Chronicles of Miata Ownership:
I picked up this Miata with aims of creating a good autocross car. It’s my first “project car” and my first time working on cars. I changed all of its fluids, and checked everything. Then “personalized” it slightly by modifying the front license plate mount to sit off center. I did that by bending one of it’s arms and screwing it to one of the baby teeth.
Holds better than you’d think. Then it took it to autocross! What a blast, this thing is smiles every time I chuck it into a corner.
People overlooked these so often because of the limited power. However, with minimal suspension and geometry set up, with reasonable (not over grippy) tyres, the MX5 / Miata was beautifully balanced. I upset quite a few people on track with mine. Smooth is fast!
What do you think the sweet spot is for tires?
I tried sightly oversizing tyres ie wider but same profile. That gave a noticeable grip improvement but at the cost to handling. I personally felt more comfortable feeling the car moving on its tyres. As I used it as a second car for the road, at time either Michelin Pilot Sports or ContinentalbSports Contact worked the best, for me. I am an enthusiast not a race driver, but did domy ARDS training. The best car set up is to the person behind the wheel.
Grats man! If you continue track days I’d definitely suggest checking the tires, if you haven’t already. Nothing worse than an unexpected blowout causing you to crash your new hobby! These really are underappreciated cars. They’re so small and light that doing engine mods has a huge impact on speed. Can’t wait to see your progress! Grats again and good luck on your journey!
Thanks. Those tires aren’t too old and have plenty of tread left. But they aren’t track tires, so definitely room for improvement there.