Tall Guy Fitment (6'3) for an NA or NB Miata

Can anyone direct me to some helpful forum posts on someone who is 6'3 on fitment either on GRM or other Miata forums. Im deciding between a Miata and an E36 for HPDE duty and if I can fit safely I would prefer a miata.  Just curious if tall people have had better luck with side rails or mounting to the floor with 1 or 2 humps cut out along with if anyone has used the SCCA drop pan to achieve even more clearance. Jaynen has an NB that I sit in a similar height to him and he has it mounted on the front hump and a bracket with a kirkey seat and I sat pretty close to him so i appear to be more legs then torso. 

https://www.advanced-autosports.com/products/spec-miata-floor-drop

I have a fab shop that I am going to pay to make sure the safety stuff is done correctly but id like to have as much information as possible before I approach them to do the work. And yeah obviously if you know any miatas that are already tall guy modded for sale let me know. Thanks in Advance!

Tall and skinny, or tall and wide?  My nephew is maybe 6'-1" and pretty big around.  When he autocrosses his wife's NB Miata, he takes the driver's seat out, puts the padded liner from his Kirkey directly on the floor pan, and straps in to the bare space.

im like 6'3 / 215 not terribly wide. The kirkey seat seems comfortable and not too tight on me, I also sat in a few other miatas with mom and sparco seats and none were uncomfortable. 

I'm 6'3", fairly long-legged, and about 240lbs (not fit). I fit an NA Miata just great on stock seats. With the top up and a helmet on it gets a little tight but not awful. Not having manual windows helps (no crank for my leg to hit) and I got a Nardi steering wheel that was 20mm smaller in diameter to give me more room as well

In reply to NickD :

With a roll bar and hard top you clear the broomstick test with stock seats? wow. thats definitely one vote for the NA which i hear has slightly more room, then the NB. 

This is a good thread for what you are looking for: 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/nb-miata-competition-seat-for-a-tall-driver-advice-requested/135936/page1/

NA with a racey seat (MOMO Corsa in mine) and a smaller than factory steering wheel meant that my co-driver (a leggy 6'2" had absolutely no problems fitting (passing the broomstick test as well).

caffeine357 said:

In reply to NickD :

With a roll bar and hard top you clear the broomstick test with stock seats? wow. thats definitely one vote for the NA which i hear has slightly more room, then the NB. 

 

Uhhh, probably not a broomstick test. My helmet quite literally rests between the bows on the convertible top with it up. Never had to go through a test, but I think I would fail

Here you go (so much easier now we can post pics directly).  Co-driver at the wheel while his passenger was a pretty normal shaped 6' guy.  The seat was still mounted on factory sliders while the passenger seat is straight NA Miata.

You hit up our FB page as well

You posted a link to an Advanced Autosports part. I'd give them a call, they've got a lot of experience with this.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

Here you go (so much easier now we can post pics directly).  Co-driver at the wheel while his passenger was a pretty normal shaped 6' guy.  The seat was still mounted on factory sliders while the passenger seat is straight NA Miata.

That would fail tech at any HPDE I have been to due to heads above the rollbar?

Yeah, that is way above the roll bar. Was that at an HPDE or Autocross?

I'm 6'3" and fit in my '97 Miata fine.  I drove that car across the country and back for 3 months with my wife. I'm mostly torso tho.

I test drove a '91 Miata that I didn't fit in as well (hair touched the roof). I think it maybe had different seats. 

In my car it was a bit of a tight fit between my knuckles and knees sometimes tho. I think a smaller diameter wheel and a "foamectomy" would have made it even easier. 

Can't comment on the NB, but the NC I drove definitely felt smaller inside than the NA. 

Hope that helps some. 

Autocross.  The point of the pic is to illustrate how much vertical space can be added by changing the seat.  

Im actually looking into this myself. Mine is purely to pass the broomstick test.  Im only 5'7, but almost all torso. No neck to speak of....

Anyway, my helmet is about 3 inches above the rollbar. Hair is 1.5-2. Im going bald, so its not luke i got a giant afro or anything. Used to have a neon green Mohawk, but thats a whole different thread.

My experiment is going to be to do a foamectomy and solid mount the stock seat to the floor, doing away with the sliders entirely.  In theory, that should get me 3 plus inches. 

Another thing i noticed is that i definitely am located in a different place in the car entirely with leather seats vs my daily (both na1) with cloth. I think the leather doesn't allow my fat ass to sink as much.

My brother is 6'1" and fits in his NB2 okay, though most of his height is in his legs with a 34" inseam.  That said he had to play around with the recline while pushing the seat all the way back to get it just right to be comfortable while still having some adequate head space against the top.  I think some people use seats from an Elise to get more headroom.  Which I don't have any issues myself since I'm short and have 3-4" of headroom to spare after scooting the seat halfway up to reach the pedals. 

NickD said:

caffeine357 said:

In reply to NickD :

With a roll bar and hard top you clear the broomstick test with stock seats? wow. thats definitely one vote for the NA which i hear has slightly more room, then the NB. 

 

Uhhh, probably not a broomstick test. My helmet quite literally rests between the bows on the convertible top with it up. Never had to go through a test, but I think I would fail

The hardtop has more headroom than the convertible, though.

I can't drive an NA with the top up.  I can drive an NA/NB with a hardtop just fine even with a helmet.

I tend to take a late 60s Ford driving position though:  Knees bent at a 90 degree angle, steering wheel in your lap.

Not sure about passing the broomstick test.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

Shoutout for Montego Blue.

Knurled. said:

The hardtop has more headroom than the convertible, though.

 

I can't drive an NA with the top up.  I can drive an NA/NB with a hardtop just fine even with a helmet.

 

I tend to take a late 60s Ford driving position though:  Knees bent at a 90 degree angle, steering wheel in your lap.

 

Not sure about passing the broomstick test.

Are you sure? I own two NAs and I cannot tell a difference in headroom between hard and soft top, and I've been using both since 2009. There's absolutely no way I'd fit under either top with a helmet without a modded seat and brackets (6'2).

In reply to Duke :

And now with moar lip and spoiler!  (And a new owner :-/ )

I've got a 35" inseam and don't nor have I ever own a Miata.  And I still wonder about how to best go about a tombstone delete to gain space in the cockpit of these things.  

If it wasn't for motorcycles, I'd be shopping for an NA pretty hard, so I think this is a good thread.

"tombstone"?

You can remove the rear humps and there are multiple spec miata drop pan designs now

In reply to pres589 :

I don't see a tombstone delete doing much for room. The dash itself wraps around the sides, and the tombstone is already farther over than the turning stick, er parking brake. Even with my whole center console out, I don't really notice and extra room in my NA. 

But, I'm 5'10 280, with a 30" inseam. My problem is the seat not holding me when it's sliding. Removing the door cards and the retaining clips from the window winder helped, I could never find an angle for the window knob that didn't push into my leg, so now I just take the handle off. 

Stock seats, with helmet on, I push up on the soft top and can't turn my head. I never tried with a hard top, honestly don't know if I could pull myself back out. 

The tombstone delete would be about getting more space for a bent knee.  I have issues with getting my legs straight enough to be comfortable in the leg department if I'm a reasonable distance from the steering wheel.  This is why I didn't consider the current Ford Focus when I was car shopping a few years ago; too much console, not enough knee room.  I could see what you're talking about with a manual window crank getting in the way on the door side.

^ The solution is a steering wheel that's closer to you. That way no knee/wheel interference.