Okay, I’m back from my summer hibernation with this Miata project…
I was notified by the Motor Vehicle Division for a renewal of my registration and was required to do the emissions test again. Doh!
I went out for the first time with the Miata in quite a while – approximately a couple months of inactivity with the vehicle. Before I went out, I had the oil changed, and cranked it to get it all lubed and ready to kick some ass during the fall and the winter. I took it out for a spin, and man, it still feels great. The motor is kicking like a newborn baby just coming out.
Okay, moving on to the real issue today, emissions. I decided that I would take the risk of taking ALL the emissions crap off the Miata, except the carbon canister for the fuel vapor return (the emissions folks are gonna be using this to test the pressurization of the fuel system). I have a smog pump delete. I still have catalytic converters on.
I arrived at the emissions station and waited my turn. As I propped up the Miata on the dyno and followed protocol. This kid – some 22 year old kid running the test station was giving me the “oh my god” look at having a Cobra V8 in my Miata and just rambling about it. So, finally he gets ready to conduct the test, I tell him, “Dude, be easy on the gas…” He shrugged it off as if he hears that very often. We’ll name him Jose for now.
Jose sat in the vehicle and gave it a test feel, he gave it too much gas and engaged the clutch too quickly and the car literally jumped out of the dyno even if it had wheel stop blocks on the front wheels. He gave me that “oh s–t” look.
I yelled at him (it was already loud from the engine) saying, “Dude! I told you!”
So he conducts the test on the dyno following this dyno “trace” line. Jose was all over the place like he was unable to control the beast. The car’s limited slip differential (LSD) is keeping the car from fishtailing and remaining straight (this was a problem last time because I didn’t have LSD before). The test fails. He says, your car failed. I tell him, no way, you’re gonna do it again because you did a pretty crappy job of staying on the line. Jose responds with, “It makes no difference.”
I responded, “F–king hell, it makes ALL the difference in the world.” So, the shift manager, Juan (another 22-23 year old kid), comes by and wanted to know what was the problem. I explained the situation so he takes over the second test. Same thing as Jose. Crap test. So both of them tell me, “Your car is FAILING the test!” I then said, “You both sucked at staying on the line!”
Robert, the station manager came out to see what was going on. A chubby hispanic guy, seemingly in his late 40′s or early 50′s, comes out and wants to know what the commotion was about. I explain it once again. Robert says, “Oh okay, yeah it makes a difference if you’re all over the line and not staying on the line.” I was looking at the two young guys, and said, “See…”
I ask Robert, “Have you had any experience driving a muscle car with stick shift?” Robert replies with a perplexed face and hesistantly responds, “Yeah… I have. I’ve had a Mustang since ’72.” I quickly responded, “Okay! You drive.”
PASSED! Robert handled that motor like a champ. Robert gets out of the car and says… “Holy s–t… This car’s motor feels like a ’72 Mustang with a big-ass cam.” Then looked at me, and asked, “Kid, did you build this thing?” I said, “Yup, you bet.” He responded, “You did a hell of a job. I’ve built my share of small blocks and big blocks and this is among the best built.” He then added, “My God, I’m impressed on the throttle response all the way through all gears…”
Hint: When hitting high RPM’s in a delicate situation, shift to the next higher gear to stabilize the engine’s behemoth torque to throttle response so you are not surprised.
The numbers were slightly higher than the last time which shows you how big of a waste of space those emissions components are.
