rustyfender

Hello

first things first i don't yet have a miata. i started doing autocross this summer and got hooked. I am in my last year of university and i currently drive a Chevy cobalt that i have put on racing springs and done front and rear sway bars. Its quick on an autocross course, but i would like to get a dedicated race car and after seeing how succesfull the miatas are at autocross i decided to go that route.

I was planning on getting a early 90's one this upcoming summer (i can grab one for about 2500$). i thought id come on here and learn more about the car, what mods have proven effective, where i should start upgrading, and about the car in general.

thenuge26

iTrader: (2)

What mods depends entirely on what class you want to run.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a 94+ one, you'll get the 1.8 and the stronger diff.

rustyfender

noted thanks

Honestly as far as class goes, I'm not rlly going to hold back. On that note I'm not going to go straight to top class. My intent is for me to start with a car thats a bit better than base (sway bars and coil overs done right off the bat) and then upgrade the car farther as i become more experienced at racing.

Turbos are something new for me, not so much the physical install but the tuning. My dad is a mechanic and I've been working on cars since i was 8 so every thing i do i will be doing on my own, since that's half the fun. The exception to that may be tuning it, the catch is there doesn't seem to be anywhere to get it tuned within 1000km of where i live. So I'm not sure what im gonna do for that.

Scrappy Jack

iTrader: (2)

A) Making an effort toward grammar will go a long way around here, especially if you are a university student who speaks English as your primary language. Even our foreigners use decent grammar.

B) Understanding the limits of the autocross class is critical to enjoyment if you decide you want to focus on dodging cones. Some silly, simple modification that you enjoy on your street car can have you running against a field of full-on race cars. Getting your proverbial teeth kicked in at every event will suck the fun out of it.

Being able to place mid-pack or towards the top of a competitive class is a lot more fun.

rustyfender

My apologies for the poor grammer. There is a reason I'm in engineering. I will try harder in that respect.

With regards to the last post. What would you reccomend as a good starting upgrade to be competative. In my cobalt i run middle of the pack times. I would kinda like to have the miata to that point to begin with.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Welcome, rustyfender. Check out the Miata Gallery and post up some pics!

Billycl

Hello,and wecole

Billycl

Hello, Miata world I tried to upload some pics.I have found alot of great info on here and club roadster.I have bought many parts on here and traded a few.I have done alot to my car.I have alot of good mods and upgrades.I know I need to send in some pics.Maybe some one can send me a text to me.I am Billy 205 753 3050.I can then text some pics back and then maybe I can get out more about myself and more important my ride.So far I have a classic red 95 with Jackson racing supercharger,bipes,power cardwalbro,boss fog twin hoop roll bar.I have new recovered seats.I have diamond tuck door cards and beside the center console DIY.nice radio setup, lowered on koni yellows,ISC racing top hats.949 end links,racing beat sway bars.much,much more from Moss,Rspeed,Go Miata,949,Miata roadster,I L motorpsorts.I have so much on my car you would think I was sponsored,by no I was not.I have traded,bought,begged,and made some really neet things of my on.I think every day what more I could do.After all YOU can spent as much as you want.it is limitless what you can do to a Miata.Thanks, Billy from BAMA

dieselmiata

iTrader: (3)

What the ****?

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Not sure if retarded....or.....

rustyfender

well this got interesting real fast hahahaha

Seefo

iTrader: (5)

None really. Good tires are a good start. There is a guy around here who runs a C-stock NC miata and lands in the top 10 FTDs all the time. I realize the NC is the C-Stock king atm, but still he is well beyond beating his class.

It sounds odd, but take your $2000 of starting mods and spend it on: Tires, Roll bar (if tracking the car, probably not worth it for a dedicated Ax car), and track/autocross time. If you got some money to spare, I would get an aggressive set of brake pads.

Beyond that, once you get very familiar with weight transfer, under/oversteer, etc (say 10+ track events?). I would do suspension. If you want, do it right the first time: 949 Xidas, RB hollow front sway bar, + whatever you need to balance in the rear (ie stock or msm probably).

Chiburbian

iTrader: (1)

^ +1

I agree with everything Track said.

I am going to go off of how my club works. Autocross is broken up in to several classes. Early NA (1.6), all else except forced induction and race tires, forced induction. There is something in there about race tires as well.

Here is the truth of it: Top 1/3 of the pack forced induction still loses to the top several stock naturally aspirated Miatas.

The fastest Miatas tend to have good tires such as RS3s or similar, they tend to have decent suspension set-ups, and they tend to have GREAT drivers.

If you are truly concerned about competiveness, spend your money on tires and track time, save your money for a good suspension.

rustyfender

thats basically what the original plan was

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

That was truly bizarre.