13Shadows

Welcome to my intro thread. My name is Greg and I am from Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm 30ish, married, and I work as a chemist. I bought my Miata in the fall of 2010, and have modified it into a budget autocross weapon over the course of owning it.

Here is the "Zero" in mostly it's current state:


Short list of modifications:
Megan Racing Coilovers 10kg/6kg front and rear (I know, these are garbage)
Racing Beat tubular front sway bar with blocks and brace (race version)
DIY coolant reroute w/ CX Racing radiator
König Dial In 15x9 with 225/45 Hankook RS4s
OBX Header with MBS Spec Miata exhaust
Hard Dog bolt in roll cage turned roll bar
Treasure Coast fiberglass hardtop
DIY Spoiler and itsy-bitsy splitter
Lots of miscellaneous weight reduction modifications (seats, fixed headlight conversion, etc., etc.)

The car started out completely stock with a plethora of parts catalog accessories.



A little less than a year later I started modifying it. It started out with a mild drop on Racing Beat springs and Koni shocks, exhaust, and 15x7 wheels.



After I started modifying it I started competing in autocross with the Utah Region SCCA as well as various entry level activities at Miller Motorsports Park (now Utah Motorsports Campus). I had to get creative with transporting take off race tires, and at one point even had an aluminum cargo carrier that I would hang off the back.



Autocross has been the main focus of the car a lot of fun, and locally I'm up to at least 29 top ten finishes going off of raw time and have finished in the top spot 3 times. Not much, but something I'm proud of considering it's just a hobby and the crap parts on the car. The car went through many iterations, and I have participated in Street Touring, Street Prepared, Street Modified, and now Prepared classes with autocross.



I'm really trying to develop as a driver, and I feel like I drive this car about as fast as it'll go around an autocross course. My wife also started co-driving with me a couple of years ago after we got married, which has been a lot of coaching her to drive fast and helping her learn the quirks of the car. She's a champ for hopping right into a modified car on race tires (Maxxis RC1's at the time) and going for it. Lucky for her the car only has 108whp.


Adding more power is a long term goal for me, but it has never been a top priority. My wife and I recently bought a house and have plans to start a family, so there are still a million better things to spend money on. Short term goals are just refining the car a little more, better aero, adding lightness, and just seat time. The one thing I can be grateful for with the stock engine is that it has been completely bulletproof over the last 8+ years.



Now that I've introduced myself and my car, I hope to use the forum as a resource for developing the car. From what I've seen here there is a goldmine of information and a lot of very knowledgeable members. I appreciate the no tolerance policy for idiots and spammers, and for that reason I mostly will be keeping my mouth shut. I know a thing or two about autocross, but I am by no means an expert with anything Miata-related. Thanks for taking the time to read through this, and I hope you've enjoyed the pictures!

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you have a good handle on where you are going and what we are all about.

Except that you didn't post pictures of your cats. Even a no nonsense forum needs a little nonsense.

13Shadows

Hmm, a cat tax huh? I don't have a cat myself, but I do have a blurry picture that I took of a former German Parliament member's cat:





My wife and I also like to wear ridiculous cat shirts (often tie-dye) at autocross events, but I'd have to search for any pictures of those.

13Shadows

Thinking of that stay in Germany reminded me of one of my most memorable experiences: driving on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. A friend and I took our BMW 320d rental car for four laps during a Touristenfahrten day and it was easily one of the most intense things I have ever done in my life. Pics:









I obviously don't own those last two photos and the credit goes to the ring-photographers who took them.

It's a pipe dream of mine to drive my Miata on the 'ring, and I can only imagine how some of the top builds from this forum would do there. I highly recommend to anyone who happens to be in Germany to make stopping by the Nürburgring a top priority. It fulfilled a bucket-list item for me, but I still want to go back for more!