Last time we saw Project Miata, our ears were still ringing from the sound of old folks playing the slots in Vegas. There is nothing more humiliating than knowing Project Miata was stolen (again) and not being able to convince casino security that we weren't too drunk the night before to remember where we parked our hairdresser-mobile. We wondered whether Project Miata should die then and there, but we're gluttons for punishment. And this time we're going to do it differently.
Project Miata is dead. Long live Project Time Attack. Apparently, glorified time trials are the new black. And since we like to be fashionable in our own dorky way, we're taking our theft-recovery racing.
It seems like we've been in the initial stages of making a fast Miata so many times we're beginning to think we're stuck in a Bill Murray movie. But let's get the foundation built first: to be fast, you need to be safe.
Before the pieces of the cage...
Before the pieces of the cage were test-fitted in the car, it was assembled on a jig. After getting everything tacked in place in the car, it was removed (again) and put back on the jig to have all the seams welded.
Now that we're making it primarily a track car of the stupid-fast variety, our Time Attack Miata and driver need a full update of safety equipment. We plan on building a car that can compete in multiple organizations' events, so we need to accommodate as many sanctioning rule books as possible. Time attack rules are generally not as stringent as wheel-to-wheel racing requirements, since most racing organizations have had time trial events for years.
The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) uses its time trial rules and classifying structure for the time attack events it helps sanction. NASA's safety requirements are outlined more intensely than any of the other major time attack organizations, so these are our guidelines. However, they will only serve as our base - we will be going far beyond.
For a convertible to participate in any of NASA's events, a rollbar is the minimum requirement for roll over protection. For the speeds and power this Miata will be capable of, we're not comfortable with the minimum, so we're installing a full NASA race-spec roll cage.
We used a plasma cutter to...
We used a plasma cutter to remove the rear seat mount pedestals in order to get the seat as low as possible.
According to NASA rules, a roll cage for a car weighing 2200-plus pounds only requires 1.5-inch diameter tubes with a 0.12-inch wall thickness. Although we hope to end up with a car that's below 2200 pounds, we are going to err on the safe side and use the 2200-plus spec.
Few people know roll cages for Miatas better than Tony Woodford of AWR in San Diego, California. Not only has AWR been providing Spec Miata cages for years, it is the sole provider for the new Pro-Spec MX-5 series. You've seen Tony's work on TV in the Speed World Challenge. Not wanting to leave well enough alone, the Spec Miata cage was given a few tweaks to better suit our safety-first purposes.