shoot us an email and I'll have time tomorrow to dig into the manual at the shop.
We use magnesium chloride and lots of grit in Colorado. But Keith's lived and worked in Ontario, which uses salt like NY does. It's not kind on cars, but driving a Miata even in the salt is more fun than not driving a Miata! A good undercoat helps a lot.
I've not driven competitively on snow (well, there was the Jeep bowling incident, but that's best left to legend), but as a former denizen of Central Colorado, I've put close to 100,000 snow miles on my Miata. The Chaffee County snowplow turned around in my driveway, so I could generally drive it year-round and let my Jeep sit until roads up to the good places melted out in summer. For winter tires, I ran Blizzaks or X-ice, size 175/65/14, pumped to about 20 psi, very cold. I tried to get driveway string alignments as close to zero toe and camber as possible, and I'd set the yellow Konis fully soft. Other than that, the suspension stayed the same as for summer autocross. The behavior of the car was just beautiful!
Now that I live in South Carolina, I no longer drive on snow. For one thing, the meager snow we get here is sloppy and icy. Plus, nobody here, including me, has snow tires and almost nobody has a clue how to drive in those conditions. I miss Colorado winters; I don't miss snow tires much.
}}}}
I have always kept my NC Club on the road in winters but not when there is snow accumulation. It gets full of salt from wet roads but with the good body wax-sealer and under carriage treated by Krown, I have no rust whatsoever. I drive it through salty conditions in Michigan at least 20 times a season.
My 1.6 miata had around 10 psi of oil pressure at idle after I did a 6500 rpm shift. It was good while driving just low at idle, oil was good when I checked 2 days ago. What are some things I should look at first? Running 5w30 valvoline restore and protect and it is getting below freezing at this point.
My 1.6 with 160k on it drips to only a few lbs at idle once it’s fully warmed up but jumps over 20 with any revs. I run half 5w30 and half 20w50 Valvoline VR1
The first thing to do is to verify the oil pressure with a known good mechanical gauge. If it confirms low oil pressure, you could increase the viscosity but you don't want it too thick or it won't be able to squeeze between the bearings. Mazda is pretty forgiving with hot oil pressures and I think the book is OK with around 15 at idle. Shoot us an email and I'll have time tomorrow to dig into the manual at the shop.
Living in upstate NY the idea of getting salt on the Miata terrifies me. What do you use in Colorado?
We use magnesium chloride and lots of grit in Colorado. But Keith's lived and worked in Ontario, which uses salt like NY does. It's not kind on cars, but driving a Miata even in the salt is more fun than not driving a Miata! A good undercoat helps a lot.