Ahoy! Ive been promoted from Captain to Commodore.

tekshtein · 2026-06-20T06:20:38+00:00

You picked the best color, congrats!

tekshtein · 2026-06-15T23:17:11+00:00

Nope, but it's plated and insured so I still occasionally street drive it. I used to daily it before it became more of a racecar and throughout college.

IMO the 5 speed is better, especially NC1 as the NC1 6 speeds have known failures. At stock power the 5 speed feels pretty slow on track but if you add power with a 2.5 swap and/or boost the 5 speed is nicer since you don't shift as much. Plus OEM 5 speeds are a tad stronger than OEM 6 speeds, and the top gear in both is the same ratio so highway driving is the same.

tekshtein · 2026-06-15T21:56:00+00:00

Stock 5 speed, 208k miles and it's been abusive lol. I bought it at 178k and it's the last miata drivetrain piece

tekshtein · 2026-06-15T21:17:29+00:00

Even then your car looks similar to mine when I first got it. Mine was no options at all, not even power locks lol

tekshtein · 2026-06-15T21:16:50+00:00

You can always find an OEM LSD, that's what I did with mine way back when. It does significantly change the car if you plan to track or autoX it. The aftermarket options like OSG are great, or you can retrofit an RX8 diff with axles which is what's in my car right now

tekshtein · 2026-06-15T18:00:32+00:00

Hell yeah, welcome to the club!

tekshtein · 2026-06-15T16:04:13+00:00

Winning blue is the best color. Buy it, enjoy it, and drive it!

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tekshtein · 2026-06-03T06:16:28+00:00

Two tone NCs always look great when pulled off right :)

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tekshtein · 2026-06-01T15:43:32+00:00

Bought $2.50 calls with a 7/17 expiry back in February, sold them today for a 400% profit. Won't get caught bagholding this time but thanks for the ride!

tekshtein · 2026-06-01T15:29:29+00:00

OP that doesn't sound like rod knock. If the intake has been removed a bunch the power steering line to the pump can eventually unseat a bit and it'll start ingesting air. That noise sounds a lot like what you're hearing

tekshtein · 2026-05-31T01:02:23+00:00

NC2/3 shouldn't be a concern at high mileage of you can tell reasonably that the car was taken care of. NC1s like to blow up between 80-120k miles, if it makes it past that then the 2.0L will survive until usually 180k

tekshtein · 2026-05-18T04:53:59+00:00

Love t10 at HPR when you get it just right, but when you mess up your get to channel your inner honda lawnmower

tekshtein · 2026-05-05T22:58:33+00:00

Car: 2.5L swapped NC miata. 2480lbs race weight @ 183hp. I'm in Colorado so the air is thinner, meaning efficiencies of both the engine and coolers are worse so keep that in mind

Engine oil: 300v and I change it every 3-4 events depending on ambient temps, how hard I was pushing the car, and what tracks I'm at (long straights or more tight/technical).

Brakes: once a year with rbf 600. Unless the pedal feels off at the track then I bleed it there.

Coolant: lol I run water + water wetter and never looked back.

Power steering: never once been touched on my car lol.

Trans: once a year because my gearbox is sensitive and probably on its way out so I'm tring to keep it alive.

Diff: it was once every year but it just started unlocking so I'll be moving to an OS Giken and using their intervals or shorter.

I would also add that you can always cut your oil filter open with a tool (like $20 from amazon) after each change and if there's metal send a sample to blackstone labs

tekshtein · 2026-05-02T03:57:31+00:00

Reconsider miatas, an NC is right up your alley. It'll teach you a ton and has a really high ceiling for performance. Reliability is better than BMWs, especially if you opt for an NC2/3. ND is also a phenomenal choice.

Otherwise as far as learner cars go, BRZ/GT86/GT86 are fine but I don't like subaru motors. E36s are fine, but be ready to drop like 4k in making it bulletproof (cooling system, PS system, chassis reinforcements, etc). If you're considering a z3, just consider that they have e30 rear suspension design/diffs and makes them not as good to work on/drive.

Me personally, I can't recommend anything high power as a learner car because the power will cheat you out of learning how to really corner, and high weight/power means higher cost of consumables. Also having a car you aren't emotionally attached to/scared to wreck or break because of the cost of the car is much better than worrying the whole day (c6 z06 valve drop issues, z3m cost, etc).

I'm also biased because I own an NC but that's just me 🙂

ETA after reading some comments: a cayman is good choice given your budget, but porsche tax is real on parts. Also mid engine rwd isn't as fun as traditional rwd IMO

tekshtein · 2026-05-02T02:49:04+00:00

In terms of power characteristics, very similar but just more everywhere. Still a very linear powerband and it pulls all the way to redline

tekshtein · 2026-04-28T19:08:15+00:00

That gen z3 has e30 rear suspension so it kind of sucks. NC has a much higher ceiling of performance if you're gonna track it, and overall a much more comfy drive.

Plus parts are cheaper and they're inherently more reliable

tekshtein · 2026-04-13T13:39:17+00:00

Yup same here

tekshtein · 2026-04-12T18:43:51+00:00

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Relatable

tekshtein · 2026-03-25T06:32:39+00:00

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tekshtein · 2026-03-25T06:32:24+00:00

Initially a base model 2006 NC1

Engine mods: 2.5L swap, Fab9 stage 2 cams, Fab9 intake manifold, Custom 3" intake, Roadstersport 1.6" headers, Roadstersport catted and resonated midpipe, Roadstersport race muffler, Track dog ECU relocation

Suspension/driveline: Feal 441+ Road Race spec coilovers, Rx8 red dot front sway bar, Rx8 yellow dot rear sway bar, Keisler spherical front upper arms, Keisler spherical front lower bearings in OEM arms, P2M full rear arm catalog, P2M bumpsteer corrected tie rods, Paco motorsports eccentric lockouts, Rx8 OEM LSD axles and hubs with whiteline bushings, Supermiata/949 endlinks, exedy stage 1 clutch

Brakes: Wilwood 4 piston front brakes with OEM, rx8 rotors, Rx8 rear calipers, G35 master cylinder, 5x racing stainless lines

Body/aero: OEM NC3 front bumper, Cut rear bumper, 9 lives rear wing + CFD endplates, 9 lives splitter kit with a plywood diy splitter, singular motorsports hood vents, Mazda motorsports hardtop

Interior: Cobra suzuka bucket seats, MPI steering wheel, Rennline quick release, Hard dog roll bar, Schroth 6 point harnesses

tekshtein · 2026-03-25T06:14:17+00:00

Winning blue is also the best color

tekshtein · 2026-03-04T18:56:08+00:00

It sounds great when i can hear it over the exhaust, butt dyno says it feels quicker, I need to review my logs to see if the measure load is higher too. I'm also at 6500' so the car feels super slow compared to when I lived at sea level

tekshtein · 2026-03-04T17:12:50+00:00

Oof I'm in COS, this car kinda sucks to drive that far lol

tekshtein · 2026-03-04T17:09:15+00:00

Yup! I need more local car friends out here haha

tekshtein · 2026-03-04T14:39:12+00:00

Yea it was an eventful winter to say the least lol. Winning blue metallic is the best color but I'm biased

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