Hi all, new member on the forum, but not totally new to Miatas. I am currently working on building a 1999 NB1 into an endurance car for LuckyDog/ChampCar racing on the west coast (if Champ ever returns to the west coast). This is actually going to be my second turn endurance racing a Miata. I had a team of friends running a 1994 NA8 in ChampCar where we raced in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.in the upper Midwest before I changed jobs and moved cross-country. We don't intend to turbo this build, but you may see me popping into the race prep, driveline/suspension, and general Miata chat subforums to chat about non turbo related topics.

I bought the NB1 as a running street car, so I have a fair few parts I'd be willing to sell as well. Once I meet the post limit, I'll post up on the classifieds.

 

Welcome, always good to hear of more Miata’s in the heavily bmw biased lucky dog group.

That being said, you should totally race prep a e46 m3. WAY more expensive, but so much better.

where on the west coast are you located?

 

I don't think an E46 is going to be in the cards any time soon mostly due to cost as you pointed out. Plus the Miata is just a riot to drive 11/10 for full two hour stints. Either way we'll try to be a thorn in the side of the "bigger" cars.

I'm in Gilroy, CA, so I'll be looking to hit Laguna, Sonoma, Thunderhill, and maybe a few others that are more of a drive.

 

I think you'll find you're fairly consistently classed in "B", which is still really fun and competitive.

Years ago we campaigned a NA with MCS suspension, aero, fuel cell, and ~175hp. We stopped when we had a DNF while still running well outside the top 3. Took 2021/2022 off to turbo charge the engine, add some fuel capacity, and ended up doing 2023 in Trans Am. We may make it back this July to Portland.

Our shop car was a BMW e46 330 with ~250hp, MCS, aero, big cell. With decent amateur drivers and no mistakes, we stayed close to the superdog time and finished top 4 during both races at the Ridge, and 3rd both races at PIR last year.

Problem with a Miata is you can be a thorn in their side in the corners, but then they'll motor away on the straights. Any leg up you have under brakes is just catching back up from said straight away.

Don't get me wrong, LD is fun and an awesome group to race with. But there's a formula that works, and it puts Miatas in a lower class.

 

Is LD that much faster than Champ? With our beat up NA8, we would generally run just outside the A class podium positions and had a hand full of overall top 10's. Even had two shots at a class victory, but one race we lost a lap when a full course yellow was thrown just as we had completed a stop from the lead under green and the second when the fuel pump let go as we were again leading in class. It certainly depended on which of the "fast guys" showed up, but regardless we were usually able to run towards the front of the pack with no aero, engine bolt-ons with the stock ECU, and just some suspension mods.

Maybe speeds have also crept up in the two years I've been out of it. There were always the people like the Sahlen's Boxsters/Caymans, Ralph and the V2 Motorsports Miata, etc. that were head and shoulders above the rest, but I don't have the time or resources to compete with teams on that level anyways.

 

At Laguna (2024 pavement), you'd need to run consistent 1:42-1:43s.

At Sonoma (2023 pavement), you'd need to run consistent 1:53s.

These tracks are now 1-2 seconds faster than you'd be used to.

When I say consistent, that means while in traffic, for 1:55 minimum. That time is the hard part in Miatas, you'd most likely need a cell once you have enough power to do the lap times.

Pit stops are mandatory 5 minutes (sometimes 10 minutes with lots of entries and/or small pit lane), so if you have to make an extra stop because of low fuel capacity, consider that a 2-4 lap loss.

Edit: check out times here to compare to what you might of done in the past: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Organizations/247264

I would say LD is closer to WRL than champ.

 

Interesting. I guess it makes sense that LD would trend faster with the rules being more open especially in terms of power. I feel like the Champ rules really threw a lot of points at significant power mods which kept straight line speeds in check.

Not that I'm anywhere near this phase of the build, but do you know any go-to Miata engine builders / dyno tuners down in my area? I do have a Haltech ecu from another project that I'm planning to move over to the Miata to get a decent baseline tune with intake/header/ maybe a cam. For the first season I'll probably leave internals alone if the engine is reasonably healthy.