Another 4 month gap in updates with not much to report. It just works.
I did another performance driving school at Sonoma last weekend. Huge shoutout to SuperMiata for their customer service - I was doing prep on Monday, discovered that I had a wheel bearing that wasn't bad, but also wasn't good, so I sent off a quick email to confirm which shipping option would get a pair of front hubs here in time for Sunday. They got back to me in minutes, so I got an order in around 3:30PM and they dropped them in the mail that day. FedEx told me they destroyed the box, so I again emailed SuperMiata to figure out what my options were and placed a backup order - and then of course, the original set of hubs arrived on my doorstep, in a slightly worse for the wear box but otherwise unscathed. After another email, the backup order was cancelled and all was right in the world.
This time, I signed up for the stage 2 Performance Driving class. We started off with an autocross, then a session of lead follow, then a session that was half lead follow and half solo, then 2 solo sessions. After the autocross I got placed in a group with a 991.1 GT3, a 991.2 GT3, and a Cayman GT4. And my 1992 Mazda Miata... Needless to say, they were a little faster in the straight parts of the track, but I found that I could hang through the corners. I really felt like I was starting to "get" the track by the end of the day, and was having a lot of fun actually remembering what I did the last time I came to a corner and trying something slightly different.
Here's the quickest lap that I have video of - I went a few tenths faster than this in the last session (and ~10mph faster through turn 10) but I forgot to change the GoPro battery. I also came really close to running out of gas!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GFRSmy9gYPQGowus8
This is the 3rd track day that I've done on this set of Conti ECS, plus an autocross. I'm super happy with them. They got a little greasy a few times, but were predictable and easy to drive. It's also finally approaching time to replace my brake pads - I've had this set of Porterfield R4S pads since my first orange Miata in 2014, so I've definitely gotten my money's worth. The only minor issue I had was with boiling my PS fluid - it went everywhere in the engine bay, so I'm going to try changing to some Redline synthetic and possibly adding a cooler.
It's a great car. Everyone should just buy a Miata.