I’ll get to the name at the end. In January I took the plunge and procured myself a dedicated track car for my HPDE hobby: a 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata in Winning Blue.
Background
I haven’t posted much about my motorsports events up until now, but starting in 2015, I’ve been running my 2011 Mazdaspeed 3 in SCCA solo (autocross) events in Houston. Soon after I finally had to do my first brake job, I got addicted to a new adrenaline rush: High-Performance Driving Events (HPDEs). This is when you take your own car out to the track with others and try to play nice with everyone at speed. This is meant for you to develop as a driver, learn how to make the car go faster, teach your body the muscle memory of car control, all in the safest environment you can have while at speed.
The problem is: consumables. As I got faster, the car gets more on edge, and you start wearing through everything: Fuel, Tires, Brakes. I was getting the car to near the limit to what it could do stock. So, I was facing a choice:
- Start modifying the car, my only daily driver, a platform that is not exactly the best platform to modify or with a lot of headroom for performance was getting too expensive to run strictly with consumables.
- Buy a car I can use for track-use only
Spoiler: I chose option 2. Now the question was which car? Miata is always the answer.
The Search
MIATA, but which kind? Do I want to build it up myself like I’d do with the MS3? Did I want to buy something ready to go? Which generation? Budget? This was about 3 months of consternation and searching; people around me were getting annoyed with my search.
Originally, I was searching for the NB (1999-2005) generation. The NA was just too old I felt for what they were all asking. The NB is of course the same basic platform, but in my opinion, a bit better looking. However, all of them in decent condition were going for about $5000-7000. It got me looking at the NC-generation, everyone’s least favorite. A newer car, I felt might be more worth that money. At the same time one of my trusted HPDE instructors explained to me the engineering reason she liked the NC-generation better: Moment of Inertia
See how the front of the engine on the NC is behind the front wheels? Compare this to the NA-generation’s cutaway below. Note how the engine is nearly squarely over the front axle. This minor difference is enough to make a difference in the ability of the car to rotate into corners.
The engineer in me was sold.
The Miata Track Machine
Then, a friend noted an autocrosser was planning to finally sell his 2006 NC-generation Miata. He had it fully prepped for STR class in SCCA, took it all the way to 4th at nationals. It sounded like the perfect specimen:
- BC Racing DR Series coilovers with digressive valved shocks (1-yr. old)
- 9k/8k springs
- Progressive adjustable front and rear sway bars
- Whiteline offset front control arm bushings for aggressive -3.5° alignment (~3.0° rear)
- Mazdaspeed LSD
- Carbotech “race” brake pads (unclear on what compound)
- Goodwin Max Power (catless) header
- RoadsterSport SuperQ exhaust
- ECU tune by Dynotronics
- Harddog Sport M3 Roll bar.
- Custom harness bar welded in.
- G-Force 3″ 5-point harness (drivers only)
- TRM 17 x 9“ wheels, 245 4017 BF Goodrich Rival S 1.5 tires
Houston Roads
I went up and drove it. Even along all the Houston plate-tectonic-proving roads, I fell in love. It. Just. Went. Where. You. Pointed. You felt connected like nothing else I’d ever driven. I had to have it as my track car.
Eventually, I overpaid him after some negotiations, but I wouldn’t really know that then (spoilers). Final equipment slightly changed through negotiations, mostly in the wheels and tires. He wanted way too much for what is effectively just the wheels and tires. So, I gave him $1200 less, and he gave me the car with both sets of stock wheels instead:
- Terrible Stock 16×6.5 wheels wrapped in General G-MAX AS-03.
- Spare Stock 17×7 wheels wrapped in trash Dunlop Direzza rubber
In addition to what was bolted into the car, I asked the owner to provide me with all of the spare and original parts he had. I naively was hoping it could pull dual-duty as a weekend toy on or off track (oh how I was wrong). Nevertheless, I brought it all home and had to find a place for it all:
Squirtle
Skip ahead a few months, and I ended up with not one, but TWO Miatas. I was hooked. However, it meant I needed to differentiate. I couldn’t just say “I’m going to take the Miata.” I needed a name, so I chose my starter Pokemon: Squirtle.