Do you have details on what Ford has been doing? Note that the KPC isn't enough rear brake to induce yaw, it's not stability control.
Do you have details on what Ford has been doing? Note that the KPC isn't enough rear brake to induce yaw, it's not stability control.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
None specific... but the speaker at the seminar said specifically that they were applying the inside brakes "to make the car corner flatter". That made my BS-o-meter needle jump because whether it increases or decreases ride height on the inside depends on how much antidive the suspension has or doesn't have.
And here 10 or so years later, almost the exact same words from Mazda.
This was not a performance car application... think Explorers and Flexes. I'll see if I still have the handouts.
Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:maschinenbau said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Nice taste :)
I like that. Too much of a slob to live with white seats though.
Also, have you had an issue with dye from your pants rubbing off on the seats? Ive seen several manufacturers run into this. There is even a "blue jean dye remover" product that is offered.
No stain or dye issues yet at 5k miles. I wear jeans every day to work and treat it like a typical DD.
I have no idea what Ford does with my Focus RS, but I can tell you the thing chews through rear pads, and it's not braking that's doing it. I get about 35,000 miles out of a set of rear pads, compared to about 60,000 miles out of a set of front pads. OEM pads. It uses the rear so much in normal street driving that I'll often have brake dust on the rear wheels, but not the front.
maschinenbau said:Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:maschinenbau said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Nice taste :)
I like that. Too much of a slob to live with white seats though.
Also, have you had an issue with dye from your pants rubbing off on the seats? Ive seen several manufacturers run into this. There is even a "blue jean dye remover" product that is offered.
No stain or dye issues yet at 5k miles. I wear jeans every day to work and treat it like a typical DD.
Yeah, nothing worth noting on mine @ 5k.. I don't wear jeans, I exclusively wear Dickies brand work pants, generally black, grey, or tan.
Berck said:I have no idea what Ford does with my Focus RS, but I can tell you the thing chews through rear pads, and it's not braking that's doing it. I get about 35,000 miles out of a set of rear pads, compared to about 60,000 miles out of a set of front pads. OEM pads. It uses the rear so much in normal street driving that I'll often have brake dust on the rear wheels, but not the front.
The brakes on the focus are whatever ford calls the "electronic limited slip diff." Basically, every time you cut the wheel and get on the gas at the apex, it's applying one of the rear brakes (and probably front but not as much) to act as an anchor and cause your car to pivot tighter around the back corner, fighting the natural understeer.
WonkoTheSane said:The brakes on the focus are whatever ford calls the "electronic limited slip diff." Basically, every time you cut the wheel and get on the gas at the apex, it's applying one of the rear brakes (and probably front but not as much) to act as an anchor and cause your car to pivot tighter around the back corner, fighting the natural understeer.
Even on the RS with its trick diffs that are supposed to do that the real way?
KPC sounds like the same thing as G vectoring control, something that Mazda has been putting on its other cars for about 5 years?
And I've heard talk of an ND3 with redesigned looks.
Berck said:WonkoTheSane said:The brakes on the focus are whatever ford calls the "electronic limited slip diff." Basically, every time you cut the wheel and get on the gas at the apex, it's applying one of the rear brakes (and probably front but not as much) to act as an anchor and cause your car to pivot tighter around the back corner, fighting the natural understeer.
Even on the RS with its trick diffs that are supposed to do that the real way?
Oooh, I might be mixing it up with the ST.... I think that's what my friend had that went through a set of pads every 3 or 4 sessions...
In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Ahh, yeah, the FWD system on the ST with all that power means they've probably got to do everything they can to fight torque steer. The fancy AWD system in the RS seems like it shouldn't need brakes for torque vectoring in the rear... But it's definitely doing *something* to eat up the rear pads.
CyberEric said:KPC sounds like the same thing as G vectoring control, something that Mazda has been putting on its other cars for about 5 years?
And I've heard talk of an ND3 with redesigned looks.
G vectoring is a different critter, it's basically a slight lift of the throttle on turn-in to shift weight on to the front axle. Note that KPC isn't yaw control, although I suspect there might be some subtle torque vectoring going on as a side effect.
Don't believe a single thing you read in the enthusiast press about future Miatas. Nobody at Mazda will talk, but there are clicks to be had. Before the ND came out, I was at a presentation with the lead stylist. He put up a slide of all "scoop shots" that had been published and basically pointed and laughed.
Will there be an ND3 with some restyling? Maybe. The platform probably has about an 8-10 year lifespan, which means it has only 1-3 years left. Does it make sense to tool up new body panels? The final NB facelift lasted 5 years. The final NC facelift lasted 3. The NA was correct from the beginning 
All that makes sense. Thanks Keith!
New colors are irrelevant in the context of the ND. Red is the correct choice. ;)
amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) said:New colors are irrelevant in the context of the ND. Red is the correct choice. ;)
I really do like the Soul Red in bright sunlight, although I wish they reserved that color for the Miata and didn't spray it on what seems like the entire lineup. That dark blue on the RFs above is verrrrry nice.
amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) said:New colors are irrelevant in the context of the ND. Red is the correct choice. ;)
I agree. But Soul Red isn't Red. It's a reddish-metallic thing that looks orange at dusk.
The dark blue does look better in those photos than I thought it would--I thought it was the same blue-gray as before. Sad that it's only available on the GT package, though.
Now, if they did this in the US, I'd buy one tomorrow.
Just wrap it. Protects the paint and you get the color you want.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Yep, just need to fork up a few extra grand in cash after you already spent $30k on a vehicle.
Yup. Or you can keep telling Mazda they haven't come out with the perfect color for their inexpensive rwd manual sports car so you're just not gonna buy one. Yeah, red, but not THAT red because it's used on ALMS prototypes and SUVs and it's too shiny.
Seriously, the shape of the ND rewards metallics. Hard high saturation non-metallic primaries like classic red and Smurf blue blow out all the surface details. It's like an Elise that way, and check out the Lotus color palette. So it's pretty unlikely you'll see that sort of color in the color chart. If you have decided to nail yourself to the mast of some randomly chosen color, you may have to put your actual money behind your preference.
I've been harassing Mazda for fun bright colors for the ND for a long time. Me, I want a bright blue. Metallic is okay, I basically want the blue version of their red. Lexus has one in their lineup. I've come to accept that if I want that color, I'll have to make it happen myself.
I'm not telling them they haven't come out with the perfect color, I'm telling them that an entire pallette of white and grey for a sports car is dumb. I'll settle for any fun, bright color. I'm happy with metallics, but a metallic beige isn't it. Just looked at the Lotus options, and almost all of them are exciting colors. Their metallic red is red, and doesn't look like it's going to turn orange-brown on a cloudy day like soul red does. A bright metallic blue sounds perfect! Since I'm not in a rush to buy one, waiting around and rewarding them for doing it seems like a better plan that just complaining that it doesn't exist. I don't think you can get a good metallic color in a wrap, either.
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