Dallas Man in need of (relatively) cheap & effective track tool
 

I am Chris, and I like to race things, but I have worked myself into a corner.

Why a miata?
I have a 2008 Mazdaspeed3 that I daily drive and have used as a track tool in the past, but its been nearly two years since I have been on the track and it itches like a rash. I love the speed3 as is, it makes a great daily, but its a 375whp (330whp on my road course tune) front wheel drive beast that with that much power, gets classed into TTB or higher, which neither myself or the car will be competitive in. And as much fun as wrestling the wagon around turns is, I really want to get into something RWD and lighter.

So I am in search of something that isn't my daily driver that I can drive to the track (HPDE & TT events) and have fun with and learn in for now with minimal changes, but with room to grow in the future. My only fear is with a sticky miata in stock power, not learning good habits with throttle control, which is something I had issues with on motorcycles.

Why this forum?
Because I have been lurking miata forums for a long time and this one seems to have the best collection of track rats, turbo or not.

What miata am I looking at?
Been browsing 1999-2002 6 speeds. These seem to be the sweet spot for stockish potential and future capability. Mostly the beefier 6 speed and the torsen LSD are the reasons, though I can't lie, aesthetically I like the lines of the NB better than the NA. Open to suggestions though.

Here is what I need though: I am looking for someone in the Dallas area that has an NB, with a roll bar, race seat & side mount rails or similar that I can plant my ass in with a helmet on for a broomstick test. I am 6'5" with a 37" inseam, and I want to make sure that I will be able to pass safety in my very own miata should I purchase one. It would suck to find out after purchase and modification.

Nice to see you finally make it over here.... or finally post up perhaps.

Miata of the day?

Welcome.

I hate to say it, but I bought my NB because I like it more than the NA as far as looks goes. It's also a bit harder to mod the NB over the NA.

If I could go back, I probably would have bought a NA though. I just purchased a six speed transmission from a guy in Houston for 425. So I got it for a helluva a deal, however I'm having issues with finding the right rear end for it. NB's have a 4.3:1, and a 4.1:1 which is pretty high, adding the six speed in the mix doesn't make it any better.

Whoops, anyway, NA's are cheaper, and easier to mod. Especially since MS is readily available in the classifieds, whereas I, (I've got an 03) finding a used MS for my year has been virtually impossible.

Ziggo, congrats on signing up at the best site on the web!

I'll be at MSR-C the first weekend in September. HDHCSD with (for now) stock seats. There will almost certainly be others there with race seats installed.

MOTD is a good looking 1990 with a hardtop.

1990 Mazda Miata Red 5 Speed Manual Low 67K Mileage

I probably would not buy a used MS unless I was the one taking it off of the car it was just running on. Just too many ways it can get messed up without being able to tell with a visual inspection.

Do you regret getting the NB over an NA and would actually do it differently if you had a chance?

Stock seats and I have no chance, I can't get my knees around the steering wheel, but it would be a good datapoint as far as the height goes. I may show up anyway to see what else is in the paddock, the big course at MSR is a good time, that actually the last course I was out on. Brake fluid overheating, clutch slipping, coolant temps creeping up above 220* and oil temps exceeding 260* is what convinced me that if I needed a dedicated track toy. Solving all those problems on the MS3 would make is decidedly not daily driver friendly.

Well the NA is more mod-friendly in my opinion. Again, with the NB, it looks so much better than the NA.

But the issue with the NB is that returnless fuel system, and being obd II compliant. NA not so much.

I run Kirkeys with the rear bolted straight to the floor and it get s me under my HD M2 Sport with just a little to spare. 6'1"

My buddy did a 2" drop floor on his driver's side for his headroom.