Is the Miata still the answer for a track rat in 2021?

Let me preface this by saying that my end goal here is to go wheel-to-wheel racing. I'm not really at a point in my life where I can justify 2-3k a weekend to run in the midfield of a SM/ITA field, so I've consigned myself to track days for now. Been browsing craigslist/facebook marketplace searching for the 5-7k "low-maintenance" track car, and I'm surprised with how expensive Miatas are getting these days. And a lot of the NA/NB are in the upper 100k's of mileage, so I'm a little worried about deferred maintenance woes. 

Here's the thing: I don't want another project. I have an E30 for that, and I like that car a little too much to beat on it at the track. I'm willing to put time into some light suspension mods, but I don't want to build anything too crazy or spend time on deferred maintenance. I'm planning on driving to the track (Laguna/Sonoma ~1hr, Thunderhill/Buttonwillow ~3hr, so not far) so I don't want anything too harsh. Won't be daily driven. Don't really care about outright speed/power either. 

Here's what I'm looking at right now:

NC Miata: Seems like the next best option after the NA/NB, but maybe a bit out of budget. Not in love with the looks, but I think I can live with it. 

Mk4/5/6 GTI: Not completely opposed to FWD, honestly I kinda love it. Don't know anything about GTIs though, but I like that I can probably fit a set of track tires in the back

E46: A bit bigger and heavier than I would like, but I'm a BMW guy so I have to at least think about it

986 Boxster: Might be hard to find within budget

Mazda 3: Seems a bit bare bones, but it's well within budget

Anything else I should consider? Seems like the toyobarus and the 350Zs are still a bit expensive these days. Maybe I'm overthinking this deferred maintenance thing?

I've also thought about buying myself a seat in an enduro car. I feel like I should have non-iRacing track experience before I do this though. Anyone know how much a seat goes for these days? 

Zzw30 mr2 is tremendous value, and mod for mod, I would argue beats the miata in many areas. My silver mr2 with a haas turbo setup running 7 psi on tein springs with 160k mile oem dampers and a open diff was faster than my friends no expense spared, k24, bmw 6 speed, ohlins equipped miata racecar with no heat. 
 

A fair amount of people are building them now and it's becoming quite clear how potent the lightweight, mid engined platform can be with some added power. The aftermarket is exploding lately and there are a multitude of engine solutions between turbocharged 1zz setups (which are fantastic to about 240whp on stock internals). 2zz is one of the easiest swaps on planet earth, you even use the 1zz harness.  K swaps are savagely fast and reliable. V6 swaps are happening in pretty good numbers, be they mz or gr. 
 

I like the answer as much as most people, but mr2 is the cheat code unless you need to pack golf clubs. 

I'm not one to recommend miatas, but if your end goal is w2w, it sounds like you want a used spec miata. Pretty sure the less desirable (NA) cars can be found in decent condition for <$10k. And then you already have a mostly prepped race car and don't have to start from scratch when you decide it is time to go racing.

Like DPS said, begin with the end in mind. If w2w is the end game, make sure your track rat is eligible once you get there. An old NASCAR style body seems to be the cheapest entry, just not sure what w2w racing looks like for it... 

A K20 or K24 swap EG Civic makes a great track car, trouble is that people are building $50K+ rigs that are pricing this combination out of the market for track rats.

In that price range, I'd look for someone else's abandoned project and forget the make/model. I have seen fully-caged Neons in pristine condition with nice equipment go for $2K, 100% track ready. The was a former World-challenge Mazda 3 listed for $4k here a while ago that cost $60k to build originally. Retired ITA CRXs and RX7s pop up all the time.

I like the idea of getting someone else's race car and just tracking that, but I don't think have space for a tow vehicle right now and I'm not in love with the idea of driving a caged car on the street. Seems like the $/car is a good option there though. 

As a Californian, the engine swap doesn't easily fit the "streetable" criteria, but I think a 1ZZ MR2 or a B series Civic would still be a good option. I'll look into those.

Where are you located, what tracks are near you and what sanctioning bodies hold events at those tracks?  The answers to those questions will be the biggest drivers as to what wheel to wheel series you'll want to end up in. 

On your wheel to wheel cost you can, in some series and some parts of the country do it for significantly lees that your projected cost.  When I travel across country and race with SVRA your $2 to $3K is accurate but when I race either vintage or Spec Miata in New Mexico or Colorado my weekend costs are under $1k.  There are several endurance series that allow you to split the cost with teammates and get the costs even lower.

A soft-top NC Miata with Blackbird Fabworx NC RZ roll bar would be my answer for a budget street/track toy.

In reply to Driven5 :

Look at older JaguarXJS.  If the V12 is too complex for you they made a 4.0 six that's all aluminum 4 valve per. And extremely reliable. Some were even 5 speed manuals. It's very nearly as fast as the V12 because it's hundreds of pounds lighter. The complexity of the V12 disappears once the luxury stuff is removed. 
      Think of it as a big Miata.  By the time the 6's were popular Ford had spent hundreds of millions making the car reliable.  In England they race In a spec class and accordingly there are several sources for Competition parts. Rob Beere and AJ6 racing.   As well as Kent Cams  etc. Here in America you can have those mild cams reground by any local cam grinder  or Isky and Crower who specialize.  
  There is a local Racer Robert Knodt who has a great series on U tube.      Consumables will be a little more expensive.  But the car is an honest 140 mph. (150 with the V12 ). 
     Here's why a Jaguar is a better track rat than a Miata. The buyers of them tend to be older successful people who's retirement treat is the Jag.  They tend to be carefully maintained by the dealer. And not driven much and extremely rarely hard. 
Finally you can often pick a Jaguar up for a thousand  dollars if it's maybe a little scruffy looking but still runs well and just needs some attention. I prefer the $500 non running ones because often it's such simple stuff like a $12 GM ignition unit or a few bucks worth of vacuum hose.  The Jaguar Forum is a great source for understanding how to repair them and there is a free downloadable 600 page book about the ins and outs of ownership 

One last point. The junkyards are filled with good solid cars and as a result parts are cheap, cheaper than a Chevy or Ford. 

In reply to APEowner :

I'm in CA (SF area), and can race with SCCA and NASA, VARA if I want to go vintage. Or the Porsche Club. 

Kinda surprised about your costs because entry fees alone seem to be a lot. NASA at Sonoma/Thunderhill is $475 iirc, and that's before tires/brakes/fluids/2nd class/etc. Maybe I'm overestimating consumables and transport to the track though

NA Miatas have been getting expensive, and I'm having trouble finding a good wishbone Honda myself. (Does opening the search for an Integra help?) And what about also looking at the RSX/EP3 Civic Si/eighth-gen Civic Si?

W2W really takes you beyond a car you can drive to the track, so I would hold off on that until you're ready for a tow rig and trailer, and then just buy someone else's built car.  You can probably even get a deal including a trailer... but for now, just stick with a casual track car.

For a 'casual' track car there are lot of options, but it's still hard to beat a Miata for fun/$$...

NC is the best performance/$$ in Miatas right now, and it would be my choice for a low cost, casual track car that would still be street driven.  If I were starting today, it would definitely be an NC, or maybe an RX8 (with a motor swap).

Buy a soft top, install a quality roll bar, good tires and send it.  With basic suspension upgrades and good brake pads/fluid, they're really pretty quick.  Don't buy the power hardtop version:  not really compatible with a practical roll bar solution for the track.

Best value:  blown motor NC and 2.5 swap it, but it's more of a project.

In reply to sedrat :

Some consumables costs can be reduced by using used tires. Get the larger sizes commonly used by professionals and often qualifying tires with just a few laps are sold for less than 1/2 price.  For Hobbiests those tires will often be good for more than a years worth of racing.  
The other money saving thing is switch to Aftermarket calipers like Wilwood and  the better calipers help pads last for more than one weekend.  
Finally trailering  the race car adds to weekend costs.  But those costs can be avoided if the race car is kept licensed  and driven to and from the track. That or a time share arrangement with someone. In the past it was common for the mechanic to tow the race car to and from the track as part of his chance to drive it. 

If w2w is your goal and the current vehicle is a stepping stone, have you considered karting? The following assumes you have not, if you already know karts are not your jam you can disregard.

 You could do a rental kart league, but you really should try a race kart. If the track(s) most local to you race LO206 (a B&S sealed spec engine) you could buy a kart, all the gear, and race an entire year for less than purchase price of the cars you're considering. Consumables will be waaaaay less. You can stretch a $220 set of tires for half a season. And you will be racing w2w now, not in the future! 

If you decide the lo206 is too slow you can probably find a local ka100 series and go much faster. It'll cost more, but that's motorsports.

While kart racing isn't 1-1 with car racing it's pretty darn good, almost every driver in pro motorsports started in karts before jumping into f4 or gt juniors. You'll spend time honing your race craft so you'll be ahead of the curve when you do move up to cars. 

I've also been surprised by the steady upward climb in NA Miata prices. I haven't done a ton of track days with it, but mine has been very reliable, even with 200k+ on it. If you want to give it a test drive to see if the ergonomics and power (or lack thereof) will actually work for you, let me know!

First question is whether you already have a vehicle you can tow with.  If you do and you think that W2W racing is anywhere in your future, the easy button is to buy a race car that someone else has already built.  It is way more expensive to incrementally turn a street car into a track car, and if you buy one that's been raced recently you can be pretty sure that all the maintenance has been addressed.

I think it's hard to beat a Miata.  The earlier 1.6L Spec Miatas sell quite a bit cheaper because they're not quite as competitive at the front of the pack as the later NB cars.  Don't let that scare you, they're still plenty competitive for mid-pack drivers.  IMO on some tracks they actually have an advantage due to the lighter weight.  Outside of NASA and SCCA SM racing, they are perfect for vintage racing, endurance racing, etc.  You could race every weekend if you wanted to.  Generally speaking they are as reliable as a hammer and cheap/easy to maintain.  Don't worry about mileage as much as condition.  I did a track day in mine yesterday, here's a clip of me running down a newer V8 Camaro with the original 223k mile engine.

The NC Miata definitely have more performance potential but at 2-3x the cost to prepare one properly.  They also don't fit neatly into race classes (yet).

RX8 as long as the engine is in good shape, ideally a 2nd gen. And yes, they're out there.

Very similar chassis to the NC, but without the faff of installing a rollbar unless you really, really want to install one.

I would buy a 1.6 Miata and run it at vintage races (I currently run my Datsun & F500 with VARA).

$400-$600 is the typical range for a entry fee

Used race tires from John Berget will cut your tire bill in half but you're still looking at $150-$200 in tire costs.

There is nothing in the rulebook that says you can leave the interior in your track car; I daily drove me Showroom Stock C Miata. 

In fact as a notorious cheapskate I would buy a Miata and prep it to the 1990 SCCA showroom stock rule book. That would cut way down on the costs versus Spec Miata.

Realistically a local road race (within 60 miles) is still going to cost you $650-$700 for the weekend.

For the last few years the auto industry has been cranking out trucks and SUVs, NOT sports cars. 

Anything you can find will be older and a lot of the older stuff went to the wrecking yard. What is left is in demand and will be expensive. Used cars in general are getting pricey. 

The answer for a track rat in 2021 may still be Miata or it may be MR2, but whatever it is, it will be expensive.  Get used to it. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I'd love nothing more than to have the garage space for an XJS myself, but I simply don't consider it the easy button for a track toy. A Jag is a Jag and a Miata is a Miata. In my experience, in trying to draw equivalency by describing any car as a 'big Miata', the biggest thing it's going to be is a let-down once it's actually compared against the innate Miata-ness of a Miata. Otherwise you could just describe a Miata as a 'small XJS', which it's anything but.

Here's why an NC Miata with Blackbird bar is a better track rat than an XJS, for most people. Easier to find with manual transmission. Better off-the-shelf rollover protection. Better off-the-shelf track prep/upgrade availability. Easier (cheaper) on consumables. Larger and more widely available current body of knowledge.

While there are plenty of cream puffs out there that have been taken care of as you describe, I can't fathom that the seller of a track-rat condition XJS is still owned by "older successful people who's retirement treat is the Jag" and "tend to be carefully maintained by the dealer". Perhaps the same individual, but no way has it actually been cared for like that in at least a decade or two. I'll concede though, that it probably doesn't get driven much, but not for the same reasons anymore. I also wouldn't discount how many Miatae that have also been meticulously maintained by easy driving older successful people who are passionate about their car... Not that those will be available at track-rat condition pricing either.

While it would be easy for a devoted Jaguarist to take in stride everything that a cheap XJS is and isn't, and could be great for somebody as concerned about tracking something 'interesting' with 'character' as they are simply looking for seat time, I don't see it as a great solution for somebody simply wanting more of a plug-and-play type solution.

The more I think about it, driving a race car to the track doesn't seem like a completely terrible idea. I'm close enough to the tracks (and young enough) that I think I could deal with the harshness. I guess I just vastly overestimated the running costs for racing. $650-700/weekend is barely more than a weekend of track days, and I'd honestly be fine paying double that. 

Anything I should be scared off by, besides "don't crash your ride home?"

And I've thought about karting, but part of the appeal for me is racing on the big tracks so that's mostly a non-starter. 

In reply to sedrat :

Keep in mind that while the cost may be similar, you generally tend to get a lot less track time doing W2W compared to track days.

sedrat said:

In reply to APEowner :

I'm in CA (SF area), and can race with SCCA and NASA, VARA if I want to go vintage. Or the Porsche Club. 

Kinda surprised about your costs because entry fees alone seem to be a lot. NASA at Sonoma/Thunderhill is $475 iirc, and that's before tires/brakes/fluids/2nd class/etc. Maybe I'm overestimating consumables and transport to the track though

California you say?  That will change your cost significantly.  I crewed at an SVRA event at Sonoma and the hotel cost alone were more than I usually spend at a race weekend at High Plains in Colorado. 

Your biggest consumable cost is tires.  That true for both track days and racing.  Tire cost and life should be a big factor in selecting the car and class you race in.  They're also a big part of what makes a Miata a good choice.

In reply to sedrat :

Once upon a time my budget was really thin, so here is my bare bones budget for a local weekend:

Entry fee for a 2 day weekend $450.00

Used race tires mounted and balance cost per weekend: $150 (amortized cost assuming 3-4 weekends from a set)

Fuel based on track being within 60 miles and approximately 60 laps $98 (this is assuming you are running pump gas. note my showroom stock Miata got 9 mpg on track)

Misc (food, water, ice etc) $50

So $750 per weekend.

If you run with a group that does a race each day, a one day entry fee would likely cut the entry fee by about 40% so you might be able to do a Saturday for $550-$600.  Way back in the early 90s I would only do one day of our SCCA double regional weekends. While it didn't significantly cut the budget, it was less of  lump some I had to come up with; read I could mange to spend $250-$300 dollars but $500 was a stretch for me at the time. 

As a counter point; I run new tires on the Datsun and F500 and  tow them to the track.  My local track is 67 miles form the house and I travel to and from each day (obviously I leave the race car and trailer at the track). For my last 3 day weekend with VARA I spent $1235.65 (I keep receipts). This is fuel, amortized cost of tires & brake pads, food and the gate fee at the track. 

What I've been doing for the last decade is 2 vintage race weekends and 4 track days a year. The track days only cost me the price of gas an tires, as an instructors pay an entry fee. I manage this for just over $3500 annually (this includes the cost of maintenance and registration for my tow vehicle and trailer).

BoxheadTim said:

In reply to sedrat :

Keep in mind that while the cost may be similar, you generally tend to get a lot less track time doing W2W compared to track days.

This is correct; at a typical track day you get 4 half hour session or 2 hours per day. At the vintage events I'm getting about an hour and ten minutes per day.