6 replies to this topic

[Chris Amor]

I bought myself a 1999 Miata as a personal project. Mechanically she is sound, was once a drift car. Has the hardtop and holes(lots of them) from a roll cage. I will swap in an LS1 in the near future, but I was looking at having some fun with her on a track or atleast autocross before the swap. As of right now it is completely stock only has a 8.6LBS Fidanza Flywheel and ACT clutch(which needs replacing soon). Should I try to go all out and jump into the spec racing game or just put in a roll bar and compete in a differnet area and if so which one. The car was for $1000 so mind the missing bumper, it has been replaced just no recent pics.

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[Johnny D]

IMO, SM (spec) is the best racing with the biggest fields. If you ran with a LS1 you wouldn't have that much competition. It would be a fun car.
It's all what you're looking for. Track days, racing, tight close racing. I don't know what experience or budget you have so...
Low budget, no experience, get some tires and do some track days and go from there.
Big budget, lots of track time, build your car how you want it and go do it.
J~

[Doug007]

To get it to the point of a spec racer you will need to put in probably $7-8k for full suspension, cage, racing seats, harnesses, etc.

If I were you I'd put a harddog rollbar in the car and do DEs or autox it. Doesnt' make much sense to build a spec miata and then put an LS1 engine in. There's just too much required to get to a legal SM that you really don't need if you just want a LS1 miata.

[Randy Thieme]

'99s appear to be a desirable donor, so assuming it's just some body damage getting one for a kilobuck seems like a steal.

Find an indoor go-kart track with a racing series using rental karts. Try a race or two. A lot of fun? Maybe even more fun doing the same at 70-120 mph? If the answer to both is yes plan to build a Spec Miata.

[davecarama]

The swap for an LS1 is going to cost you... Why spend that money turning it into a no-longer-street-legal car... so you can spend more trying to make it legal again for the street when you put in the engine swap.

No. You do not want to race wheel to wheel. You want to do what is called High Performance Drivers Education (HPDE). That is basically hobby, arrive and drive, track driving. More rules (all based around learning and safety). Once you try this track stuff, you may decide against the V8 swap and may decide to go race, but save yourself a lot of money and frustration and try these track days before you dump a lot of money... even the go kart idea above is a good starting point.

But to answer your question (only aiming you towards HPDE as opposed to SM)

• Roll bar (look at the Hard Dog Hard Core bar here: http://www.bethania-garage.com/why.htm). This bar is NOT legal for racing, only HPDE and Time Trials.
• Later on you can consider seats (I have a Sparco Evo)
• Harnesses (Get FIA, they expire after 5 years)
• Suspension (Get what you would want for the V8 swap. Unless you change your mind, then go for the Spec Miata kit)
• Wheels and tires (Spec Miata, the wheel needs to be 15x7 and no less than 13#) Tires could be track only like Hoosier SM5 (R6) or Toyo R888 or Toyo RA1 or more street/track friendly like Dunlop Starspec, Falken Azenis

[davecarama]

FYI, these guys here are purist MIata guys that don't sway too far from stock(ish). Although they may find things like engine swaps "interesting" it is not really their cup of tea... because there is really no class for such a formula.

These guys will tell you all you want to know and more about that stuff
http://www.miataturbo.net/

Not trying to send you away if you are truly interested in racing, just trying to save you some efforts and money, and time.

[Randy Thieme]

If you decide to go the HPDE route and with a V8 engine you'll be able to reach speeds where impact could do series damage. At 140 mph a car has almost twice as much kinetic energy as at 100 mph. If going the V8 route I'd recommend a full cage, race seat, fire suit, and harness. P.S. You'll also have incredible fun watching the facial expressions of the guys in the Ferrari's as you pass them in a chick car.