I see rallycross Miatas with raised suspension and off road tires. I know the suspensions would be set up differently. Could I use the same car for all three events or do I need to look for a different car.
I see rallycross Miatas with raised suspension and off road tires. I know the suspensions would be set up differently. Could I use the same car for all three events or do I need to look for a different car.
Do you want to be competitive?
More helpful: you can get a decent ride height out of the Fox suspension (and others, I'm sure). So you could do a spring swap and perch adjustment to change from one to the other. Or you could simply use the Paco lift kit that just jacks the car up 3", but with a stiff spring rate this is more for looks than anything else. BTDT.
Keith Tanner said:Do you want to be competitive?
Not really. I just want to go out and have a good time. I see myself doing more autocross and time trial events with the car.
If I really like it I will eventually build another car.
I ran my Fox-equipped daily driver at the maximum ride height with the standard springs just to see how it would work, I'll see if I can find the specs. It was a couple of inches above the usual height, probably enough to run a rallyx without concern. You will trade off droop travel doing it this way which MAY be a problem in rallyx with a Torsen or open diff, I'm not sure. The Paco 3" kit will not change the range of motion of the suspension so you'd have the same ratio of compression and droop as in your lower stance.
Depends on what you're looking to get out of it and how much changeover you're willing to do and how far away from stock you want it to be. But it's definitely possible if you don't care about being competitive in one or all of the activities. I did multiple autocrosses and a track day in my national championship winning stock class rallycross car, with just swapping wheels and tires. You really don't need/want lifted suspension for rallycross, but of course you don't really want it lowered much either. If you're okay with stock-ish ride height and suspension, it's probably just a matter of wheels/tires and maybe a sway bar swap/disconnect to switch between setups.
Depending on how firm the course is, with 200TW rubber, you may win the damn thing. On hardpack you'd be in business.
My car currently has an open diff and a stock suspension. I will change it eventually but I don't see doing the Paco 3" kit with a track rat. Changing springs between events does seem to be a lot of work. I do see running different tires on the dirt.
In TX at Lonestar and North TX rallycross lowered and stock ride height Miatas are quite fast. People who raised their cars are returning them to factory ride height.
It's not that hard to change springs once you've done it a couple of times.
I actually have the Flying Miata springs on the shelf not installed yet. They say these will lower the car about half an inch. Would that still work for rallycross?
Flyin' Miata has never said they will lower your car by a half inch. Flyin' Miata has said they will give you a ride height of 12.5" front, 13" rear at stock perch heights. How much that drops your car depends on where it sits now. Sore point there :)
Is that too low for rallycross? Depends, how big is a bump?
If you have a second complete set of shocks and upper mounts, it's pretty straightforward to swap out the suspension. Sure, that requires a little more investment but if you decide to build a second dedicated rallyx car you'll already have the shocks! Since you're already on stock suspension, maybe that's the rallyx setup and the FM springs and upgraded shocks are the pavement set.
So back in the late 90s early 2000s I had a 1990 Showroom Stock C Miata. I road raced it, autocrossed and rallycrossed it. It was not competitive at rallycross but it was fun as hell.
Keith Tanner said:Flyin' Miata has never said they will lower your car by a half inch. Flyin' Miata has said they will give you a ride height of 12.5" front, 13" rear at stock perch heights. How much that drops your car depends on where it sits now. Sore point there :)
Is that too low for rallycross? Depends, how big is a bump?
If you have a second complete set of shocks and upper mounts, it's pretty straightforward to swap out the suspension. Sure, that requires a little more investment but if you decide to build a second dedicated rallyx car you'll already have the shocks! Since you're already on stock suspension, maybe that's the rallyx setup and the FM springs and upgraded shocks are the pavement set.
Not sure I want to use the worn out springs in the back. Did I mention the car had over 200,000 miles on it?
Keith Tanner said:Is that too low for rallycross? Depends, how big is a bump?
I have seen a stock class NB take first overall.
Where stockish ride height sucks is on sites with a lot of loose gravel. Not so much the course itself, but if you slide wide and plow into a big soft berm. Not sure if a taller ride height would help because that may compromise handling to where you find yourself going off more...
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Keith Tanner said:Is that too low for rallycross? Depends, how big is a bump?
I have seen a stock class NB take first overall.
Where stockish ride height sucks is on sites with a lot of loose gravel. Not so much the course itself, but if you slide wide and plow into a big soft berm. Not sure if a taller ride height would help because that may compromise handling to where you find yourself going off more...
I've done worse with my Jeep Cherokee.
Here you go.
car is lowered, stiffly sprung with big sway bars and RE71s and fast. If you need to know more, I can ask Sunday.
If you wanna do rallycross on smooth courses.. you'd be fine with something at track heights.. this is what the North texas rallyx in OK looks lie for the most part..
if you want to do any rallycross like what happens at Lone Star Rallyx in Austin.. where we get ruts and other stuff... you want more ride height.
Ronald the crappy miata was a boatload of fun in all forms sitting at basically stock ride height with the rallyx suspension setup.
Set the car up for rallycross with some Konis and springs and the other stuff will be just fine.. you might be giving up having the ideal setup.. but it will be fun..
There's always this offering from Paco: https://pacomotorsports.com/product/rallycross-coilovers/
We get ruts and have softer stuff in NTX then they do in Austin at Lonestar. I've driven both. Austin (Miata owner's name) is just good at staying on the best parts of the course in NTX. I've seen cars airborne at NTX. I didn't see anywhere a car would get airborne in Austin at Lonestar.
I think a stock ride height Miata is a great place start rallycross at either venue.
I want to echo the sentiment that you try rallycross on your current setup. Tired stock suspension is more than adequate for rallycross in every venue I have driven in. Worst case scenario, you slow down or the big holes or big bumps in the course. Don't even bother with unbolting sway bars or swapping tires. Show up, drive, then decide if it is right for you.
An early Miata built for ES autocross with adjustable shocks, a torsen, and a sway bar also makes a pretty good S6 time trial car and PR rallycross car. In rallycross, put the shocks on full soft, and swap for snow tires or 14" rally tires.
thatsnowinnebago said:There's always this offering from Paco: https://pacomotorsports.com/product/rallycross-coilovers/
I am taking a good long look at their skidplate. That might even be good to have driving on the street.
Somebody told me that the bolt pattern of at Jeep YJ and the NA Miata were the same. I could put my Jeep tires on the Miata. 
The short answer is yes, the same car can absolutely do all 3. All you need is a hardtop.
ojannen said:I want to echo the sentiment that you try rallycross on your current setup. Tired stock suspension is more than adequate for rallycross in every venue I have driven in. Worst case scenario, you slow down or the big holes or big bumps in the course. Don't even bother with unbolting sway bars or swapping tires. Show up, drive, then decide if it is right for you.
An early Miata built for ES autocross with adjustable shocks, a torsen, and a sway bar also makes a pretty good S6 time trial car and PR rallycross car. In rallycross, put the shocks on full soft, and swap for snow tires or 14" rally tires.
Anybody who has rallycrossed within 500 miles of Akron probably has met Bob Poling. When he discovered rallycross he went EVERYWHERE he could: Ohio, Michigan, DC... He used to compete in his black WRX with his Street Touring autocross coilover suspension, at autocross ride height, and from the way it sounded, no bumpstops 
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