New Member

Just registered, so thought I would post. Also, just sent in an application for the Lone Star Miata Club.

After having four Corvettes, I traded in my 2002 Z06 on a 2004 Black Cherry/Parchment LS, my first Miata. Honestly, still mourning the departure of the Vette, but hopefully Miata mods :D will help that pass.

I'm a member of the MotorSport Ranch and playing with the Z06 was becoming too expensive. I saw my choices as having an expensive street car, but no playing, or finding something more reasonable to modify for duty at the Ranch. I've also run with some Spec Miatas out there and know they aren't easy to catch.

Have also enjoyed autocrossing with a few local groups, mostly ER, but haven't done much ax lately. The Ranch is a more efficient use of time, but lacks the variety of ax and the camaraderie of a large group.

No offense, but I'm disappointed in the limp noodle structure of this car over bumps and would appreciate advise on how to stiffen it up. Will start with roll hoops, but suspect it needs something underneath as well.

Some of your twisty drives sound fun, once the weather cools (I tried top down at 10pm first night, but guess I'm just dependent on a/c). Won't see my other half often, since we have three kids.

Welcome toomany! You've come to the right place if you enjoy track days and autocross! There is an ER event at Pennington in Bedford tomorrow that many of us here will be attending. Hope you can make it out! See this thread - http://forums.dfwmiata.com/viewtopic.php?t=642

We'll help you forget the Vette. You'll soon find that the mods list for a Miata is never-ending! :D

Welcome.

I sold my '98 T/A, and while it was no Vette, it was a bizarre twist to find myself in a Miata. However I looked at wanting playing with the car the same way as you mentioned, and bought an older Miata, and started modding. I haven't done any suspention mods yet, but most on this board have, and can give you good advise on what works. I find the Miata far more satisfying than my '98 T/A.

I can tell you that by joining the darkside :twisted: of Forced Induction you can get some suprising speed from these Miata's. Personally, while I love Vette's I don't see me replacing a modded Miata for one. You will also find (here) many Miata Pilots that are just like you in that several used to own Vette's.

TurboDuane, a supercharger is in my distant future (assuming they are track worthy), but it will be the very last mod (is there ever a last mod?). Since I'll kiss the warranty goodbye, I'm in no rush. Don't get me wrong, I do miss the 400+hp in the Vette, but the Miata can end up with the same power to weight ratio.

Having done the mod routine with the Vette(s), I believe it's best to prioritize money expenditures on safety, longevity (oil coolers & such), & handling. With the Miata, I would assume a bigger return for money spent in engine mods, but I won't bother with little changes, since they will likely end up replaced as part of a supercharger install.

The Boss Frog hoops will be the first mod. In addition to safety, I hope it stiffens the structure significantly. I won't even take this car to the Ranch until the body is tight.

Check the height of the Boss Frog carefully... I keep thinking about them and deciding that I'll wait and do a Hard Dog Hard Core in conjunction with a Sparco seat (I'm 6 feet, and can't clear a roll bar with a helmet and the stock seats).

OTOH, the Boss Frog looks pretty cool, and the Miata in stock form is a BLAST at MSR.

Gary Shuhart at Track Dog Racing has had a run of bad luck with engines grenading when applying lots of boost. Experience breeds wisdom, and I suspect he'll have a wealth of information on reliable setups by the time your warranty is ready to be voided. Dan (dan on miata.net forums) Pedroza in Austin seems to be having better luck(?).

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Originally Posted by TooManyIDs

Just registered, so thought I would post. Also, just sent in an application for the Lone Star Miata Club.

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AL, welcome to the group! :chug:

Lone Star might not have much to offer you. They do some nice scenic tours and have a fondness for show 'n' shines at Sonic, but most of their members are less than enthusiastic about motorsports. However, if you're into open track and autocross, you've found the right place here.

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Originally Posted by TooManyIDs

After having four Corvettes, I traded in my 2002 Z06 on a 2004 Black Cherry/Parchment LS, my first Miata. Honestly, still mourning the departure of the Vette, but hopefully Miata mods :D will help that pass.

I'm a member of the MotorSport Ranch and playing with the Z06 was becoming too expensive. I saw my choices as having an expensive street car, but no playing, or finding something more reasonable to modify for duty at the Ranch. I've also run with some Spec Miatas out there and know they aren't easy to catch.

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I was in the same boat when I bought my '99 Sport. I had just sold a modified twin-turbo '93 RX-7, which was a very fast and competent car, but was much more expensive to maintain and play with. To tell the truth, I haven't missed it much since buying the Miata. You know what they say - it's a lot more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow. 8)

You might also recognize the name Kenny Baker - he drove a red RX7 in Super Stock for a number of years, then moved on to a Z06 Corvette. He sold the Z06 and bought a Miata because, in his words, "the Miata is more fun to drive". :wink: He's on the board as General Default.

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Originally Posted by TooManyIDs

Have also enjoyed autocrossing with a few local groups, mostly ER, but haven't done much ax lately. The Ranch is a more efficient use of time, but lacks the variety of ax and the camaraderie of a large group.

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Your name does sound familiar. Tell you what, if you're looking for a fun autocross that offers good bang for the buck (eight 80+ second runs) with a good atmosphere (limited to 50 entrants, most of whom know one another, with the majority being Miata & S2000 owners), then you ought to join us next Saturday for the 3rd North Texas S2000 autocross of the season. They're a lot of fun - much more so than the ER events - and there are already 13 MIata drivers signed up, most of whom are on this board.

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Originally Posted by TooManyIDs

No offense, but I'm disappointed in the limp noodle structure of this car over bumps and would appreciate advise on how to stiffen it up. Will start with roll hoops, but suspect it needs something underneath as well.

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No offense taken - that's my biggest gripe about the Miata as well. There are some things you can do to stiffen it up - a real four-point rollbar is a good place to start, but do some research on them before you pick one on looks. There are a number of options out there, and some offer real protection, while other offer questionable protection/stiffening and are more about looks than performance. My personal recommendation would be a Hard Dog Hard Core or Sport model, preferably with double diagonals. In addition, since you're a member at the Ranch, you really should consider whether your head will be the highest part of the car or not in case of a rollover. I spent a lot of time researching bars and safety equipment for my car, which led me to the combination of a HDHCDD (Hard Dog Hard Core Double Diagonal) bar and a Sparco SPrint seat for the track in order to get enough head clearance to be really safe. I detailed a lot of that info on this webpage.

By the way... as tailchaser mentioned, Gary Shuhart is a Ranch member as well, and is often down there in a supercharged red & tan '99 Miata. He's a good one to ask about forced induction and open track Miatas, as he's blown up a number of engines in pursuit of the perfect combo. Not because FI Miatas tend to be unreliable (quite the opposite actually, since the engine in the Miata actually descended directly from the motor in the old turbocharged rally homologation 323 GTX from the late '80's), but because too much horsepower is never enough for Gary. :wink:

Anyway, welcome to our little corner of the web!

Iain

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Originally Posted by tailchaser

Check the height of the Boss Frog carefully....Gary Shuhart at Track Dog Racing has had a run of bad luck with engines grenading when applying lots of boost....Dan (dan on miata.net forums) Pedroza in Austin seems to be having better luck(?).

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tailchaser, thanks for the advise. I pulled some pics of a BF install, and they are somewhat taller than the seats, which I understand grew somewhere along the way. Looks like the bottom of the hoop may have a bit of interference with the headrest, while the top of the hoop extends beyond it. I'm 5'11", so should work out. I also like the way it has a center saddle in addition to the outboard mounts.

I have plenty of time to research power options. I won't go for max power, it will need to be able to withstand the track time.

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Originally Posted by altiain

Lone Star might not have much to offer you. They do some nice scenic tours and have a fondness for show 'n' shines at Sonic, but most of their members are less than enthusiastic about motorsports.

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I don't do car shows, but the occasional scenic drive would be nice for the wife and I, when we can jettison the kids.

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Originally Posted by altiain

I was in the same boat when I bought my '99 Sport. I had just sold a modified twin-turbo '93 RX-7, which was a very fast and competent car, but was much more expensive to maintain and play with. To tell the truth, I haven't missed it much since buying the Miata. You know what they say - it's a lot more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow. 8)

You might also recognize the name Kenny Baker - he drove a red RX7 in Super Stock for a number of years, then moved on to a Z06 Corvette. He sold the Z06 and bought a Miata because, in his words, "the Miata is more fun to drive". :wink: He's on the board as General Default.

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Glad the pain will pass. :) Yes, I do know Kenny, although he hasn't seen me for a long while.

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Originally Posted by altiain

....if you're looking for a fun autocross that offers good bang for the buck (eight 80+ second runs) with a good atmosphere (limited to 50 entrants, most of whom know one another, with the majority being Miata & S2000 owners), then you ought to join us next Saturday for the 3rd North Texas S2000 autocross of the season. They're a lot of fun - much more so than the ER events - and there are already 13 MIata drivers signed up, most of whom are on this board.

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Although Mineral Wells is huge, I was never a fan of the place. The surface is crap and the Kumho's on the Vette were throwing rocks everywhere. I couldn't put enough tape on my car to protect it from that environment, so gave up on MW long ago.

Car is not broken in yet, and I don't put miles on very quickly, so won't do any ax for a while. A thought did occur to me though, the Vette used to swallow my canopy w/weights, air tank, race bag, chair, Krispy Kremes :), etc... Where do you guys put all that stuff? I'll have to get my wife to bring the Expedition just for the gear and I know she won't like that! :roll:

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Originally Posted by altiain

....a real four-point rollbar is a good place to start, but do some research on them before you pick one on looks....

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I think I saw the story about head clearance and the change with the race seat. Is the Boss Frog unit considered good just for looks? :?: From what I can tell, looks very solid, with extensive mounting, in addition to looks.

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Originally Posted by altiain

....Gary Shuhart is a Ranch member as well, and is often down there in a supercharged red & tan '99 Miata....

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Don't recall Gary, but I'll watch for him.

Thanks Iain.

A Hidden Hitch with a trailer or with a Tire Tail works well to get things back & forth to the AX events.

That's going to be an upcoming purchase for me :D

Raymond

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

A Hidden Hitch with a trailer or with a Tire Tail works well to get things back & forth to the AX events.

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Where did you read that? :P

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Originally Posted by sammm

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

A Hidden Hitch with a trailer or with a Tire Tail works well to get things back & forth to the AX events.

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Where did you read that? :P

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I think I saw a Hard Dog hitch that was listed as "hidden".

Several of us have the Da'lan hitch which is definitely hidden. Tiretail.com seems to offer the best shipped price.

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Originally Posted by TooManyIDs

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Originally Posted by sammm

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

A Hidden Hitch with a trailer or with a Tire Tail works well to get things back & forth to the AX events.

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Where did you read that? :P

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I think I saw a Hard Dog hitch that was listed as "hidden".

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I believe Sammm was wanting to know where channelmaniac had read about autocross since he hasn't made an appearance at one in recent history, other than to observe. :wink:

BTW. Hard Dog does Make a Hidden Hitch several folks around here have them installed on there NB Miatas!

Welcome to the Madness! 8)

Welcome to the forum.

For hauling stuff -- particularly my tires -- to autocross events, I have a Da'Lan Hidden Hitch and a TireTail, both purchased from iZoom. It is possible to transport 4 tires in a Miata, but that doesn't leave much room for your other stuff. The TireTail leaves my trunk and cabin free for all the tools, jacks, food, blah, blah, blah that you've gotta haul out to an event. Check out page 4 of my CarDomain site. I've got lots of pictures of the TireTail thing and a picture that shows just how hidden that Hidden Hitch is. :wink:

But for sheer haulin' capability, you can't beat a small utility trailer. Most people pick up this trailer from Harbor Freight, put a deck on it, a couple of posts for the tires, and a big plastic storage box from Wally-world for all their junk. POS Racing has some good pictures of the trailer he built out... click here to have a look. The only reason I haven't gone this route is because I have nowhere to store the trailer when not in use.

Thanks, I'll check it out. With the Vette, I was driving to events on the Kumho V700's, I would do the same with the Maita.

My 8x12 canopy won't fit in this car.

My 12x12 canopy fits in my car just fine... even when I have the passenger seat in!

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Originally Posted by Treibenschnell

My 12x12 canopy fits in my car just fine... even when I have the passenger seat in!

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I guess it could ride in the passenger seat, with a seat belt, when the top is down. :lol:

I know lugnutjon carries his 10'x10' canopy in the passenger seat, even with the top up.

There is certainly nothing wrong with driving too and from events on your race tires, but I definitely prefer driving out on street tires and bringing the race tires with me. It means a little more on site work swapping wheels, but never any worries about getting caught in the rain on low tread R compounds, or getting stuck with a long drive home on a corded tire or bent wheel from an off-track excursion. I've had all three happen, and all three times I was glad to have a set of full tread, undamaged street tires & wheels to drive home on.

Welcome to the madness TooManyIDs, oh I mean the forum. :shock: