July - Mazda MX-5 Club of Victoria & Tasmania

much instant surge. When it came to aseries of bends I found myself unsure ofapplying strong acceleration in case itthrew me into the next corner too hard.When discussing afterwards, John talkedof similar reticence but more associatedwith when to apply power on the exit ofa corner if wheel-spin is to be avoided,bearing in mind the roads were moist. I’msure in time all of this will be a forgottenconcern and John will be off into thedistance! The turbocharged SE is animpressive variation on the MX-5 themeand John will have the envious joy ofjuggling which experience to have eachday. (Note: after further running of theSE I’m finding it much more manageable,though I suspect the current tyres areapproaching their time for replacement.)The car swap also gave John the chanceto compare his NA with no suspensionmodifications (apart from a front-strutbrace) to not only the SE, but also my NAwith butterfly brace (see last edition ofmxtra), KYB AGX shocks (set at four) andKing springs. I’ll leave him to commenton that ...John: “I found the braced NA quitedifferent from my normal NA. It’s hard todecide whether or not it’s the suspensionor the brace that makes the biggestdifference, but there is certainly muchless body roll and a marked increase inchassis stiffness. I felt the braced NA waslike a mini SE in lots of ways and it wasfun to drive, feeling very competent in thecorners.”Nubeena is the main centre on thePeninsula with a population of around7,000, but all was quiet as we pulled intothe picnic area. Many headed straightfor the café to grab a nice warm drinkand a bite to eat. When I returned to thegathering there was much discussionregarding the local radio station.Apparently someone had seen ourconspicuous group of sports cars and hadnotified one of the local DJs. He had comedown for a look and, impressed with whathe saw, invited one or more of us back tothe station for a chat live on air! Beingthe Captain and very knowledgeable onthings MX-5, John W was the obviouschoice, bar his quiet retiring nature (!).He took a bit of convincing that it wasn’ta hoax and that all would be laughingupon his return from a nice walk up theroad but, supported by companions Cliffand me, he made for the radio station.We were welcomed to 97.7 CommunityRadio Nubeena by elderly DJ Dan (orwas it Stan?) and his wife. John and I satdown at a microphone each and aftera quick song (not from us thankfully!)we were “on air”. Dan was comfortableand smooth with his questions as wefumbled our way along. John spokeabout the MX-5 and the LWS (lightweightsports car) philosophy, contrasting thatwith “muscle” cars, and how our cars’natural habitat is twisty roads, not theblock between traffic lights. We brieflydiscussed the heritage of the LWS and theBritish marques such as MG, Triumph andAustin Healey. When one listener heardof our Sprite he rang in about his. Unlikea bigger operation we couldn’t hearwhat he was saying and for a momentthere was a bizarre conversation with usshouting to the room where his phonecall had been taken by Dan’s wife and herrelaying his response!!Goodness knows what it sounded like tothe listeners.After a pleasant chat Dan wound us up,thanked us and wished us well for therest of our run. It was an interestingexperience in which we were happy tofurther the cause of the MX-5 and theLWS ethos and complimented themon the service they provide to the localcommunity in general. When we returnedto the group we found that they hadbeen enjoying good food, drink andconversation as usual but also listeningin to the radio, as was a local who hadpassed by shouting “nice Daewoos”!Eventually we started back and severalcalled into The Blowhole near historicEaglehawk Neck. It was more of a swellholeon this calm day and the main threatof getting wet was coming from theclouds above so we headed home afteryet another enjoyable event. ■›lunch atNubeena›The hardy Southern Tassie Chapter members, waiting for “the off”13