Thinking about drifting a miata.

[isimon91]

sooooo.

ive owned a few 240s, KA/SR, and have gotten pretty used to sliding them around on the street and track. driven KAs with welded diffs, monster SR's, stock of sr's, all sorts of different suspension mods on all of them.

heres some of my old cars: (im selling the s14 right now)
https://s-hphotos-ash2.fbcdn.net/156181_1593196347148_1153080791_31744464_6488837_n .jpg
https://s-hphotos-snc4.fbcdn.net/68391_1532300384787_1153080791_31639941_8227240_n. jpg
https://s-hphotos-ash2.fbcdn.net/58169_1521780881806_1153080791_31618865_2129058_n. jpg
https://s-hphotos-ash2.fbcdn.net/60162_1502196792216_1153080791_31584034_3105572_n. jpg
https://s-hphotos-snc4.fbcdn.net/63268_1502839928294_1153080791_31585140_6105911_n. jpg



So im planning on buying a friend's 1997 MX5 in a couple weeks.

plans with my mx5 are stance coilovers, first and foremost; welded diff, roll cage / bar, maybe a hydro handbrake, upgraded calipers/pads/rotors.



any of you have experience drifting a miata, compared to a 240? i hear they are a lot of fun, and WAY more reliable in a lot of ways.



the car has 177xxx miles on it, runs good with consistent matienence (doesnt burn oil or make strange sounds whatsoever).



im planning on beating the hell out of it, clutch kicks/hard track driving (will be changing clutch out with an exedy oem).

im not sure if the mileage is too high to be doing this sort of driving, id like the motor to hold for a while.


also looking for some suggestions on lightweight 15" wheels. I cant seem to find anything in an offset I like, with the weight im looking for.

looking to find an offset between 0 and +10, and a weight between 9 and ~13lbs per wheel.

been checking out rota slipstreams 15x7.5 offset is +20 though

also checked out enkei rpf1s in 15s, but the widest offset is +35 :bang:

a friend of mine is selling some 15x8 bassett wheels +6 offset, which need a slight fender pull to fit right- exactly what im looking for. but they weigh something around ~20 lbs each, WAY too heavy to use on a NA mx5 drift car, in my opinion.


would a miata make a solid drift car, or am i going at this completely wrong? im tired of 240 problems.

just looking for some input really. thanks, sorry for the wall of text.

[Om1kron]

I think mazdaspeed forums are that way... why would you ask how a miata drifts on a 240sx forum is beyond me. There are probably 5-6 people who could answer your question on this forum.

[KOUKIboy]

I have friends who Drift Miatas, really light weight cars, its like Drifting a go cart lol, a friend of mine had an SR20 on his lol, only bad thing about Miatas is that they have too much body roll....BTW ur Zenki is cleean as f*ck!!! I like it, what kind of coil overs do u have???

[isimon91]

I have friends who Drift Miatas, really light weight cars, its like Drifting a go cart lol, a friend of mine had an SR20 on his lol, only bad thing about Miatas is that they have too much body roll....BTW ur Zenki is cleean as f*ck!!! I like it, what kind of coil overs do u have???

lots of body roll? i feel like 240s have a lot of body roll

just megan track coils, nothing crazy

im debating whether or not to keep it.

im not a huge fan

[raz0rbladez909]

sooooo.

ive owned a few 240s, KA/SR, and have gotten pretty used to sliding them around on the street and track. driven KAs with welded diffs, monster SR's, stock of sr's, all sorts of different suspension mods on all of them.

So im planning on buying a friend's 1997 MX5 in a couple weeks.

plans with my mx5 are stance coilovers, first and foremost; welded diff, roll cage / bar, maybe a hydro handbrake, upgraded calipers/pads/rotors.

any of you have experience drifting a miata, compared to a 240? i hear they are a lot of fun, and WAY more reliable in a lot of ways.

the car has 177xxx miles on it, runs good with consistent matienence (doesnt burn oil or make strange sounds whatsoever).

im planning on beating the hell out of it, clutch kicks/hard track driving (will be changing clutch out with an exedy oem).

im not sure if the mileage is too high to be doing this sort of driving, id like the motor to hold for a while.

also looking for some suggestions on lightweight 15" wheels. I cant seem to find anything in an offset I like, with the weight im looking for.

looking to find an offset between 0 and +10, and a weight between 9 and ~13lbs per wheel.

been checking out rota slipstreams 15x7.5 offset is +20 though

also checked out enkei rpf1s in 15s, but the widest offset is +35 :bang:

a friend of mine is selling some 15x8 bassett wheels +6 offset, which need a slight fender pull to fit right- exactly what im looking for. but they weigh something around ~20 lbs each, WAY too heavy to use on a NA mx5 drift car, in my opinion.


would a miata make a solid drift car, or am i going at this completely wrong? im tired of 240 problems.

just looking for some input really. thanks, sorry for the wall of text.

Honestly your best bet is going to be look on roadster drift, plenty of people drift miatas but many of them will tell you the 240 is a better chassis for drifting where the miata is awesome at grip, however you can still drift a miata, it just isn't as easy. Since it is a shorter wheelbase you will have to be alot quicker in your corrections, as well as you won't be able to get as much steering angle.

Miata's are great cars and can take quite a bit of abuse, but their rear ends and transmissions start getting weak around 250 hp maybe a little higher depending on what you're doing with it. Since it is a 97 you have the 1.8 so no worries about short nose cranks, and there is a slightly better aftermarket for forced induction on the 1.8's.

For wheels I recommend the 949racing 6UL's they are light as fuck and are perfect if you aren't looking for that hella flush look. Team dynamics also has some very good sizes for the miata and are really affordable.

Honestly though there is so much to your question you'd be better off trying on a miata specific forum like roadsterdrift or club roadster, Miata.net is an older/more mature crowd and will wonder why you would want to do such a thing. Have fun with it, but I honestly don't think you should waste the cars potential on only drifting, some of the fastest autoxer's are miatas.

I have friends who Drift Miatas, really light weight cars, its like Drifting a go cart lol, a friend of mine had an SR20 on his lol, only bad thing about Miatas is that they have too much body roll....BTW ur Zenki is cleean as f*ck!!! I like it, what kind of coil overs do u have???
Body roll??? what stock car doesn't have body roll, besides with a stock miata you're going to need that body roll to initiate anything because you certainly aren't going to be using its power to break the tires loose. If you're actually worried about body roll a good set of coils and sways is a simple fix

[do it sideways]

obviously shorter wheel base is going to be harder to drift, even though miatas are reliable, 177k is a good amount on a 1.8L and drifting takes its tole on the motor so yea u do the math. but worst case if it blows u can throw something better in there ca18/sr20, overall id say go for it they are tons of fun! oh and for wheels since the miata doesn't have much power, get something lightweight, maybe some rpf1s

[raz0rbladez909]

obviously shorter wheel base is going to be harder to drift, even though miatas are reliable, 177k is a good amount on a 1.8L and drifting takes its tole on the motor so yea u do the math. but worst case if it blows u can throw something better in there ca18/sr20, overall id say go for it they are tons of fun! oh and for wheels since the miata doesn't have much power, get something lightweight, maybe some rpf1s

I have no idea why you would swap a BP out and put in a CA18 of all things?? The aftermarket for the BP is huge compared to the CA. Now the SR would be capable of more power but you'd be investing far more money into it/putting it in than just boosting the BP motor, not to mention you can just swap in the turbo engine from the mazdaspeed miatas if you want a motor that has boost from the get go, and you're set. I know this is a nissan site and all but jeez seeing the SR thrown into every car out there when most don't need an engine swap is just dumb, the bp is a very capable engine in itself.

[h2v7]

ahhh miatas are womens cars!!!!!!!!

[yokotas13]

my miata is crazy responsive
was turbo, now v8, knuckle kit, roll cage, BC with custom ISC tophats blah blah blah blah and hte list goes on
YouTube - Mazda Miata, Myrtle beach speedway (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT0DKLLVASQ)

i cant wait to drive it with the v8 in it

as for wheels, custom is the way to go. order your shit how you want it
thats what i did, 16x9-18 all around work varianza t1s

[KOUKIboy]

^^^ Damn!! u put a V8 in a Miata??? mad props, must be a fun little rocket....In response to the body roll issue; hey its my friends car not mine, he has coils on his, don't know about sways tho, but other people who have drifted it complain that is moves and shakes a lot, I personally haven't got around to driving it, but its a fast little car, since its so light weight it haul ass on the track..

[yokotas13]

i dont have sways or anything yet, and the car as you can see is rediculously flat even after transition.
once i finish up the v8 (got hte engine, tranny and mount kit sitting here, need wiring done for the chassis harness) ill throw up a fornt sway and more bracing.

but honetsly, it was 110% more fun than my 180 was

[KOUKIboy]

^^^ that sounds like a fun little ride, a miata with a beefy engine is like a corolla with an SR20 lots and lots of fun!!!...What engine did u use??? Ford, Chevy???

[yokotas13]

ford 302 bored .020 over iwth forged pistons, edelbrock carb, manifold, and a few other touches