So I'm sad to say this, but I'm thinking about selling my S2000 to get a track car. The question: What year and what options should I look for? I don"t want to spend much more than 6K. I know that a LSD was an option, anything I could look for to tell if the car has it(other than jacking the car up)?

Thanks for the help,
David

 

http://www.miata.net/faq/miatachanges.html

 

are you in financial trouble or something?

 

I wouldn't call it financial trouble. When I bought the S I had never been on a road course. Since then, I have became a track whore with it and want to be able to do much more track days then i could with the car. So i want to sell the S, pay cash for a miata, and be at the track 2-3 times a month.

 

I recently bought a '99 10th Anniversary Edition Miata to track, and went through lots of due diligence before buying. First tip, go to miata.net, there's plenty of good info there.

The main "must haves" that come to mind are Torsen LSD and manual tranny, everything else is easy/cheap enough to add or replace. Depending what year you're looking @, there are certain option combos that indicate it will or won't have LSD. For example, in '99, all but the base models had it. If you have any doubt, you can call Mazda Public Relations, and they'll cheerfully tell you what options a particular car had by providing the VIN #.

Mine also has the Hard-S suspension (Bilstein shocks, stiffer springs, stiffer rear sway bar, front strut tower bar) which works very well, though I'll prob. get stiffer sway bars as my next change.

I came to the conclusion that the '99'-'00 models were the best bets for my needs. It was the first two years of the 2nd (NB) generation, w/ lots of improvements like longer rear susp. travel, glass rear window, and 140 hp 1.8L tranny. Starting in '01, they went to a higher compression, var. valve timing engine that didn't really produce any more power, but req'd premium gas and isn't so boost-friendly. The '01+'s also started gaining weight.

The NA's are certainly popular for cost/weight reasons and make a good track platform. The NA's I tested felt quite a big slower than the '99's I drove, though, and I want to keep the powertrain close to stock to maintain maximum reliabilty.

Also, be sure to budget for a real roll bar, and research any requirements for the tracks/orgs you want to run w/. I bought a Hard Dog M2 Sport, but there are tons of options.

 

I had a 91 Miata for 3 years and I always regretted not getting a 94 M edition. The 94 M had the 1.8 engine, lightweight BBS wheels, LSD and OBD-1. That said, if you're going to strip one down for dedicated track use you really only have to look for your engine choice (1.6 or 1.8) and making sure it has the torsen LSD. Even that's not a big deal though since you can swap one in for ~$400.

Oh,. and NA or NB ;-) My preference is obviously for NA.

 

pkjie108- thanks for the link its def. helpful

Chris S- thanks for all the info, and if you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for the 99?

 

gpxl- thanks for the help. a 94 is the year that i was looking at due to the 1.8 engine and lightweight.

 

I personally like the 94 to 97's the best but a car like Chris S has with the 6sp can certainly be better on some tracks. Looks better too.

You're making a great choice. The Miata may not be as fast as the S2000 but it's much cheaper to run. If by chance you wad it up you won't lose as much money.

 

i got rid of the S for a miata