I have been slowly looking for a Miata for over a year. I always seem to be just a few minutes late when calling, or couldn't make it back from a business trip in time to see cars and make offers before they were snatched up (at least the good deals).

Fast forward to me recently being laid off and having nothing but time - I needed a daily driver, and a Miata seemed to fit the bill since I have been daily driving my F250 Diesel.

This car popped up on a local forum last night and I text the owner who was still awake at midnight. Went to look at it this morning and fell in love. A deal was struck and now she's mine.

94 A Package (With Torsen)
56k miles
Hardtop (No Defroster though)
Hard Dog Bar
Cheap Mad tight JDM hellaflush Stance GR+ Coilovers
Nardi wheel with quick release hub.

Pics from the car ad (Notice I didn't purchase the VIP hellaflush wheels (though they do look pretty good I must say)





^^^Notice how sun faded the car had become

When I bought the car (7/26/12)



I got it home, and washed it, raised the rear ride height a little. I also took the time to clay bar it and do a single coat of cleaner wax (7/28/12)





Had an autocross on the 29th I wanted to go to, so I borrowed my cousins mini wheels (5.5" wide) with 205 Kumho XS on them because the stock wheels have Pirellis from the 90s on them (three digit date code, not 4). These wheels actually got a lot of comments at the autocross. Seems that a lot of people loved the look. I didn't.



(7/29/12) - First Autocross - After 3 days of ownership







After the autocross, I started to get a pretty good idea of what I wanted the car to handle like. So I went home and ordered a few parts:

15x9 Bronze 6ul
225/45/15 Hankook RS3
949 Lugs
949 Valve stems
Racing Beat Tubular Front Bar
949 Super Miata Endlinks for front and rear
New Rotors all around
Stainless Lines
XP8 pads all around.

Waited a whole week while few parts tricked in.

7/31/12 - Tires arrived



8/2/12 - Wheels, brakes pieces, endlinks arrived - unfortunately no front sway or lug nuts. Since I couldn't do much, I decided to wash the s2000



^^^Brothers! (Or sisters, I guess LOL)

8/3/12 - Tires and wheels mounted and installed on car:



Was still a little high for my liking, but started to get late.

8/4/12 (Today) - Washed and waxed the car again. Set ride height to 3.75" front ground to pinch weld, and 4" rear ground to pinch weld









Loaded up the s2000 on the trailer for a track day on Monday at Autobahn Full, so the Miata got to park in the garage for the night:



Tuesday the car goes in for an alignment and after that I will install the new pads, rotors, and stainless steel lines. Then its off to a track evening at Gingerman Raceway on Wednesday!

I'll keep updating this as things progress.

 

I'm just a bit jealous! One safety item that is a must. Add padding to your rollbar. It may save your life.

Great choice!

 

Very cool - even the color is right.

 

I'm always amazed what a good wash/wax/clay bar can do for an old paint job, looks great!

 

Nice pick up. Every enthusiast should own a Miata at one point in time in their life. I'll probably buy another one soon, they are just a blast to drive on the street even with 90-100 hp, it's hard to get in big trouble no matter what you do

 

I picked up a 94 R-Pacakge a few weeks ago. Definitely fun little cars. The extra 25 horses from the 1.8L definitely makes them more liveable. It's amazing how cheap all the parts are and what a massive database of knowledge exists for every little problem or project.

 

Great update to a car that was suffering!

One question: 9" wide wheels and 225-width tires? Seems like an odd combination! You'd think 7.5" or maybe 8" max wide wheels for a tire that small.

 

https://vimeo.com/47074308

Incar from the s2000 yesterday at Autobahn full

 

A little functional stretch is better for turn in (less sidewall flex) and makes the contact patch as large as possible.

 

I thought it was an odd combo but, its widely accepted to be the ideal non stag setup. The 225/45 provides minimal stretch. And its not like you need 315s to put all the horsepower to the ground

Saw your build thread on CR.net Austin, I'm actually looking for a red 97 NA for myself and will be doing pretty much all the same thing. Except I want the car to have a bit of vintage feel to it.

Please update this thread with all that you do to it. Also can you give me an opinion on the stance coils? I was looking into the vmaxx stage 2 from flyin' miata. And want to know if I'm overlooking a better suspension for roughly the same money

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