Mazda Talk Forums

Depends on your definition of "daily drive". I drive my fully prepped STR car to work frequently. But the roads are pretty smooth around here and my commute is all residential streets (no freeway driving). I do drive it on the freeway though and it's not terrible, but I wouldn't want to have to drive it everyday - especially if my commute was 45+ minutes of freeway driving each way. The muffler drone and firm suspension would be too much.

The only other issues I have daily driving the car is with heavy bumps and entering/exiting steep driveways. The rear shocks have quite a bit of extension so the springs will come off the seats entering/exiting steep driveways, and then drop back on. It makes a not so nice noise when this happens.

I would also think twice about driving in the rain, snow, mud, etc.... Most high-end coil over shocks have threaded shock bodies and exposed adjuster knobs. Road salt and deicer will slowly take it's toll on these parts over time. You could try and cover them to protect them from the elements, but eventually they will get ruined.

Maybe I'm too finicky... but I only drive my car on nice days. Just my $0.02.

You are too finicky.... Ron

I used to DD my CSP MX-5 and loved it. Our STR-light car will also be daily driven.

Ron

Way to go, Ron!

(note to self......never buy used vehicle from Ron) lol!!

Ron has always redefined "used".

Hey now, I take good care of my cars, my tolerance level is just higher than some other people ....

Plus, Mitch is tainted. Not all of us have to deal with salty roads on a regular basis.

Ron

Yes, I can't believe our city has switched to using salt in the winter. (sigh)

My daily commutes are very short - 5 miles each way, no freeway. But I have to be open for longer ones if the need arises in the near future. But the bottom line is, 1. I don't want to make the car unbearable and 2. as some have pointed out, I have a PRHT so the weight is not in my favor - Seems pointless to fully prep this car. Plus, fully prepping the car for STR would be a little (a lot) out of my budget.

Sounds like I'm going to set up the car based on what I want it to be on the road and just Auto X it for fun without hoping to be competitive. If I ever want to really get into it, I'd have to make some changes (likely another older car in the future).

When you get really competitive in AX, the rules dictate what car you buy. You no longer pick a car you like, and autocross it -- you study the rules and the cars, and buy whatever has the advantage, whether you like it or not. Then the following year you do it again. Doing it for fun seems better, for folks who want to actually like what they drive.

I see what you mean Jim.

I would like to Auto X for the experience, but ultimately, my long term goal would be track. HPDE first and then see where that takes me. But of course, I'm not in the position to do that right now. So in the future, it make likely be a different car for that job. Maybe an NA or if I feel like working on it lots, an older 911. Otherwise, I could go the common E30 route.