After doing the last ride and drive got me back into the itch to wanting to go to a High Performance Driving School. Then I thought to consider tracking my Mini. Than I said maybe I'll just buy something cheap and modify it for track duty, that will be my foot in the door to getting more involved in racing. Back in the early 2000's I bought a '99 Miata and started modifying it to track but ended up selling it before going any further. Now i'm thinking to buy one again and once again modify it for track duty. I came across this car, but i'm not so excited about the price or miles...The dealer has bidding at $6500 with the reserve not met yet. I think it's worth less than that wholesale (I found it on a dealer/wholesale auction). It also has 103k miles. Would like a little less...Nice car though. No paintwork. 2002 Miata SE 6 speed.

What do you think...make an offer or no?




Do I see an exhaust there?

 

FWIW, this was my Miata..







The day I bought it...

 

Why not? If it's something you enjoy, then I say go for it. Make a reasonable offer and see what happens.


BTW:
Have you ever considered modifying and finishing your Mustang for various types of racing?




Terry

 

I just want to get it done to enjoy it...But it still needs a LOT of work, and I don't have any time (or money, for the matter) to put into it right now.. But either way I want to finish it and enjoy it on the street, not track, that much I can tell you..

The lease on my office is up in less than 6 months, I may consider taking some space from another dealer in the area (an ex-Chrysler dealer), he's got plenty of space and a pretty large service area that I could always move my car there to tinker with on a lift when I have a little time here and there...I'm meeting with them tomorrow to see if we can come to some sort of agreement/thoughts on how I can work out sharing space or merging with them..

 

Not intending this to be a personal question, but is there any way your auto dealership could purchase the Miata, modify it for racing, and then write as an expense for advertising and such?





Terry

 

It's a thought, but don't know if it would be worth it..

 

Yeah, might not be. As a business owner though, I guess I think of things like that.



BTW: If you ever need to find some parts for your Mustang or need anything rare, let me know.






Terry

 

Kinda like the Mustang huh? I think you're just pissing money down the drain. My

 

I thought the same way. But with the Mustang it's more the time. It still needs a little more money put into it, but most of the money/parts were already purchased, just sitting in a room waiting to be installed. The biggest problem with the Mustang is I have nowhere to work on it. It's currently in the back of the yard in my office. The landlord does not allow me to do any automotive work on premises. If it was in a garage (with a lift especially) that I can access at my disposal, that shit would have been done a loooong time ago.
The Miata I can more easily write off as a business purchase/expense, the Mustang I cannot . Plus other than the purchase price of the Miata itself, there isn't much more $$ that needs to be put into the car. Suspension and chassis upgrades, tires/wheels, some light performance mods, how much, $2k-$3k if not a little more, max to start me off?

 

I say "no" to the Miata. I say that only because you mention what you did about the Mustang as far as cost.

If I were in your shoes, I'd just buy a set of track shoes for the Mini and autocross that periodically. Just my $0.02 as for a FF vehicle, the Mini seems to be a good autocross platform.

 

If I were you...and we're looking for a Miata for track use...I would try and find a track spec NC (2006).

Stripped down, cheap & quicker than the NB Mazdaspeeds.

I dunno, IMO...any Miata is a good Miata for track use. Im going on 3 years, 60,000 miles and no turning back.

 

With a budget of $3,000...Heres what I would do.

FM Stage 2 Suspension Package (Sways, springs, adjustable shocks) - $824
14x8 RPF1s Mounted on 225/40/15 Toyos - (From Goodwin) - $1499, Mounted/Balanced

That leaves you with about $600 after shipping everything to either replace brakes or anything thats dated on the vehicle, or go with a header and intake, since the car already appears to have a muffler of some sort on it.

 

 

if you don't have time to work on your mustang, you don't have time to track a car

 

do it.....

 

ooops.

15" wheels.

 

Buy new bowling equipment instead

 

I say just spend some money to get a dedicated set of wheels and track the MINI if interested. IMO, it'd be more fun of a car. Then again, I'm not a big fan of that Miata.



Meh.

 

+1

or

get the mustang finished and then think about another vehicle?

 

If you are concerned about placing finances in the right spot to move your business or change things around, I wouldn't spend $6,000 +/- on a 'toy' right now, no.

Plus, you are always writing about how you work such long hours, get home late, have other commitments, have a toy car you already don't have time to mess with, and you observe the Sabbath.....when do you plan on actually working on and driving this extra car?

I'd wait until everything else is in order. Seems you change cars (leases) often enough to keep things interesting for a while anyway.

 

I bought a toy!!!!

 

Ok good. Thought you were getting an Infiniti M for a second.

If you can swing it, I'd pick up a first generation MINI for the track instead. I'm not much of a Miata fan, but I like the NA's a little more.

 

I thought about that, but I want RWD for the track..

 

I think if I do get one, it's going to be an '04 or '05 Mazdaspeed Miata, has a little more power (Turbo), will net bigger power increases if I decided to modify the engine a little more heavily, has more chassis reinforcements from the factory, and LSD..

 

get it ... u only live once, so live it up!

 

2004 Mazdaspeed MX5 - 41k miles

 

How about a 944, a 944 turbo, or a 944 turbo S? They can be picked up for about what you are looking at on the Miata and many of them are already prepped for track use. The costs will be higher for maintenance or repair costs, but they are very well balanced and make a good track rat.

 

True, but I want to keep maintenance expenses to a minimum..