My personal dilemma

[mexie]

I thought I’d bounce this idea off the mx5 community as I've been struggling with this for a while now.

I currently have 2 cars, a turbo swift gti that makes a touch over 150kw atw, I’ve campaigned the car for a bit over 10 years in various hill climbs / track days / drags and has now been retired (as I’ve had the gearbox out 6 times and am sick of breaking it. Last gearbox held together for only 1200 kms). The swift will live in the garage and only be occasionally dríven on weekends.

As the swift is always broken, I have a super lovely epically cute NB8A as a daily driver. I never expected to enjoy a stock car this much. Typically any car I drive I immediately think to myself, hmm this car would be so much better with XYZ mod. The mx5 doesn't do this and I enjoy driving it on the streets in stock form immensely. I can’t comment about driving the mx5 on the track in stock form, still haven’t done that yet.

Now, I need to start building a new track car. It has to meet a few criteria, namely:

1. A near indestructible gearbox (I can only think of 2, the best being Supra V160 Getrag transmission and runner up Nissan RB25DET gearbox)
2. Rear wheel drive
3. Overall relatively reliable vehicle, e.g. isn’t known for blowing diffs, engines, etc
4. Easy to setup as a drift car with strong aftermarket support
5. Preferably not too expensive to buy and maintain

So that leaves me thinking there is only really one option. Get a R33 GTST. (I really don’t want a R33 )

Every other option I can think of either the cost is prohibitive (e.g. buying a supra) or have week gearboxes (mx5 or S15 – both of which I’d prefer over a R33 by far)

The dilemma! Do I keep the mx5?

I’d have 3 cars. It seems ridiculous to me. I don’t think I’d ever really be in a position where both the R33 and swift are broken and need the mx5 for a daily, plus the swift is being restored as a street car. So I’m not sure what role the mx5 would fill that couldn’t be done by the R33 or swift.

I don’t want to sell the mx5 but I don’t think it makes sense to keep it.

Thanks to those who read my massive wall of text. Your feedback is appreciated!

[93_Clubman]

You haven't specifically indicated, but from reading your post it sounds like you're very attached to the SS, even in road going form, given you're restoring it. If you weren't so attached to it, it would be worth keeping the MX5 instead of the SS, given you enjoy & use the MX5 so much.

[Regie]

did you know the MX5 is the most raced car in the world???

R33 on the track, its like going out in the ocean in a oil tanker.

Take your stock MX5 to a track day, you will be very surprised how they go.

MX5 for track car!

[Nevyn72]

Sell the swift. (part it out if more profitable)

Buy/Build an appropriate race car.

Keep the MX5 goodness for your DD as you already love it so much.

[bruce]

Sell Swift as you're not going to drive it.
Keep MX5 as a daily with mild mods.
Aren't the most popular drift car a Nissan s13/s14/s15? Heaps of support for them (I've got the best of both worlds, an NA with an SR20DET).

[davekmoore]

MX5 gearbox as reliable as anything out there as long as you don't go turbo. Sell the Swift. Use the funds to gently modify the MX5 (pads, rotors, diff, cooling, roll bar, coilovers). Use it for track days and sprints and as a DD and reconsider the drifting.

[mexie]

Ah I should have clarified, the swift will never be sold. 10 years of memories and an amount of money that would make most people sick dictate that I’ll never part with it.

There are a few things putting me off building up the mx5 –
• Gearboxes start getting iffy over 200ish kw
• I can’t find an aftermarket seat I like lol – I don’t find the sprint V comfortable and I don’t think there are many other options
• The issue of getting defected for an aftermarket steering wheel with no airbag

Those are the main ones.

What’s drawing me to the R33 is, strong box, good brakes from factory (have drum style handbrake so no need for hydro), cheap and relatively reliable.

Those recommending a S series platform, weak gearboxes is whats putting me off them and I don’t want to do the RB25 gearbox conversion.

I know the R33 is an ocean liner, I’ve dríven them on track before and wasn’t a fan but I don’t think I have any other option. I’m hoping that with the right suspension setup I’ll enjoy it in the end.

[The American]

Sell the Mx5, buy an r33, keep the swift in the shed?

The special thing about the Mx5 is you don't need big power to have big fun, and without big power, things don't break, and you get cheap motorsport.

I've got a Sparco in mine, and on decent rails it's not too bad (I found the position when bolted to stock rails uncomfortable) and I am 6'5".

[Smokinscotty]

The R33 is a awesome car and perfect for learning to drift IMO.
At first they seem ugly and boaty, but coming from an mx5 just about anything else will leave the same taste in your mouth.

When my Mum bought her first one, I said aww why did you buy that!? Then I drove it and thought it was a bit of fun... Then I went to a drift day..... Ooooooohhhhh yeah, good times.

To prep, just throw some coilovers at it, and perhaps get the diff shimmed to tighten it up. Straight out of the box it's a cracker of a car and still comfortable for daily duties too.

In my drift experience I wouldn't recommend drifting a daily driver without a plan B, because you will break something eventually. So if the Swift can do some shifts as a daily sell the MX, but if not, keep the Mx park the Swift (maybe till its good for club rego?)
Not a day goes by I don't miss my little Mini Cooper that consumed me for much of my youth. I should never have sold it and can appreciate where your coming from with the swift.

Here's a quick video of me having a crack in my mums first Skyline when it was still fresh off the boat, stock as a rock... It had to be dríven super hard but after a few spins, you quickly learnt what the car needed to get your angles and speeds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZYUUkDVtrE

[SuperMazdaKart]

Lower the power of the Swift so it's reliable, fast track it's resto to a street car & make it the daily driver (or half weekly daily driver if you prefer), sell the MX-5. Buy an MX-5 SP/SE & do some light mods (better if it has the stuff you'd want already).

[Dre]

You would want serious skills to drift an mx5.. There's too much grip and the short wheelbase doesn't lend itself to that driving style.

I had an s15 before my mx5, I made the 6 speed last with 250rwkw and I did a couole of drift days. You could put an s14 5 speed or rb25 box in it and you'd be laughing. Well, gearbox wise you'd be laughing.

Why don't you get a gear set made for the swift?

[mexie]

I have sorted the gearbox, it's disappointing that I have had the failures that I have. There are swifts running close to 300kw running my gearbox setup and I haven't heard of them having failures, I guess I've just been unlucky.

Agreed about drifting the mx5, I can't see that happening.

[ManiacLachy]

Can you afford to keep all 3? If you're just worried about having 3 cars kicking around and maybe not giving them the attention they deserve, but can afford rego and running costs ... then I say why not have all?

MX-5 remains the daily, the R33 (or other) is the dedicated racer, and the Swift is the car for special drives and weekends. Do you really want to daily the Swift anyway? It's obviously special to you, and if you keep it as an occasional driver it can retain some of the harder-edged mods that wouldn't do in a daily driver.

If you can't afford all 3 ... then - and it breaks my heart to say it - the MX-5 has to be the one to go. Swift is too special, and the 5 just won't do the kind of racing you want.

[MattR]

For a drift pig go a S14, strawberry faces can be had for next to nothing, I bought my last S1 S14 for $4200 including having it transported from Forster to Brisbane as a non runner. Charged the battery and it was a runner. Angry face S2's are starting to get cheap, you can get one already flat brimmed for drifting for around $5k, less if you look hard enough. Other option is S13, plenty of very cheap cars out there. And most of the cheaper cars will already be set up as drift people. It's only the very clean cars that are holding any value at all.

The 5 speed s14 box will take plenty of abuse, and another option for strong gearboxes is the Z32 box, I know of a freshly rebuilt box that sold for $500, though this needs more stuffing around to fit a S series chassis.

S14 5 speed boxes are dirt cheap anyway, if you pay more than $500 for a good one you are paying too much.

[mexie]

Well it finally happened... I took mexie to the track. So it looks like I'll have to have 3 cars now.

Swift will sit in the garage and only come out for special weekend drives
Mexie (will be slowly built) and will be used for daily duties + occasional track days
R33 will be built for drift duties

I was blown away by how much I enjoyed the mx5 on the track. I was genuinely expecting to hate it on the track as typically I hate driving stock cars on the track (I find it frustrating getting thrown around the cabin without a proper seat + harness setup).
Didn't even bother me not having decent seat/harness, had so much fun I didn't have time to think about it lol.

So, I guess I'll slowly do a few bits n pieces to mexie... seats/harness, coil overs, 2 way diff, cams certified roll bar.

I figure it will stay a fantastic daily with only light mods but be so much more fun on the track.

Love it, can't wait for the next track day