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Deleted member 50930
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The x drive system in the BMWs are pretty RWD biased. But you are correct, it will be less of a drivers car.
Daily sports car?
- Thread starter CriticalCore
- Start date
GreenPlane
Well-known member
Miata with an LS V8 is an awesome car! For a race track. I was in one and it was a blast. I was still smiling for like 30mins after the session.. But I wouldn't drive it on the streets. Insurance is a huge pain as well. If the owner will report the mods then it will be difficult to insure, if mods are not reported then there is a big chance that the insurance company will drop the policy if something happens.. I guess I'm getting old but I'm not sure that it worth the trouble.. as a track toy? 100% super fun car!
P.S. If I would own a Miata with an LS V8 then I would definitely install full roll cage + good seats with 5+ point belts. And always wear a helmet.
At that point, why start with a street car? Just use a tubular chassis with an LS. It should be lighter and more cheaper and easier to fix if you take it out into the rhubarb.
I wasn't even talking about the driving experience. With awd you can put down a crapton of power which translates to a crapton of speed which translates to losing your license. Limiting power delivery to two wheels tones the acceleration down while not reducing the fun. From a driving experience perspective, you also remove quite a bit of weight and rotating mass.
GreenPlane
Well-known member
Btw, I'm as a current mustang owner, would recommend to check 2015+ generation. Even ecoboosts are a lot of fun. They have all the modern tech and are very comfortable (including for long drives).
Btw, my insurance for 2017 GT is cheaper than 2017 Civic EX...
GreenPlane
Well-known member
I guess it is just easier to do LS swap if you want to do it mostly yourself and cheap.. Also, it depends in which class you would like to participate e.g. in OTA. I'm not sure in which class a tubular chassis will go..
Priller
Well-known member
I seem to be the king of the thread derail lately, so apologies, @mimico_polak !
I can't speak for the one guy (my mother's cousin-in-law, no idea how to properly describe that) I know who owns one directly, but what he told me was that the V8 Miata made driving his tubular frame Cobra kit (which cost triple the Mazda) seem a bit dull. Used Miatas can be had cheap, especially if you don't care about the drivetrain.
I suspect a huge part of the appeal is simply in the fact that it's a Miata. There's a track test done by someone at one of the mainline US car magazines that I read a while ago where the author was positively giddy about the driving experience. He wasn't fussed about lap times or cornering speeds, just in the sheer joy of whazzing it around a track. Definitely not a high mileage vehicle, but when I read that a Miata and a Mustang were being cross-shopped, it seemed like a deeply inappropriate compromise between the two...
Relax
Well-known member
The reason the LS Miata is so good is because an aluminum LS motor doesn't weight much more than the stock motor, so weight distribution and handling aren't greatly affected (if at all). As for insurance, check with Hagerty. They are very flexible with modifications, but the car needs to be 2005 or older (based on some recent quotes I got). However, one of the stipulations is that you can't drive it to work every day or run errands such as shopping.I have my 2001 M3 insured with them, and it works out perfectly since I work from home.
Honestly that sounds like a hell of a project.
It’s nice to think about but to pull off something like @Clutt-225 and his dad this, or an LS miata takes a ton of time, talent, and resources.
one of the reasons I ever thought of a mustang is because his project. Factoryfive states a Mustang GT is the donor for their kits.
There is no way you are dropping an LS into a MX5 and go.
There is a lot of work involved to make it right.
You can’t use the MX5 cooling system, you need to fab a drive shaft and update the whole rear end to mange the increased power. The suspension couldn’t handle it either.
There would be a lot of custom wiring to tie together the engine management and the vehicle itself such as the dash gauges, hvac etc.
Then if something goes wrong, where do you take it? If you did the conversion, you likely can deal with anything else. However, if you had the conversion done by someone else and need it serviced, you can’t bring it to any old shop.
I’d stick with something you can own and enjoy. Maybe even have some aftermarket add ons to personalize it.
That’s just my opinion.
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There is a lot of work involved to make it right.
You can’t use the MX5 cooling system, you need to fab a drive shaft and update the whole rear end to mange the increased power. The suspension couldn’t handle it either.
There would be a lot of custom wiring to tie together the engine management and the vehicle itself such as the dash gauges, hvac etc.
Then if something goes wrong, where do you take it? If you did the conversion, you likely can deal with anything else. However, if you had the conversion done by someone else and need it serviced, you can’t bring it to any old shop.
I’d stick with something you can own and enjoy. Maybe even have some aftermarket add ons to personalize it.
That’s just my opinion.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Didn’t you buy and sell a corvette recently @Gary !!??
I did.....but that was for you ?
Doesn't have the important question, Just how mad are you?
Give me $500k spare and I'll have some fun with that list.
My uncle just finished dropping a 468 fuel injected big block in his 68 chevelle.
Next on the to do list his wife’s BMW 3 series is getting a 383 stroker small block ChevyV8.
As a daily driver? A bit much no? Awesome car but for me, that would be like an SS on the street. Just begging to go and quite unhappy at legal speeds.
That sounds like stupid fun.....I'm still waiting for that invite to see that beast of yours!
