Help me decide my autox, track, fun car

@kyallroad, 

What are you going to sell the stock seats for?  And what color are they?  I've been looking at NCs but several have worn seats, and I'd prefer cloth over leather. 

They are the peanut butter colored leather.  I was thinking of keeping them for winter use but need to see how dailyable the seats I get are.  Selling them would offset some of the race seat cost though.......

In reply to octavious :

Worn-through outboard drivers side bolsters of the cloth seats appears to be a common issue, as does clogged drains getting the carpet behind the seats and/or in the trunk wet when it rains.  I know there are supposed to be some NC1 concerns with primarily 2007's grenading engines, but definitely seems to be a rather minor overall issue, and the 2.5 swap option in your back pocket further negates it. The 2.5's can be found in the $500-$1500 range and are pretty widely available. The main thing is that it really needs the supporting bolt-on (intake,header,exhaust, and tune) mods, especially to help it breath at higher rpm and extend the top end towards redline.

While I think the 2.5 would make for a nice (but not really necessary either) and cheap (relatively speaking) straight line bump without having to go overboard upgrading other (braking/cooling/oiling) systems for track use, it's still not the best choice for outright speed. Probably the best bang for the buck power upgrade is the recently released $3200 Dynotronics turbo kit aimed at the 2.0 that kicks out 260whp...And over 300whp with just a few additional supporting mods. https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=695391

Also note if/when picking an aftermarket roll bar, that the standard Hard Dog bar for the NC does not meet typical (SCCA/NASA) design requirements for track use.

How would a BMW Z4 with the 3.0L stack up to an NC. I see those for cheap frequently. 

dyintorace said:

How would a BMW Z4 with the 3.0L stack up to an NC. I see those for cheap frequently. 

I’ve seen the same and wondered the same. I saw a manual Z4 3.0si in North Carolina for sale. 

So I’ve been looking at NCs. Based on what I want to do is one of the trim packages sport, touring, grand touring, preferred over the others?

Also would a professionally swapped 2.5 NC command more than a stock 2.0?

octavious said:

So I’ve been looking at NCs. Based on what I want to do is one of the trim packages sport, touring, grand touring, preferred over the others?

 

Also would a professionally swapped 2.5 NC command more than a stock 2.0?

Grand Touring with a certain package gets you the LSD, but you can probably just swap that out unless you have to have some of the things on the GT like heated leather and such. 

It would depend on the engine and quality of work for me? New, used? Does everything work properly? etc

octavious said:

So I’ve been looking at NCs. Based on what I want to do is one of the trim packages sport, touring, grand touring, preferred over the others?

 

Also would a professionally swapped 2.5 NC command more than a stock 2.0?

Regarding trim packages, look for what's important to you here: https://www.miata.net/faq/america/index.html

Note that in 2006 it went Touring-Sport-GT and in 2007+ it went Sport-Touring-GT. I personally see advantages to the 5-speed gearing for autox use, especially with a potential 2.5 swap, but that means adding a limited slip.  The higher redline of the 2009+, along with some taller tries, largely negates that though. Also the main (and significant) advantage of the 'suspension package' on the 6-speed cars is the limited slip. While not as good as the old Torsen's, it's better than open. The rest of the suspension (IMHO) needs upgraded either way.

If properly marketed towards enthusiasts, yes, I would expect a clean 2.5 swap to command a mild premium. But that doesn't mean it necessarily would on the open market, and even if it does, I would not expect it to be by an equivalent amount to the cost of the swap.