FoxRox

Oh geez....now someone is telling me and my wife that we can't see better than before with the Silverstars! Try driving a Miata with regular halogens and then the Silverstars, then come back and tell me that. Sheesh! Each to his own opinion...but mine's correct! :-)

I've talked to two different dealers and asked about how the Baja sales are. They said the '03s started off good then died, but there is a big demand for the more powerfull '04 Turbo Baja's. They don't see the Baja dieing off for at least another 2 years, even if sales remain slow, as the '03s did. Let's not nail the coffin shut quite so quick~!

One thing I should have pointed out in my previous post- while hands down synth-oils are the best thing going, they are terrible for any car/boat/plane that is being stored over 30+ days. Conventional oils don't drain completly off the metal surfaces like synth-oils do. If you need to have prolonged engine protection from moisture for say- over wintering a Corvette in storage, etc, drain the synth out and fill with a heavy conventional oil drive it until it's hot and THEN store it...when bringing it out of storage, drive until it's hot and then drain it over night if possible, then refill with syth-oil. HTH!

We have the new Turbo Baja and love it. It handles well, fast and does what we need it to do GREAT. It was the ONLY vehicle at any price that met all of our personal criteria. We have no complaints whatsoever with it. It's a great car/truck and worth every penny we spent on it. It would be a real shame for it to be discontinued, but- on the other hand, if they do- I expect the value of it to stay high. JMHO-

I just posting this same question on Miata Performance mlist. The ice racers in Canada that race Miata's highly suggested Bridgestone Blizzacks, and it was the conclusion of the experienced list members that hands down Blizzacks were the best. I bought 4 and put them on the Miata. We have been in blizzard conditions for the past week here in northern Utah (home of the 2002 Olymics), and my wife drives her Miata thru the snow and ice every day 30 miles to work and back. Not a single problem yet. She is absolutly amazed at how well they work compared to her regular tires. Cost was $95 each. 'Nuff said.

This same topic comes up regulary in every message board I have been on. People take a sample have the oil analysis done and it always comes back the same. *ANY* sythetic oil is better than *ANY* conventional oil. PERIOD! When you get to synth oils (even Castrol Syntec which is a great oil) the differences are hardly worth noting. Yes, the big players are slightly better (Redline, Royal Purple, etc), but not to any great extendt, esp for street use. In racing, any edge you can get is worth it. Long story and discussion short. Use syth-oils, you can't and won't go wrong no matter who the manufacurer is. The oil filter is a big player also. Just to throw one filter out- NAPA Gold, they are among the best and easy to locate. FWIW- in ALMOST every case, most all oil filters are manufactured by the same company and like most companies, they produce good and bad stuff, so this is where you have to trust the name brand. Industrial companies have no problem using NAPA gold filter on their very expensive equipment.

Sunth-oils do a much better job at cleaning dirty engines and keeping clean ones clean. Usually there is no reason to run any type of oil/crankcase cleaner before the changeover. Where syth-oils take a bad rap is when it starts cleaning the dirt in an engine that is clogging up oil leaks. Most oil leaks are easy to fix. There is no reason to not change over to synth oils at almost any mileage, except on initial break in. I just purchased a new '04 Turbo Baja and as soon as I hit 7,500 miles (maybe 5,000) I'm going to synthetic oil (RedLine! or Royal Purple are my favorites) and stock oil filters until I know I have found something better. I've seen MANY Corvette engines pulled down that have always used syth oils (usually Mobile One), and in almost every case, you could still see the original factory hash marks in the cylinder walls. Usually the bearing were in great shape. No significant wear at all internally. (These engines were being pulled down for performance enhancing rebuilds) By all means, if you want to go to synth oil, do so! I always keep my oil change intervals at 7,500 miles nominally. I use syth oils in all my cars, in all areas (i.e.- tranny, engine, p/s, etc.) and have never looked back.

The new Sylvania Silverstars are great! We got them for Rox's Miata several months ago, and it made all the difference in the world. They are about $20 each and worth it. Stock wattage and over wattage by a small bit, depending on application. You will like them for sure. HTH-