Chronicles of Miata Ownership:
I picked up this Miata with aims of creating a good autocross car. It's my first "project car" and my first time working on cars. I changed all of its fluids, and checked everything. Then "personalized" it slightly by modifying the front license plate mount to sit off center. I did that by bending one of it's arms and screwing it to one of the baby teeth.
Holds better than you'd think. Then it took it to autocross! What a blast, this thing is smiles every time I chuck it into a corner.
People overlooked these so often because of the limited power. However, with minimal suspension and geometry set up, with reasonable (not over grippy) tyres, the MX5 / Miata was beautifully balanced. I upset quite a few people on track with mine. Smooth is fast!
What do you think the sweet spot is for tires?
I tried sightly oversizing tyres ie wider but same profile. That gave a noticeable grip improvement but at the cost to handling. I personally felt more comfortable feeling the car moving on its tyres. As I used it as a second car for the road, at time either Michelin Pilot Sports or ContinentalbSports Contact worked the best, for me. I am an enthusiast not a race driver, but did domy ARDS training. The best car set up is to the person behind the wheel.