*Sigh*. Time to start building another car, I think...

amg_rx7 wrote: the RX8 is the easy button comparatively. Just add shocks and springs and catch up on deferred maintenance. The RX8 and NC are a bit easier to drive than the FD.

Yeah, there was a reason I never took my last FD to the track...

Easy button sounds appealing TBH, plus it's a newer car so hopefully I might be able to find a better example for reasonable money (although a quick look on CL suggests I'm dreaming, people out here seem to be asking $2k+ over KBB for them). Not to mention that I didn't remember my FD as being particularly spacious so I suspect I might have the same problem with the interior space that I have with the NA right now.

Well, I did manage to fix the seating position issue, finally, so I don't urgently need another car. Still want a replacement for the CRX, though.

Crud. I thought I fixed the seat position (ie got the seat back far enough) but I hadn't had a chance to take out the car until today. I now sit far enough down but not far enough back with the seat as far back as possible, the knee angle is still bad for me.

Looks like I need to either stretch the Miata by 2" or I have to go car shopping again. Bah :(.

Any of you enablers care to tell me why this car would be a really bad idea as the basis of a track car:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4293213505.html

Keep in mind we have no smog checks up here...

It's turbo.

Does that make it a bad idea? Yes, I know about snap oversteer, evil handling and all that, but IIRC that's fixable.

Heat. Even FI cars from the factory suffer from heat soak.

I wouldn't want to put the time into making one dead-nuts reliable, you should have seen the routine it took my uncle to keep his '03 Cobra reliable for track work.

Big radiator, extra capacity for the intercooler tank, diff cooler, once it came off track he used four small highpower fans.......two on the radiator, one on top of the engine, one at the diff cooler.

Hilarious fast car, but a ton of work and high consumables to keep it up.

Ehhhh.... this thing is going to be far easier to keep going than a turbo miata on the track. Cooling is NOT an issue for these cars in the slightest, because they have a coolant capacity of like... 10 gallons or something.

I think my only concern with this on the track for ME personally would be "am i ready to spend time on a road course with a car this fast?" This thing should boogie pretty hard.

These cars are really overbuilt. It's got pretty much everything i'd do to make one live on the track, plus some.

The only other thing that leaps out at me is maybe finish the late model brake conversion and top it off with some nice pads, SS lines, and good fluid.

Swank Force One wrote: Ehhhh.... this thing is going to be far easier to keep going than a turbo miata on the track. Cooling is NOT an issue for these cars in the slightest, because they have a coolant capacity of like... 10 gallons or something. I think my only concern with this on the track for ME personally would be "am i ready to spend time on a road course with a car this fast?" This thing should boogie pretty hard.

That's not really a problem, so far I managed to hold up people on a road course no matter how fast my car was.

Swank Force One wrote: These cars are really overbuilt. It's got pretty much everything i'd do to make one live on the track, plus some.

That's the attraction, plus I don't even have to buy wheels for it, it already has TE37s on it.

I've spent some time on track behind the wheel of an non-turbo second gen MR2 and it was a blast. The car isn't exactly big inside so make sure you actually fit better than in the Miata. My helmeted head was pushing against the ceiling which made for interesting comfort and sight lines.

In reply to dculberson:

You make a very good point - I've been in an SW20 years ago, but that was before I messed up my knees as bad as they are now, plus that was a slicktop and I'm guessing the T-tops have less headroom.

Guess I'll have to try one for size.

Do you fit in an NC Miata?

Some ideas:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4298030639.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4296965500.html
http://monterey.craigslist.org/cto/4262934540.html
not sure about this one... http://monterey.craigslist.org/cto/4298829990.html

S2000: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4298800855.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4296374546.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/4301760151.html
some assembly required... http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/4299130637.html

This Boxster looks interesting too but a bit pricey
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/4294275096.html

SW20s are snug inside, but more like a cockpit than actually super small.

amg_rx7 wrote: This Boxster looks interesting too but a bit pricey http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/4294275096.html

Yeah, that's way over my budget. I more or less need to try to keep the budget around 7k before mods although I'll probably be OK to spend up to 10k on an S2k.

I have seen the ads for the two RX7 race cars, problem is I have neither truck nor trailer. This probably makes me a useless GRMer 'cos I can't drag bargains home at the drop of a hat, but it's also likely to make my wife happy because it prevents me from finding out home many cars I can store on a 3/4 acre.

amg_rx7 wrote: Do you fit in an NC Miata?

Don't know, but they're out of my budget unfortunately.

BoxheadTim wrote: I have seen the ads for the two RX7 race cars, problem is I have neither truck nor trailer. This probably makes me a useless GRMer 'cos I can't drag bargains home at the drop of a hat, but it's also likely to make my wife happy because it prevents me from finding out home many cars I can store on a 3/4 acre.

Nah. Just means you have your money in more useful stuff. I hate how much money I have depreciating in my tow vehicle and trailer...

BoxheadTim wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: This Boxster looks interesting too but a bit pricey http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/4294275096.html

Yeah, that's *way* over my budget. I more or less need to try to keep the budget around 7k before mods although I'll probably be OK to spend up to 10k on an S2k.

I've noticed a long term trend of you shopping S2000s. It really seems like the best course of action you can take, if there is no way for you to make the Miata work for your knees comfortably, is to just buy the best S2k you can afford. If that's what want, and you can swing it, why not?

I'm 6'2+" and 250lbs. I could comfortably fit in my NA Miata (all 3 of them). I fit better in stock seats with foamectomies. Two of them had Harddog roll bars. I had a 99 that was better after a foamectomy. I could not fit in an NC.

I could not fit my legs in an S2000.

I could only fit comfortably in a 2000 Boxster after removing the lower center console and installing a GT1 center console delete kit.

I fit in my FRS but the angle of my leg will not permit heel and toe down shifting.

You can mount a Kirkey seat to the floor of your Miata and gain 2-3 inches of headroom and 2-3 inches of legroom. As a prior poster indicated you need to remove the stock seat mounts first. The seat back fits against the bulkhead. Take your seat out and sit on the floor with your back against the bulkhead. That's basically how much room the Kirkey gives you.

BoxheadTim wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: Do you fit in an NC Miata?

Don't know, but they're out of my budget unfortunately.

Not necessarily. My NC that's about to go up for sale? Definitely out of your budget.

Higher mileage, base model? Within your budget. I saw an '06 base for sale, not too far from me with 130k.........asking $5800.

z31maniac wrote:

BoxheadTim wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: Do you fit in an NC Miata?

Don't know, but they're out of my budget unfortunately.

Not necessarily. My NC that's about to go up for sale? Definitely out of your budget. Higher mileage, base model? Within your budget. I saw an '06 base for sale, not too far from me with 130k.........asking $5800.

I haven't seen that many NCs for sale out here in the first place and for around the $6k mark, out here you're still in NB territory.

I'm going to look at a couple of cars today (a 944 and an MR2 turbo, both local) to see if one of them will trigger a wallet opening reflex. I'm in a bit of a pickle atm as I'm booked on a private track day at Thunderhill in late Feb and now find myself without a suitable vehicle unless I somehow tow the Miata out there. That might be a very suboptimal solution but something I am trying to keep in mind.

maj75 wrote: I'm 6'2+" and 250lbs. I could comfortably fit in my NA Miata (all 3 of them). I fit better in stock seats with foamectomies. Two of them had Harddog roll bars. I had a 99 that was better after a foamectomy. I could not fit in an NC. I could not fit my legs in an S2000. I could only fit comfortably in a 2000 Boxster after removing the lower center console and installing a GT1 center console delete kit. I fit in my FRS but the angle of my leg will not permit heel and toe down shifting. You can mount a Kirkey seat to the floor of your Miata and gain 2-3 inches of headroom and 2-3 inches of legroom. As a prior poster indicated you need to remove the stock seat mounts first. The seat back fits against the bulkhead. Take your seat out and sit on the floor with your back against the bulkhead. That's basically how much room the Kirkey gives you.

Problem is that I don't like Kirkey seats much, plus I like the (fake) Brides I have in the car right now. It fits me well and is comfortable enough to drive 5h+ to, say, Laguna Seca from here. The seat is already as far back and as low as it can go (it basically does sit on the carpet). The problem is one of ergonomics and knee angle and I'm not in love enough with this Miata (which is #4...) to make the major mods like trying to relocate/modifiy the gas pedal or something like that. Part of the problem is that I have fairly limited spare time and am not willing to pay somebody to do this type work on a Miata, so I'll have to make the time count and concentrate on the meaningful mods rather than chopping the car up in an attempt to make it fit me when I can try to find something that fits me better in the first place.

At the moment I've got budgetary constraints as well but in the worst case I'll have to skip the track day at Thunderhill and postpone the shopping untilwe get the tax return in and I've had time to prep the Miata for sale.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

I get that you want a new car, but that can't be the best option in budgetary terms.

For anyone else who might see this thread and think that the Miata is too small, I just want to get the options out there. You like the seats but don't like the seating position... Removing the seat mounts isn't really cutting up the car. Drilling out the spot welds takes a little time, but then you can always reinstall them later. Those seat mounts cause the seats (whatever model you chose) to sit much higher. Also, as has been said before, get rid of the sliders. There are cheap ways to get plenty of legroom in a NA or NB Miata. Losing the armrest on the driver's door helps, too. I removed it and put in a leather strap, RS style. Gives more room for your left knee between the door and steering wheel. I also replaced the steering wheel with a smaller Sparco wheel. I would have done that anyway, but it really helps the legroom between the steering wheel and the console.

A thin layer of high density foam on the Kirkeys will make them pretty comfortable. I may have more padding in the back ;)

You might indeed have a little more padding, I'm a little lighter than you but also a few inches shorter.

Without trying to rehash the discussion from the other thread, here's the basic info:

I haven't got sliders on the seat anymore, I've got it mounted on a Garage Star seat rail and tilted slightly back. Unless I drill holes in the bottom of the seat and screw it to the floor with sheet metal screws I pretty much can't go any lower. Even with the Bride Low Max seat rails, the seat was already lower than OEM. Not by much, though. BTW, the seat sits between the two rear mounts, not on them.

The problem really is the angle, not the available legroom - the leg position for my left is pretty much perfect, but I get too much pressure from the knee cap on the joint in my right knee. That makes it uncomfortable to drive for more than half an hour. I do have a slightly smaller steering wheel I can put on the car, but that's mostly to make it easier to get in and out of the car.

Re the budget, I hear you and from a monetary perspective you are indeed correct. Unfortunately my time budget only runs to a few hours a month so I have to spend that wisely, too, and sometimes that means spending more money or pull the plug earlier than I would if I had more time (as much as that pains me).