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Hi there! My name's Zak and I'm a longtime lurker on this forum and have only posted a few times. I'm a drivability mechanic (air, fuel, spark, emissions) at a dealership in Southern California and have been an avid mountain bike racer for years. This year, however, I've discovered the world of Miatas and have become absolutely hooked on driving mine at the track. Being that I'm planning on boosting my car soon, and will inevitably have even more questions, I figured it was time to introduce myself!
My Miata's a 1995 Montego blue with 191k on the clock. I've had the car for 8 months and have made some decent progress on my build, mostly handling upgrades so far. The story of how I came across this car is kind of an odd one. My coworker inherited the car a little over a year ago and had it towed to our dealership as it was in no condition to be driven on the road. His family member was the original owner of the car but had left it sitting on the side of their house for 3 years after it was in a fender bender in a parking lot. I performed the smog check for the car last May when he brought it in and then parked it in a corner where it sat untouched for several months. One day, it was slow at work and decided to look up how much it would cost to turn a Miata into a track car. Game over. A couple hours later, I was fully down the rabbit hole on the Miata forums. I bought the car off of him a couple days later.
The car when I first bought it (front bumper cover was cracked and sitting elsewhere in the shop).
The car as of last week. The hardtop is back on now.
Putting aside the wear garnered from sitting outside for 3 years, the car was in pretty decent shape mechanically. I had to do some basic maintenance as you'd expect to get it roadworthy but nothing too intensive. I started with replacing the timing belt and water pump, swapping out new wheels and tires, and bleeding the brakes and clutch as both pedals went to the floor without much effect. The first time I drove the car, I knew I was going to be hooked. I've only owned and driven self-built camper vans for most of my life and the driving experience a Miata offers is essentially the opposite of the Ford Econolines and Transits I've owned, haha.
Fast forward 8 months and I've made some decent strides with the build. I'm going to leave out all the maintenance items I've replaced because there's too many to list, but here's the main parts of the build spec as of now:
BC coilovers, Advanti Storm S1 15x7 wheels, 205/50/15 Nitto NT05 tires (Falken RT660's next), MS3x ECU, Racing Beat Tubular Race front sway, extended lower ball joints, braided stainless steel brake and clutch lines, EBC Yellowstuff Brake pads, Hard Dog M1 roll bar, SuperMiata coolant reroute and crossflow radiator, Supermiata "Hybrid" motor mount setup, Poly diff bushings, ACT 9lb flywheel & replacement clutch, Sparco R383 steering wheel and Sprint seat, rear bumper trim, AC deleted and lots of peripherals removed from the engine bay, probably a couple other minor things I'm forgetting...
It's been a fun project so far! Learning to drive the car quick and subsequently playing with the car's settings to optimize it on track has been extremely fun and satisfying. I've focused on dialing in the car's handling aspects mainly so far. No use in having a fast boosted straight line car if you don't know how to brake or corner properly. That being said, I'd like to boost the car ideally by early next year. My power goals for now are to be in the 200-250hp range, then to bump up to high 200s down the line once I've saved up enough to buy and build a new engine and a 6-speed trans. I've got 6-7 proper track days and a bunch of sessions at our local karting track under my belt but I know I should probably get some more seat time with the car NA first, so I'm trying not to rush the process.
VARA Horsethief Mile Time Trial back in April - 2L and under class. Gave a guy in a Focus ST a run for his money but got smoked by 5 seconds by a guy in a Lotus Elise haha. Super fun track, lots of elevation change and some fun hairpins.
Our local karting track has time trials for full size cars every other Friday night. Stock engine Miatas actually excel here because the course is so damn tight. 60mph on the back straight is the fastest the car will see.
Was too lazy to make a pretty-looking "2" so instead I got to be Z97 for the day.
Right after installing the extended lower ball joints and new NT05 tires. Alignment set to 3.3* camber front, 2.8* rear, 4.5* caster, zero toe on either end. 12.0" ride height front and 12.5" rear if I remember correctly. Took the car to Auto Club Speedway that weekend spent the day trying to keep the car from spinning in just about every corner on the infield. Ended up dropping the rear a quarter inch to tune out the oversteer and the car was much more agreeable.
You've probably noticed that it needs a new hood. Otherwise, I'm happy with how it looks!
Anyways, that's where the project is at so far. I'm looking forward to continuing the build and utilizing the forum!
Sorry for the vertical photos taking up all the space on the page! Most of these were taken on my phone and I never thought they'd end up on an internet forum haha.
I assume from your alignment you have depowered your steering. If not, you should.
My car is a '96 Montego.
Heat management on track becomes the single biggest issue you will face when you add boost. Always remember the radiator is far more important than the intercooler when you begin laying things out. Let air go around the intercooler to get to the radiator when the time comes. And consider adding an oil cooler before it becomes necessary.
Glad to be here, Sixshooter! I appreciate the feedback. Your car looks like what my car wants to look like some day haha.
I'll do a little research regarding the benefits of depowering the rack. Been contemplating doing that for a while now but it hasn't been high enough on my priority list to take action on it. What aspects of my alignment make you say that? I arrived at those numbers by starting with 949racing's recommendations then decreasing caster per recommendations on multiple forums after installing the ELBJs. Car's steering and handling don't leave much to be desired right now and I've got no complaints, which is probably why I haven't given it much thought.
Regarding cooling, I'm going to have a lot to do when boost time comes. The car has no ducting as of right now so I'll be hard at work laying that out too haha. I'll be coming here for inspiration on ducting and heat exchanger layouts soon.
08-17-2022, 01:06 AM
Newcomer with a '95 Montego Blue NA
Ended up dropping the rear a quarter inch to tune out the oversteer and the car was much more agreeable.
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