As mentioned in another thread, my attempt at getting myself an FK-8 Civic Type R went a little sideways. Instead of a sensible hot hatch, I ended up relieving Carmax of an ND2 Miata that was the spec that I should have bought instead of the 2016 Launch Edition I owned for a couple of years (and incidentally sold to Carmax). So what we have here is a 2020 ND2 Club, manual (of course) that had a bit under 23k miles on it when I got my hands on it.
The test drive was funny in an "of course" sense - when I test drove the Type R, I got to the first roundabout near the dealership and thought "ooh, I like this". When I got to the same place in the ND2 - which is only a few hundred yards from the dealership - my thought was "yep, that is the one". So I traded in the SAAB, transferred the plate and set of into the rainstorm that masqueraded for sunset. I have to say, the whole process - which included multiple cars shipped to the local Carmax for test drives and all that - was really smooth, no pressure after test driving multiple vehicles, just a "hey, we want to make sure you find the right car". Big thumbs up there.
Anyway, here it was last weekend when I took it down a couple of my favourite roads to a nice state park:
It has spent its life so far in Texas (in/around Pflugerville) and the underside is cleaner than the topside of the car. I actually checked - the shop that does state inspections and maintenance on my vehicles was happy to let me poke around underneath it on their lift. Cars this clean is not something you see that often around here, but one of the reason I looked at Carmax, because that allowed me to ship cars from dry states.
Handling was rather squirrelly on the way back from the dealership in the pouring rain. After letting 8-9psi out of each tire, it's calmed down a bit but either the alignment is off or it's been aligned to for really quick turn in. You know, like someone may have autocrossed it in the past - it steers a lot more noticeably on the throttle than the ND1, and it's a bit tiring to drive as a result. Fun, but I probably have to get the alignment looked at because the other option it that the wheels made contact with some foreign objects and as a result the alignment is a bit off.
So what's the plan? Right now, it is depressingly stock but I'm trying not to evenly distribute it around the garage quickly, so I'm trying to keep the mods reasonable. Yeah, right. So far the rough plan looks like this:
- Get rid of the "Texas Tint". Not only does it make the cabin feel more claustrophobic, it also doesn't help with visibility out the sides when it's dark. Not a fan.
- Sort out the alignment at my preferred race shop
- Yeet the annoying engine noise tube and plug it
- Install the FM door bushings
- Change all the fluids, and as part of that potentially replace the diff cover with the OS Giken one that has 2x the capacity
... then probably take it to an autocross or two because some of the other parts will have more lead time.
Stage 2 is going to be:
- Get and install the Aurora Designs seat lowering bracket
- Order a rollbar - very likely a Blackbird Fabworx, which is what I had in my last two NAs and I've always been happy with the quality. Not sure if I want the RZ or the GT3 bar yet
- Possibly a brake upgrade - this is a "base model" club, so it doesn't have the Brembos. My thoughts are either the FM Stage 2 Little Big Brake kit or fitting OEM Brembos, but I want to check how I get along with the stock brakes first.
We'll see how this plan survives contact with reality.
