Hey everyone,

I've been lurking on here for probably close to 2-3 years but just now realized that I never made an account. I know introduction posts are still important on a lot of forums so I just wanted to make this one real quick. Might be my only post for a while, I've survived plenty long scavenging information without posting to this point as is!

My name is Nathan and I'm in the Richmond, VA area. I've been wrenching on cars for the past 11-12 years or so. I started with Nissans, moved to motorcycles for a bit, came back to cars and am heavily involved with the Mazdaspeed3 world, and picked up my first Miata in 2015. I sold that one shortly thereafter but realized that Miata truly is always the answer so I ended up with another one. My Miata is now currently track only and I will be re-working my way back up NASA's HPDE ladder to get into Time Trial. My last time with any true track time was in 2010-ish though I have taken my Mazdaspeed3 to an HPDE or two here and there.

I've found this forum to be extremely informative regarding both forced induction and naturally aspirated Miatas so I will definitely be sticking around reading as much as I can. I keep bouncing back and forth between whether I want to turbo my Miata or not and I think it will ultimately depend on whether NASA transitions TTE to TT6 after 2018 or not. Right now I've intentionally left the car completely stock to relearn how to drive a light RWD car. Once I get through HPDE I'll have to decide what direction I want to take the car regarding what class(es) it will be built for. But don't worry, you want find any "which exhaust or intake is the best one" or "what parts do I need for a turbo build" type NOOB questions from me! I've already done my research and have mapped out a turbo build for if/when the time comes.

I know everyone likes pictures, so here's a quick shot of what I have going on in the garage right now. The NB1 on the right is the track car, Mazdaspeed3 is my daily driver and Tail of the Dragon slayer, that's a stripped down NB2 on the front left that I bought to part-out or hold onto stuff for potential turbo build, and in the back is a MKIII Supra that I'm building for a buddy to also compete in NASA TT. I also have another Mazdaspeed3 currently in for an engine rebuild. Luckily my car is back together and ready to go for next year already so I can focus on getting that NB2 out of there and get those other two cars built/fixed so I can bring in some cash and get started with modding the Miata!

Thanks for all the information you guys have spent time on, lurkers like me really appreciate it! Back to the shadows I go...

 

mmm heated garage.

 

Welcome to the forum. It looks like you have a good plan for moving forward.

 

Satisfactory entry post, very refreshing. Welcome!

 

Thank you for the welcome!

It is quite possibly the best thing ever. I will never not have heat in the garage now. I'll actually be doing a complete renovation and possible addition of the garage here in the next year or two (hopefully!) so I'll be getting a much better heating solution then, but that little heater works wonderfully for now.

 

Never enough garage space/tools.
Cheers,