Even at 250whp, with proper suspension and some sticky 15x10/245's and brakes, that car is going to put a hurting on most street cars in the twisties.

Might want to add a radiator and coolant reroute to the list of parts.

OP, have you been in or driven a turbo miata? The power feels very different in a miata because it's literally a thousand pounds lighter than an STI...

The TSE kit has some pretty remarkable power delivery/response so it'll likely feel much faster than a build with similar power but slower spooling turbo.

300rwhp feels fun and fast in a wrx/sti. 300rwhp feels kinda terrifying in a street miata...

When I first drove my car after turbo, at around 190-200whp, one of my initial thoughts was that 300 whp must be absolutely freaking insane.

Yeah, which is why it makes sense to get a setup that can do well with stock internals and also has the ability to support 300-350 like the EFR. All the headroom you need and you can do the supporting mods as you get there or buy a separate block to build up. That way you can build up as you get used to things as well.

There's always something/someone faster haha.

fixed.

driving something like that anywhere near its limits on public twisty roads is too fast.

I honestly prefer my S2000 for backroads drives. With so much less power and grip I can take it to its limits at relatively sane speeds.

For additional insight on how good miatas are in twisties... My miata kept up with ^that guys^ s2000 in the corners, and I have 195 snow tires on.

When I had 205 RE71R tires, I drove absolutely as fast as I could dare (sometimes uh many times the speedlimit) around tight corners extremely dangerously, and I NEVER could get the tire temps past 115 degrees. Those tires hit maximum friction at 180 degrees.

Also, 18psi... we discovered that there is no where in the rpm range where a miata is faster than an S2000. We did multiple tests, starting at 2000rpm, and ending at 6000 rpm, to keep the s2k out of vtec, and the it was faster even without vtec. I didn't have a passenger, and the s2k had a passenger and a sub in the trunk...

even 2000rpm to 7000 rpm and me flat foot shifting, the s2k pulled ahead a half car between 6k and 7k.

so shifting both cars at 6k the stook still pulled away?

lol! Yep, I also don't like to push it real hard on the higher speed sweepers. But those Xidas really make your car very very capable despite the tires, finding grip where my car wouldn't.

There was one race where we were dead even though right? I think it was with both of us shifting at 6000 RPM. But if I'd been without a passenger (200 lbs) and subwoofer (25 lbs) I'm quite sure it wouldn't have been equal any longer.

The race where we shifted at 7k was the real eye opener. The s2k pulled considerably, and I wasn't flat foot shifting, and I still had another 1000 rpm at my disposal....

I must know... did you get that from me? :laugh: I haven't seen anyone else call it a stook.

Obviously.
And that was my whole thing before: it didn't feel faster until you went into MAD VTAK BRO!! territory
Also you have the much better midrange and gearing ap2. But either way, no biggie.

Indeed, I do have the AP2, which is something we talked about in that other thread. But Marcello's Miata isn't stock either, what with a flat top and MS3. And I had another 225 ish pounds of extra weight above an s2k with driver.

I do think his Miata would have fared better without the 3.6 diff, haha. So it wasn't totally scientific, but it was fun anyway :)

I misremembered, it was even, but I had taken stuff out of the miata, and he had the weight penalty. I also forgot about the final drive difference. So maybe it would still be even, if I had the stock 3.9 final drive, and the s2k no passenger.

Basically now I want an s2k... that shifter is sex. That's what I want my miata to shift like... also, my clutch master cylinder was failing during that trip, and went out completely yesterday, clutch feel is better now lol.

I thought you had the MR shifter? Never drove an S2000 but I can't imagine anything better than the MR setup.

it is a whole lot better. there aren't many cars that shift as nice as those

I actually sold the mr shifter, I had many problems with it. OEM shifter with 5xracing shift bushing feels much better, and doesn't transmit 120Db of flywheel rattle after 5k rpm.

Ask any automotive reviewer/editor/columnist/author what the best manual shifter they ever felt is, and they ALL say S2k. Unless they've driven the Ferrari F430 gated shifter manual. The s2k shifter and linkages are so good, its hard to really comprehend without driving it. The oem shifts are short, very solid, positive, you can shift BLINDINGLY fast, never grinds, doesnt have the double clunk feel like the miata 6 speed does as the collars are going over the synchro, it holds 700wtq without modifications.... I mean, I've only driven it for 30 minutes, and i think about it every time I shift my miata.

I love my miataroadster shifter on my Miata. But it's very different from the s2000 shifter. I would definitely say the s2000 shifter is still better.