Soon to be Miata owner!

[RKing]

I thought I'd take a few moments to introduce myself. My name's Robert King and I live in the Northern part of the Metroplex. I am an HPDE instructor for Eagle's Canyon, TWS Performance Driving School, Edge Addicts, and NASA (formerly.) I used to compete in NASA's American Iron series in a 1988 Mustang that's currently spread all over my garage.

I've pretty much talked myself into buying a Miata for my next daily driver. I'll be starting a new job soon with a much longer commute (65 miles, one way,) and I'd rather not subject my BMW 335i to that kind of mileage every day (it has 118,000 miles on it now.) A twin-turbo BMW, 120k miles, no warranty, and 130 miles per day just sounds like trouble...

So I wanted something with good fuel economy, a warranty (at least for a little while!) and that I could easily take to the track (I'm an instructor up at Eagles Canyon, and with a few other organizations.)

So what I'm looking at is a 2017 Miata roadster in Club trim with the Brembo/BBS package. I am almost a complete newbie when it comes to Miatas, though. As an instructor, I've driven plenty of them on the track, but driving is not owning, so I have a lot to learn. I was hoping there is a sticky post, or FAQ for track preparation, and I'll be looking for that next, but I do have a couple of quick questions I'd like to ask.

First off, what is the widest wheel/tire package I can fit without major surgery? I've heard 245/45-17 on a 17x8 wheel with a 58mm offset. Can anyone comment on that? I'm hoping to get a set of track wheels and tires as soon as I get the car.

Also, are there any typical weaknesses that need to be addressed on an ND Miata that's regularly tracked? Typically the brakes need attention on street cars, which will be doing, but I was wondering if anything else was a known weak spot. I might as well address the typical issues *before* they cause problems.

That's about it for now. Thanks for reading!

-- Robert King

[sammm]

Welcome aboard. There's a few ND owners here on MME....I'd check with 'General Default' on the forum for wheel/tire guidance.

[POS Racing]

Only thing I recall was something about sketchy manual transmission in the first ND's out. I'm sure Mazda fixed that by now.

[RKing]

Well, I had a couple of good conversations with Terry Fair out at Vorshlag Motorsports and Brian Goodwin at Good-Win Racing. They've helped me get a few things sorted out -- mainly, I won't be able to run the size of tire that I want to (245,) with the stock suspension because of the body roll. Brian says 235 is the most he recommends, and even that will rub (of course, this also depends on the tire itself.)

So Terry and I changed up the plan. Right now, we're looking at:

- Whiteline anti-sway bars
- Ohlens coilovers
- Wheels and tires.

[flyin94m]

Robert! Welcome to the forums!

[RKing]

Well, I di NOT get a '17 Club. I got a 2018 Club with the Brembo/BBS/Recaro package. It's painted ceramic with the red top, both of which are new for 2018, I believe.

Getting the '18 was a big pain, and I have to thank Charles Peters at Freeman Mazda in Irving for busting his butt for getting it for me.

It appears that the '81's are SLOWLY making their way into Dallas. I think mine may have been the first one sold. I know of only two others in this district and they hadn't been sold yet.

So unless you want one of these two, you're going to need to reserve one or order it. I got lucky with mine. I owe Charles a big favor so if you're interested in an '18, please call Charles at Freemen and tell him I sent you. I owe him the business.



-- RK

[sammm]

Nice! Would love to see a pic or 2.

[RKing]

[RKing]

I'll post more when I have a proper camera.

[sammm]

Red top looks great...very sleek.