Another blown engine thread

[lunatect]

Have you driven one? A miata is about as much fun as you can have in a car--especially on the race track. I've been campaigning a street mod miata on the track alongside my converted GT350 race car - and while the GT350 is more exciting, I wouldn't say it's more fun by any means.

There's something truly unique about being able to be full throttle everywhere all the time. Plus, I get through turns 2-9 at COTA in 100hp Miata as fast as all but a Radical or other open wheel race car. The Miata hurts a lot of feelings...meanwhile I am giggling like a complete lunatic.

Most fun you can have while barely breaking the 3min lap time barrier

Club raced a BMW in the Pacific Region. Miatas are cute , but slow.

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[04mazdaspeed]

Lots of mustang owners who also drive miatas it seems. I have a '21 mach 1 HP and a 22 Miata Club BBR. I've barely driven the mach 1 since i took delivery of the miata :/.

It's a blast, isnt it? The miata is like a hot knife cutting through butter. I have more fun driving that at 9/10th all the time than any of my other cars. Top down, music cranking, rpm's just chilling at 6000. Couldnt get any more perfect. Look into Fab9 tuning for their tune for them. Not a lot of power gain per se, but the drivability is night and day different. Tons of more torque in the middle of the power band. It was like driving a whole new car all over again...lol

 

[04mazdaspeed]

Club raced a BMW in the Pacific Region. Miatas are cute , but slow.

Slow in what regard? Straight line? eh, not the slowest thing out there but definitely wasnt designed to go fast in a straight line. Everthing else, I beg to differ. Only car i ever owned and Ive owned quite a bit that you can drive flat out, all the time, and not break anything or worry about going to prison...lol

 

[lunatect]

Slow in what regard? Straight line? eh, not the slowest thing out there but definitely wasnt designed to go fast in a straight line. Everthing else, I beg to differ. Only car i ever owned and Ive owned quite a bit that you can drive flat out, all the time, and not break anything or worry about going to prison...lol

Just checked the BMW CCA results from COTA from this summer. !9 of the 20 cars beat your best lap time.

 

[04mazdaspeed]

Just checked the BMW CCA results from COTA from this summer. !9 of the 20 cars beat your best lap time.

Well no one is saying it's the fastest car out there either. I mean its a momentum car. Cars that make 4-500hp will pull away with ease on straightaways...lol Thats also only one result. Im sure there are plenty others with miatas fairing much better. I mean no disrespect but obviously, the miata is not your kind of car.

 

[jmn444]

Just checked the BMW CCA results from COTA from this summer. !9 of the 20 cars beat your best lap time.

this makes me laugh... I 100% respect what miatas can do, but when people talk trash about how good they are (usually not miata drivers), the first thing I look at is what spec miatas run at the track in question. It's amazing how many "fast" people aren't faster than those spec times even with tons more hp and tq! haha

edit: I've had too many beers and can't seem to word this in a way that doesn't sound like i'm saying the miatas aren't good/fast lol... my intent was only to say the Z06 driver (as an example) that can't break a spec miata time is the one that should be ashamed

 

[04mazdaspeed]

Im sure he's losing but damn sure looks like alot more fun than driving that gt car slow...lol

 

[honeybadger]

Just checked the BMW CCA results from COTA from this summer. !9 of the 20 cars beat your best lap time.

Who are you referring to? And what lap times?

 

[lunatect]

Well no one is saying it's the fastest car out there either. I mean its a momentum car. Cars that make 4-500hp will pull away with ease on straightaways...lol Thats also only one result. Im sure there are plenty others with miatas fairing much better. I mean no disrespect but obviously, the miata is not your kind of car.

I think the Spec Miata class is very competitive and intense racing. Raced from 2002 to 2015 with BMW CCA. Most of the events were run at NASA events at Buttonwillow Raceway, Willow Springs Raceway, and the Grand Am course at California Speedway in Fontana. The Spec Miata class ran at many of these events, so I am very familiar with them and their lap times at these tracks. Not trying to be a jerk, but there were not any "miatas fairing much better." They are a slower class of car than BMWs and the Mustangs/Camaros running in the American Iron class. Fun, but slower.

 

[04mazdaspeed]

I think the Spec Miata class is very competitive and intense racing. Raced from 2002 to 2015 with BMW CCA. Most of the events were run at NASA events at Buttonwillow Raceway, Willow Springs Raceway, and the Grand Am course at California Speedway in Fontana. The Spec Miata class ran at many of these events, so I am very familiar with them and their lap times at these tracks. Not trying to be a jerk, but there were not any "miatas fairing much better." They are a slower class of car than BMWs and the Mustangs/Camaros running in the American Iron class. Fun, but slower.

Ok, you referring to full on track driving. Then sure, its a slower car. I was more so referring to autocross where power doesnt mean as much. Yea no getting around 400hp cars on a full track. Not stock anyways..lol

 

[1958cyclist]

Why aren’t the GR86’s as popular? I can see the Miata being fun. It’s like a go kart. I had a 1982 RX-7, so I get it. Mazda does a great job on vehicle dynamics. They’re just not Mustangs…but if you wanna fly around the track, I’m sure it’s much more fun than the bloated American heavy weight. It’s just doesn’t look as cool doing it.

They may be soon...Toyota is starting a cup series this year similar to the Miata series.

 

[Lorne34]

Never, ever buy warranties (or insurance, for that matter) unless the repairs/events that you're insuring yourself against would be financially devastating, or you're just a really anxious person who needs the peace of mind.

No one is ever going to sell you a policy that is actually a wise investment for you. If they did, these companies would be dead broke, but they're rolling in dough. The expected value to you for any warranty or insurance policy is ALWAYS negative, and usually significantly so.

And on that note, if the potential worst case repairs ARE financially devastating, and you think there's any reasonable chance of those repairs being necessary, you probably shouldn't be buying the car in the first place. Especially when we're talking about luxury performance toys.

I purchased an 8 year Ford extended warranty through flood ford which has been confirmed as a "legit" resource. My reasoning is that... #1- I plan on keeping this car for a long time #2- the cost of the warranty vs the potential repairs (including engine swap) would be more that worth it. #3- it gives me a peace of mind in case my financial situation changes. Another bonus is that you can transfer the warranty to another owner if I sell and I can cancel at any time and receive back the pro-rated portion of the initial premium. I sold computers and other electronics at a retail store many moons ago and I always knew whether an extended warranty made sense or not.

 

[Lorne34]

id agree the number of failures appear to be higher on this car, but not sure that means it wasn’t intended to be a track car.

look up service intervals and what is recommended for cup cars and gt4 cars and such. Even cars that are 100% track require a LOT of expense/rebuilding to do it long term.

Ive done 4 track days at Road america and recently took it in to have the brakes, tires, etc inspected. No issues and nothing to replace. These cars were meant for the track, but what i've learned is that the more you hang out at the track be prepared to replace or fix stuff. It's not a poor man's sport for sure. I'm just "dipping my toes" in at this point trying to decide just how deep I want to go. if I can get to the track 3-4 times a year, really push the car like it's intended that is fine with me. I also do several trips to the the TN mountains for high spirited driving in not so ideal conditions... so far so good.

 

[Hack]

I just have to say it....Miata

I do think it took you less time to break the Miata than it did to break the GT350. AMIRIGHT?

Why aren’t the GR86’s as popular? I can see the Miata being fun. It’s like a go kart. I had a 1982 RX-7, so I get it. Mazda does a great job on vehicle dynamics. They’re just not Mustangs…but if you wanna fly around the track, I’m sure it’s much more fun than the bloated American heavy weight. It’s just doesn’t look as cool doing it.

I think GR86 hasn't been around as long as a Miata is the biggest reason why. And the older 86s are really slow. Even slower than a Miata. And I'm not sure how durable the Subie engine is either. I can tell you I'm not taking my 86 to the track because of the wiggle words Toyota put in their paperwork. They give out a free track day, and the brochure about the free track day says right on it "track driving may void your warranty". I don't think Toyota and Subaru are used to building sporty cars that might get used hard. Ford has built the Mustang for a long time, and it can handle abuse.

 

[jamesb1986]

Galpin?

No its Vista Ford in Woodland Hills - Galpin are good actually and ive used them before but now just very overpriced (about a year ago they tried to charge me over $250 for just an oil change and over $1,000 to replace a seatbelt so i stopped using them).

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