Speedboat: Building a streetable NC Miata for autocross and track days

I've spent the last few years thrashing my daily drivers through autocross courses, planning for the "eventual" dedicated car for autocross and track days. I went back and forth between options. Miata? BRZ/FRS/86? C5 or C6 corvette? I always came back to the Miata idea, though. 

Even in the gospel of Miata is Always the Answer, there seems to be some lingering doubt about the NC. Sure, they call it a boat. They say it's too bloated to be loved like an NA/NB and not powerful enough to be loved like an ND.

But I love an underdog. The improvements to the NC's structural rigidity (compared to the NA/NB) give me some comfort. Plus, maybe I'm just crazy, but I think the NC is better looking than the NA/NB. 

So I picked up a 2010 NC with the goal of building a weekend car that can be driven to and from autocross or the track, no trailer needed. My local autocross clubs are not SCCA affiliated and I care less about classing than just building a fun car and competing for raw time. 

I was very happy with this find: Liquid Silver Metallic with only 53,000 miles. It’s a 6 speed with factory LSD and the previous owner had already set it up very well with Öhlins coilovers, front and rear Progressive sway bars, Good-Win race muffler, AntiGravity battery, Hawk pads, braided brake lines, Blackbird Fabworx roll bar (with harness bar) and harness (although one strap is missing), and a Moroso coolant expansion tank to replace the stock one prone to failure. 

I even found a GRM sticker mixed in with the paperwork so there's a good chance the owner is a forum member. If you're reading this, let me know! The sticker now lives on my garage tool chest.

So far, the car is fantastic. It's a pure, involving, analog driving experience in all the right ways. The only weakness has been the skinny 205 all season tires, but that's an easy fix. 

The next steps are just some preventative maintenance and then a shakedown run at the next autocross. After that, we'll see where this takes us. 

We have an NC in the family (my mum wanted a reliable convertible, and of course Miata is always the answer).

I like the way it drives, even though it's an automatic. Purists can complain about the weight and size all they want, but the NC is a very competent car. And the way it keeps planted even when tearing around a corner is nothing short of sublime.

Excited to see where this build goes :)

Looks awesome. I find myself liking the NCs more and more!

They look great when "built" too!

I have an NB1/99 Sport as it's the weapon of choice for street class, but I have always liked the NC. I'd love to have yours set up just like you bought it.

Beautiful car. How is the clearance with a helmet relative to the rollbar? I'm about 6 feet tall - so nothing crazy - but my helmeted head is taller than the roll hoops in a stock ND. I'm trying to find a Miata I can fit in with the least amount of modifications necessary.

I share your assessment of where NCs fit in to the grand scheme of things Miata-wise.

NC's are my favorite Miatas. I don't care what anyone else says. I think they look great. 

Sounds like you lucked out with your purchase. There are some really nice upgrades on it already (Ohlins!). Have fun with the build. 

They look great, handle great (once you swap out the stock springs and shocks) and are reasonably fast with the 2.0 and even better with a 2.5.  Nice car, looking forward to seeing where you take it!

TheStick said:

Beautiful car. How is the clearance with a helmet relative to the rollbar? I'm about 6 feet tall - so nothing crazy - but my helmeted head is taller than the roll hoops in a stock ND. I'm trying to find a Miata I can fit in with the least amount of modifications necessary.

Thanks!

I'm 5'10" and it passes the broomstick test with ease. The Blackbird Fabworx roll bar is definitely taller than the stock hoops. 

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone. Some great looking NCs in this thread. Hopefully I'll have some small updates to share soon (time permitting this weekend). 

Update:

The year was 2013. "Selfie" was added to the dictionary. Pope Francis became the Pope. A set of General all season tires were manufactured and somehow made it until 2022 when I discovered them on the Miata I purchased. 

Check out this production date:

The tread was still pretty good but the rubber was hard as a rock. I swapped these 205/45/17 Fred Flintstone specials out for 215/45/17 Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s. These are a bit of a compromise tire, but I expect them to provide decent performance for a full season while enduring some street use.  They have been a massive improvement , but I expect that anything would be an improvement over 9 year old all season 205s. 

Took the Miata to autocross and the battery died in between run groups. Complete story is in this thread: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/nc-miata-died-then-it-came-back-to-life-looking-for-help/191356/page1/

Going to be switching the Antigravity lithium battery out for a normal lead acid battery. I'm just waiting on the battery tray to arrive. I'd rather trade the little bit of weight for reliability. 

Taking the car to Track Night in America on Tuesday but I may need to do it with the lithium battery. Let's just hope the battery doesn't die again!