Miata Mailing List: March 1999, Message #2918

    A preface: This is directed to those of you who know a little more
about your cars then the average layman (like myself).  Of course, those
of you who don't know anything about your car are just as free to offer
advice, though I might be more inclined to ignore it. :)

    Ok, I've been on the list server for a little bit now, and have in
my readings discovered a slew of terms and technologies that I THOUGHT I
understood, but upon closer examination, I realize I am just going on
hunches, guesses, and "thought-I-heard-about-it-once's".  In fact, this
problem was revealed to me while talking to another car-enthusiast
friend of mine (Porsche, sorry!) who had a thirsting for knowledge but
not a whole lot of direction.  We both figured it would be a good idea
to go to the experts (that's you guys).  Anyone willing to take a crack
at these would receive our utmost gratitude.  I have gone through each
one and given what I thought these things meant, but please correct me
if I'm wrong...

POWER SHIFTING:
    What is it?  Is it NOT using the clutch to shift?  Isn't that bad
for the gears?  I know when I don't use the clutch (almost always by
accident), I don't call it power-shifting, I call it grinding your
gears.  If you listen really carefully, I think you can actually
sometimes hear the gears grinding (of course, I do have very sensitive
ears).  It was my understanding that this is bad (read: costly).  Also,
is this done to improve acceleration time since you don't waste precious
milliseconds pressing and depressing the clutch?

DROPPING THE CLUTCH:
    Is this just letting go of the clutch very, very fast (usually in
conjunction with revving your engine up to get a quick launch)?  I don't
see how this can be useful.  When I 'drop' my clutch at 3000-4000 rpm
(from a dead stop), my car usually lurches forward really fast, then has
a momentary DROP of power, like it's choking or something, and then it
continues accelerating like normal.

TURBOS:
    Ok, this is a tough one for me.  I had previously thought that it
was the engine exhaust that powered the turbine inside the turbo.  Ok,
no problem.  But does the exhaust air actually go BACK into the engine?
Or is it just used to spool up the turbine to force fresh OUTSIDE air
in?  Because if that's the case, why bother with an intercooler?  And if
the exhaust is actually going back into the engine, isn't that bad
somehow?  Like, the air isn't clean, or perhaps doesn't have enough O2
for combustion because it's just gone through the combustion process.  I
don't know.
    Anyone trying to answer this question, please don't just say "Go
read Corky Bell's '1001 Ways to a Skin a Turbo'" (sorry, can't think of
the book's title right now -- no offense indended to Mr. Bell).  I don't
want to build a turbo, I'm not going to even start thinking about
installing one until I've accumulated some capital (pay off student
loans).  I'd just like a general idea of how they work so I won't look
like a total idiot when I explain this stuff to my friend.  :)

SUPERCHARGERS:
    Another forced-air question... On one of the more popular Miata
dealer's website it makes reference to the fact that Turbos are THE way
to get air into your engine.  (Don't worry, I'm not starting up an old
debate here, I got a new question).  One of the 'facts' it uses is that
no super-charged car has one a big race in eleven-hundred years or
something.  Apparently, this web site contends, all the guys winning the
races nowadays are using Turbos.
    Well, this doesn't make any sense to me!  Aren't those huge
mother-of-God satanic hot-rods that have fire breathing out of their
engine compartments and exhausts and go from 0 to 60 in less time then
it takes you to sneeze all super-charged?  They win PLENTY of races,
just not the sort that are done on, say, a racetrack.  Do you know the
cars I'm talking about?  They're usually accompanied by advertisements
like 'TRUCKASAURUS!!!  THIS SATURDAY-DAAY-DAAY ONLY-LY-LY -- SEE THE
MONSTER DEMOLISH THIRTY VOLKSWAGON BEETLES".  You got it now?  Those
super-quick, super-short distance hotrods are all supercharged, so
wouldn't that lead one to conclude that for quicker acceleration you
would want a supercharger?  Or is it that you just can't get THAT big of
a supercharger in your Miata without turning it into one of those
ungodly beasts?
    And why hasn't anyone tried to do that yet?  (Shiv?)

SHOCKS:
    I understand the basic concepts of shocks, don't worry.  What I'm
wondering is this: while travelling down one of Boston's terrible roads
tonight, I started to think about how hard the ride was in the Miata
versus, say, a Camry.  Now, if you get some new FancyBrand(tm) shocks
that are super-stiff, doesn't that mean that more force is being allowed
to travel up to the sprung weight (that is, the main car body) and thus
put even MORE stress on the chassis?  Isn't that detrimental to the
car's structure after a while?  Or is the body just so darned strong
that no stupid pothole will ever cause the rear axel to fall off?

    Ok, I think that's it for now.  I'd like to think that this
information will help everyone out there on the net that just hasn't had
the gumption to ask what is assumed to be utterly obvious, but I'm more
inclined to believe I'm really just trying to help out my own sad state
of car knowledge.  Either way, at least one person will be very greatful
for your answers...

Matt the Miateer
'95 White
Team  A Man, A Plan, A Canal: Panama