[viciousclipse]

i was reading through an old turbo mag last night, that has racing mazdas minimonster. The owner was saying how he wanted a drag car and picked a miata, in () turbo wrote (we dont know why he picked a miata either). Why are people so against drag racing a miata. I bought mine with all intentions of drag racing. Dont get me wrong i like civics, but their the worst car to start with drag racing and their praised for it. Miata 1. rear wheel drive 2. really the lightest rwd car available,within a decent price range 3. The motors are made for boost (literally) 4. parts are cheap, brake a trans and $300 later your at the track again. I could go on and on, i know the reasons for autox and road racing a miata, but most of the same reasons are what would make great drag cars, am i alone.

 

[Fritch]

for the most part they suck at traction and wheel hop a lot, things that can be fixed but make it rather finiky to launch consistently

 

[freedomgli]

Short wheelbase and weak drivetrain do not a good drag car make. Not that it can't or hasn't been done.

 

[viciousclipse]

now ive never ridden in a miata with a decent amount of power, but i have ridden in a high hp civic that had wheel hop till 3rd gear and no traction till 4th gear, and with a good set of slicks and traction bars most of that is taken care of, so you would figure rwd would be even easier. Is wheel hop and traction really that hard to get with a miata? I have started by putting a 9" wheel on the rear, (which by the way my stock miata will hardly power brake in the grass)

 

[viciousclipse]

short wheel base doesnt really have a fix, but what i like is you dont need loads of power go go fast. I think like 300 hp should be a good low 12 sec car, and the rear is a somewhat easy fix with the tII rear, you can even buy a whole kit to do it (does require a little welding)

 

[Fritch]

I got to ride in a 600rwhp MIATA a month or two ago... on drag radials on the street

talk about freakin nuts! It spun the tires all the way down the street in all gears but man was that a fun ride

 

[viciousclipse]

thats what im lookin for

 

[Stealth97]

I go to the drags now and then, and have a blast!

 

[Caldera]

I've drag raced mine before... and I'm sorry, but there's 3 things that keep me from drag racing it.

1: running 16.8s? I might as well WALK!
2: they make you wear a helmet no matter your speed.
3: By the time your Miata has enough power that you don't want to club baby seals in your spare time between 5 and 7000RPM, there's a lot more fun things you can do with the car than drag race it.

 

[Bryan]

Short wheelbase and weak drivetrain do not a good drag car make. Not that it can't or hasn't been done.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. That said, I've dragged my car and a friend's FMII with drag slicks before. I guess it was fun...

 

[viciousclipse]

no, to me nothings more fun than drag racing, i tryed a scca event once, boring, at least to me it is. As for the times no one really sets their miatas up for drag, the people that have, did it pretty cheap.

 

[viciousclipse]

oh and theres a strip right by my house that doesnt make you wear a helmet unless you run a faster than a 9.00 (1/8 mile) but hopefully ill be faster than that , helmet is no biggie

 

[Guest]

For recent discussion of Miata drag racing, see this thread:

http://clubroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=19505

 

[chrisnick]

no, to me nothings more fun than drag racing, i tryed a scca event once, boring, at least to me it is. As for the times no one really sets their miatas up for drag, the people that have, did it pretty cheap.

heh, at least i'm not the only one that's "crazy" here. i love drag racing, AutoX and roadcourses really don't do much for me.

i should have my car pretty much finished by the time spring rolls around, we'll see if i can't shake some things up a bit. 8)

 

[Guest]

Here's a link to my FC drivetrain swap info:

http://billwilner.myphotoalbum.com/

 

[viciousclipse]

ha ha, hey chrisnick i was gettin ready to reply to your post, yea its nice that im not the only one. What kind of setup are you goin for?

 

[LUV2TURN]

The reason why not many people drag race Miata's have now been put up several times, so I'm really just re-iterating.

Short wheel base, traction, wheel hop

Besides....drag racing, to me at least, is rather boring. Not to mention that it takes much more skill to go fast around a race track than go down a 1/8 or 1/4 mile strip. I've done both, and I know which one is harder, trust me. I also know which one is a lot more fun.

Besides, if I'm going to spend thousands of dollars on my car to improve it, I'm sure as hell going to make sure that the race I enter in lasts longer than a few seconds :?

 

[PYTHON]

i got a 1.6 with 125k miles on with with 4-2-1 header, ram air intake, and exaust all JR with blown supension on 18 pound 16 inch wheel with street tires and the best time out of the car was a 16.2

 

[LUV2TURN]

i got a 1.6 with 125k miles on with with 4-2-1 header, ram air intake, and exaust all JR with blown supension on 18 pound 16 inch wheel with street tires and the best time out of the car was a 16.2

Sucks, doesn't it. I ran a 14.1 in my sohc Neon with I/H/E and weight reduction...Miata's are so slooooooow!!!

 

[toofarfromjune]

the details have already been described i.e short wheel base weak drivetrain etc.

but even without those details i must say that drag racing a miata is just not my idea of a good time, and i actually do enjoy drag racing.

one quick spirited drive through a wonderful twisty bay area back road tells everything. the only time i really enjoy driving the miata is in the twisties, and i wish i had another car for everything else. it comes alive in the twisties.

i do realize that some of you guys are from middle america and aren't blessed with fun twisties everywhere, in that case i wouldn't expect you to understand.

i would never use my miata for drag racing, it would be boring, unless i dumped 10 grand into it for some torque/reinforcement. i'd rather just get another car with that money and keep my miata for what it was made for.