jds62f said:
Yea, i haven't driven a spec miata but its not on the list because I'm not going racing and I assumed the handling was quite good but the true value is in how cheap replacement everything is.
IMHO Spec Miatas are not particularly great Miatas in an absolute sense. There's nothing inherently wrong with them, but you can build a faster Miata fairly easily without spending a ton of money. The real attraction is that there's a race series built around them with 20-30 car fields in most parts of the country.
How is the Alfa 4C?
cyow5
Reader
6/27/24 1:22 p.m.
Yeah, I only mentioned SM because it is the only Miata I have tracked, and, like you said, they are limited by the spec to how 'fizzy' you can make one.
4C would be two steps in the wrong direction. The US spec got slapped with a lot of last-minute weight and, despite the lack of power steering, they were blasted for also lacking feel like a Lotus. A lot of the blame can be put on the regulatory bloat but geometry also played a role. The turbo is also easily caught off guard, although my only data point was pre-production. Maybe that got improved but it was a few seconds from flooring it to peak torque when in high gear. Obviously not a track situation. The second backwards step is parts availability which is OPs primary concern. Miatas definitely win that argument, haha.
Is there any reason to bother with anything other than a base ND in this situation? I want a harness so the seats are going, I can grab an lsd for $1500, and Brembo's are nice but it seems like I'd probably need to swap with a more track focused intent anyway. Would already be doing coilovers too...
In reply to jds62f :
The LSD is about the only factor if you're looking for a pure track car. The biggest problem is that Sport model cars (the base) are pretty thin on the ground, the Club (which comes with an LSD) might be easier to find.
I wonder how much difference I would feel in a SpecMiata with, and without the restrictor plates. I wouldn't think it would be a lot. The spring rates aren't optimal either.
I'm not sure if they're still using the old Bilstein rates with the new Penskes in SM or not.
Keith Tanner said:
I'm not sure if they're still using the old Bilstein rates with the new Penskes in SM or not.
Same rates, but the cars aren't run on the bump stops with the Penske. As an owner of a lot of flavors of NA miata track and race cars - I'll echo what someone said earlier: spec Miata are cool because of the racing and consumables cost, not the car in particular. Not to derail this thread too much.
Agree with Keith, maybe try to rent a track/race ND for a day and see if a track purpose one fizzles the same or "close enough"?
