Best Miata for STS??

Say I want to buy a Miata for autocross and I want it to be somewhat competitive locally and not too expensive, it seems that STS is the class I should be aiming for. Hence the question, what's the best Miata for STS? Reading the rule book it seems that only standard viscous type LSD is legal in STS, is this accurate? If so, does this mean that 94+ 1.8L Miatas are excluded due to their Torsen LSD?

I know some people will probably say buy what you like and see where it falls class wise and I understand this argument but if you're buying a new to you car anyway which Miata will you buy for STS? Thanks guys.

I'm not answering your question, but what about just any 94-97 in E-Stock? It will be competitive on a local scale, although if you want to go farther than that and still be competitive you'd have to find an R package.

The 1.6 cars and the 1.8 cars are pretty even honestly, just get the best one you can find. The 1.6 cars have a little less power, but they get the VLSD. The 1.8 cars have to run an open diff (if it has a torsen installed, you can swap back to an open as long as it's a model that was available with an open diff), but the extra power makes up for the diff. Nobody has really proven that one is faster than the other yet.

An R package for ES would also be nice, but between the higher buy-in and the fact that you will have to spend $2k+ on trick stock class shocks and a few sets a year of insta-wear hoosiers to be competitve, the STS car will probably be a lot cheaper in the long run.

Any of them We got the "wrong" one (loaded B-Package 93) so it has the 1.6, an open rear, and weighs 2340Lbs with the hardtop. We're running STS anyways.

actually if you want to be competitive in STS you need a CRX not a Miata...

wbjones wrote: actually if you want to be competitive in STS you need a CRX not a Miata...

But...the answer is always a Miata

Get a '99 base model and run STR.

I race a 1.6L because it is what I had in my garage.

I think they both have some advantages over the other.

Assuming you can convert a 1.8L to a package the does not have the LSD cheaply (varies depending on the package) I would just look for the best miata I don't think either have proven themself to be the better choice yet.

Lest year the 1.8L placed the best at nationals.

I'd run what ya brung. I don't think all 1.8s came with Torsens; I'm pretty sure my old '96 base didn't have one.

Some say that the 94 is the best year. I think it boils down to what you wind up putting into the car more than what you start out with. I can run with 1.8s in my '90 if I'm having a good day, and I'm not all that good.

wbjones wrote: actually if you want to be competitive in STS you need a CRX not a Miata...

Whatever, on a sunny day I always win the drive home.

Josh wrote: Whatever, on a sunny day I always win the drive home.

A fricken men. I get beat about the head and shoulders every time out by a CRX that comes out of a trailer. To run a street tire class. If that's winning, I don't mind losing.

Maybe I am not competitive enough...

But I cannot even begin to imagine swapping a torsion diff for an open one.

I think I would rather have fun being outclassed.

modernbeat wrote: Get a '99 base model and run STR.

I actually thought about it but I wanted to see what could be done for $5K or less (incl. the car) which basically ruled out the '99. The cheapest '99 I can find around here starts at $5K.

Or I can get this 1990 Miata : http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/1605965145.html

Quote from this CL post: I will only accept asking price so don't even ask!

Want to know what his asking price: $5K, what is he smoking???

ea_sport wrote: Or I can get this 1990 Miata : http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/1605965145.html Quote from this CL post: I will only accept asking price so don't even ask! Want to know what his asking price: $5K, what is he smoking???

Apparently, not CRX's.

Josh wrote:

wbjones wrote: actually if you want to be competitive in STS you need a CRX not a Miata...

Whatever, on a sunny day I always win the drive home.

for you great, for me I can't stand a convertible ...

Claff wrote:

Josh wrote: Whatever, on a sunny day I always win the drive home.

A fricken men. I get beat about the head and shoulders every time out by a CRX that comes out of a trailer. To run a street tire class. If that's winning, I don't mind losing.

mine drives to the track on the tires it will race with, and ya it bothers me to see a street tire class car being trailered to the event

RedS13Coupe wrote: Maybe I am not competitive enough... But I cannot even begin to imagine swapping a torsion diff for an open one. I think I would rather have fun being outclassed.

If you've got a 1.8 with Torsen and any reasonable amount of talent, you'd likely be locally competitive in ES with a set of Konis, a front bar, and a set of V710s for the year. That'll be cheaper than the suspension setup for a competitive ST car, which is still going to need a new set of tires once a year.

You don't really need the multi-thousand dollar shocks and new Hoosiers every other event until you get to the National level (unless, of course, you have one of those guys in your region).

billy3esq wrote: You don't really need the multi-thousand dollar shocks and new Hoosiers every other event until you get to the National level (unless, of course, you have one of those guys in your region).

in that case you could always hope he/she had the decency to run in Pro (paxed) class .... can't stand it when someone is head and shoulders above all the rest in a class and just keeps on winning just for the trophies, even worse, don't even stay around for the presentation...

wbjones wrote:

Claff wrote:

Josh wrote: Whatever, on a sunny day I always win the drive home.

A fricken men. I get beat about the head and shoulders every time out by a CRX that comes out of a trailer. To run a street tire class. If that's winning, I don't mind losing.

mine drives to the track on the tires it will race with, and ya it bothers me to see a street tire class car being trailered to the event

Unlike what Claff thinks the Baker-mobile CRX has been normally street driven to local events. It happened to come in a trailer to the last event because he had a bunch of other peoples E36 M3 from nationals in his trailer so it was easier to bring out the trailer. It has also been his daily driver on and off for years.

In my region, ES hardly has any entries, so STS is the place to go if you actually want to run against in-class competition. I've got Miatas which would be good bases for either class, so am currently pondering which way to go - but am leaning STS because the additional modifications allowed would make for a better track day car.

One question: Are you allowed to delete power steering and air conditioner for STS?

kreb wrote: One question: Are you allowed to delete power steering and air conditioner for STS?

Only if you fully convert to an option package that did not have them (manual rack is different than power rack so you can't just remove the power steering you need to swap racks)

I did not notice the OP was a DC local.

Knowing that now.... STS is not a class you can be locally competitive in unless your idea of competitive is top half (12 people already subscribed for the season)

The Baker/Snyder CRX is one of the top STS cars in the nation (No Pax/Pro class in DC). If the RX-7 can be competitive in STS (I think it can be) then John V and Greg will be very competitive with it.

Then there is a MR-2 or two and a bunch of miata's of varying prep/driving levels.

moxnix wrote: I did not notice the OP was a DC local. Knowing that now.... STS is not a class you can be locally competitive in unless your idea of competitive is top half (12 people already subscribed for the season) The Baker/Snyder CRX is one of the top STS cars in the nation (No Pax/Pro class in DC). If the RX-7 can be competitive in STS (I think it can be) then John V and Greg will be very competitive with it. Then there is a MR-2 or two and a bunch of miata's of varying prep/driving levels.

Well then I'll just do it to have lots of fun......I just want to make sure it's also legal in its class..

If you don't mind making the trek up to the Philly region, we have a pretty sizable ES class... and it looks like a good number of STS cars as well. Not to mention a few Nationals winning drivers.

One of the guys is currently in the process of converting his Miata to a R-package (removing p/s & a/c). It seems like a tedious and not-so-cheap process.