Summer 2011, I had just spun a rod bearing on my Saabaru at a track day at Nelsons Ledges. While waiting for the tow truck to take my crippled Saab home, I rode with my buddy in his lightly modded '93 Miata. I loved the handling and minimalist design of the Miata, alas we were getting passed by everyone (literally everyone...) in the straights.

I owned 4 cars at the time:

• Saab 92x Aero (with recently blown motor)
• '91 Talon TSI AWD. (Which I was in the middle of finishing repairing rust and painting with intentions of selling)
• '85 MR2 My first car which was also rusting to death. I was practicing body work on Talon for plans to restore MR2.
• '80 Porsche 924 Turbo Which I inherited after my dad passed away. Which also needed body work.

I was in automotive purgatory...

I rebuilt the Saab's Subaru EJ205 motor. Drove it for a few more months sold it and bought a 2012 Mazdaspeed 3 for my daily driver.

After the Saab I decided it wasn't worth the risk to race my daily driver. I needed a track car, and I wanted RWD. The MR2 would need another few months/years of work to be track ready and even then would still be slow. I decided I couldn't stomach destroying the Porsche on track with the emotional ties to my dad.

I finished the Talon and sold it. Used the money then to buy the aforementioned buddies 93 when he decided to sell it. Love the car but didn't love getting beat by minivans at stop lights... So I joined MT back then. I have lurked since then. Had a baby and started a small side business. Meanwhile still enjoying the Miata for what it was/is.

Few photos of Miata:





I am ready for some power now.

I have begun acquiring parts and started by buying a '96 1.8 with 70K miles from junkyard last fall.

Besides owning a fleet of half running cars I like to build and tinker. Here is a link to some of my various projects:

https://plus.google.com/photos/10243...LnivL-a7e_kywE


P.S. I also have a murder cat:

 

Welcome

Proper introduction post, would read again.

The number of Ohio members seems to be growing everyday, most of them seem to be hard parking club roadster drop outs wanting to turbo their car, it seems you are not one of those so DOUBLE welcome.

Also, Nelson is a **** hole, but fun in it's own right. I've done a 12 hour enduro there and that place will beat the sh*t out of any car after 12 hours

 

TurbOhio 4 Lyfe!

The hardparkers are strong here. You'll find that there are 2 or 3 in the state that really know what they are doing AND roll whatever high-schoolish appearance mods are currently "in style".

The power base is growing, albeit slowly. The best bet is to find a local enthusiast club. Ohio Miata Owners on facebook is such an enthusiast club - lots of great people - primarily appearance oriented - and a sprinkling of some very high performance cars and drivers.

+Props for a top 5% intro post.

 

Man, that is a clean car for NE OH. I graduated from Norton H.S. (my Dad was BFG). I remember rust. Don't miss it.

To be fast on track, I'd focus on suspension/tires first (I see you already have some really nice wheels). The key to going fast on the straights is to start the straight already going fast. If you haven't already, check out Emilio's threads on Crusher and the 95R project car. I'm building a 95R clone now.

I track my silver turbo car and it's reliable and I don't get passed much (Porsche GT3 race cars excluded). But it's also my daily so I'm hesitant to do race seats/cage/harnesses/big-time lightening, etc. That's why I'm building up a 95R.

I have a murder cat too.

 

Thanks!

I should have learned my lesson at Nelson during my first track day with Saab...





The Cobb roll bar may have been a poor design and Nelson Ledges decided to point that out.

Efini do you race Lemons? I have a buddy who has done a few Lemons races out at Nelson.

 

Thanks. I looked at a few cars before I convinced my buddy to sell his and it was the cleanest I could find in Northeast Ohio.

I have an older set of Bridgestone RE-11's on there now, which are decent. I suspect I will burn through them a little quicker with a boost in power.

My buddy did Auto-x with it and the car was setup for STS, while still keeping it comfortable for driving around town. It was consistently the top of the class locally. (He is a pretty good driver though placed well at nationals in RTR this year)

I ran a few events with it locally in STS at the end of 2012. It had been a few years and the rust had definitely set in for me, last auto-x I did regularly was in college FSAE car.

Thanks for tips. I will take a look at those threads I am sure there are some improvements to be had with my cars suspension.

 

Welcome, ahaidet. Check out the Miata Gallery and post up some pics!

 

Welcome!

I think its time for another Ohio MTers meet.

 

Ohio here as well I've been to nelson in my SE-R, thankfully it was raining lol. It's a fast track if you want it to be.

Welcome.

 

Welcome Man! I like your pic gallery. Especially the 3d printing.

 

No, haven't ever done a LeMons race. The 12 hour I did was an SCCA club race.

Breaking a sway bar - ughhhh - I bet that was fun

 

Thanks! 3d printing is something I started tinkering with last year. I haven't found much use to support my car hobbies with it yet... but I've made lots of parts for photography/videography and some cool toys.

I am always open to printing any Miata related ideas anyone has.