Next mod - a bionic leg

Picked up Roxy from Mazda tonight. Got the following:

• Racing Beat flywheel installed
• Mazdaspeed clutch
• Mazdaspeed clutch line
• New clutch oil (5.1 castrol brake fluid)
• New Gear oil

The flywheel is 29% lighter weight-wise and reduces inertia by 55% compared with stock. I didn't know what to expect getting in. Would I stall? Getting into 1st gear was the first hurdle... Man this clutch sure is heavy. The spring shoots the peddle back at you with such clean crisp movement it takes you almost by surprise at first. I didn't stall going out though because the second I touched the throttle the damn thing shot up near 5000 rpms. This is going to be fun!

Out on the road and into Tokyo traffic. No better test. First gear is so light now, the revs are very racey in comparison to before. There is still that low down lull before it kicks in, but boy does it rev up when you floor it. Second was crispy, that new oil feeling, the new clutch line, everything so smooth. Once you're moving the clutch is really nice. It just spring right back out at you everytime. Change - snap, change - snap.

Decided to go for a wee spin. Called over to John who wanted to see the new gauges too. He immediately noticed the flywheels ability to rev and I guess the clutch surprised him 'cause he popped it out while still in gear and almost stalled it onto a nearby pole. Lol!

Out on the road again, I headed down Meguro dori, towards Roppongi and back home. The smell of burning clutch following me about as the new disc bedded itself in. Its so hard not to burn clutch right now. The flywheel is that bit lighter that it makes starting more difficult, the clutch is that bit heavier that it's harder to feather and if you rev at all you end up taking off at 4000 rpms or so. Going to be fun in Tomei traffic jams this.

With the window open, I can also hear a vibration which sounds a little like the clutch disc biting and breaking loose when you get your start wrong and rev to highly on startup while feathering the clutch. I never heard that before, but I think its just because a) its new and b) I'm abusing it with too many revs on startup. Hard to get used to everything at once. That said, I'm not sure its 100% normal so any feedback you have is useful.

Many lights later, my left leg starts to get a little tired. It can get like this usually after a good long day of driving in a jam, but I've only been driving 30 minutes or so. Seems if I drive at all, my left calf is gonna go daikon on me. If I drive occasionally, I'm gonna have to hit the gym in order to work that muscle up. Either that or a bionic leg.

Driving around though, I was smiling. The car now revs like it should. Headers would probably make it even better but for the moment, I have a whole new car to get to know. I'm feeling a 1'09 coming on strong.

PS - John I recommend you get yourself a clutch line. Its very crisp in comparison to the old line and from driving your car the last outing I thought that your peddle felt a little like a frayed brake cable. There is some feedback in it that shouldn't be there or wasn't there on my old cable. The old one is rubber. New one is steel braided. That's gotta be better! That's my feeling anyway.