Some news:
*I sold the turbo Miata. I put barely 1500 miles on it this year, most of that was miles to and from the two track weekends I did with it. Between the 1LE and the Triumph Daytona I wasn't feeling excited about the Miata anymore, so off it goes to a new owner.
*The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's are really great for street driving. I got them in stock SS 1LE sizes, 285/30-20 and 305/30-20. Funny enough the fronts are made in USA and the rears are made in France. In any case they have great cold temp grip (for a max summer), and actually really great rain fording ability. It's been raining seemingly nonstop the past 3 weeks and the tires have been perfect. So, if you need a street-only 3-season tire, this one is recommended. I have no plans whatsoever to track these, I'll get another 19" setup in spring, likely the OEM ZL1 1LE rolling stock.
*Back in late September I took the car on a fall color tour up in Michigan's beautiful Leelanau peninsula with a small contingent of the Michigan MINI Club. It was a fantastic weekend, here are some sample pictures:
Untitled by
Ryephile, on Flickr
Untitled by
Ryephile, on Flickr
Untitled by
Ryephile, on Flickr
I really liked how the dust from the rock driveway impressed upon the tire, plus the really great lighting shows off the paint very well.
Untitled by
Ryephile, on Flickr
*Finally, some technical information. Here are the caliper temp stickers after 8 "days" on track. They stabilized once I did a couple sessions with the ST-43 pads, which I have to say are a really great match for the car. The stickers are showing a very light browning of the 450°F square up front and a solid browning of the 370°F square in back. These are fairly hot, especially up front; I'd like to improve the brake cooling in the near future. You can see the "1" in the 1LE logo is now golden instead of silver.
Untitled by
Ryephile, on Flickr
Untitled by
Ryephile, on Flickr