Step 1: Find Miata.

[2ndclasscitizen]

and 1000hp

[h00t_h00t]

And then someone stole half the roof.

[McReis]

Seriously, have you driven a car with over 300hp before? Have you driven a Miata?

About the last question I don't know if you're serious or not, so I won't answer.
And about the 300bhp car, yes I did. 340 to be precise and just 6 cylinders, so probably not powerfull enough yet...

Lets take the Elise for example, although "only" 180hp, its significantly lighter than the Miata, giving it a really good power to weight ratio.

Original Elises had about 130bhp. That's what I was referring to.
More interesting is that yes, I have driven a 116bhp Miata a couple of times and, though having only a lousy viscous LSD, it can so sideways on every surface. Maybe not for the lenght of France, sure. But enough to be fun and challenging.

Once again I remind you of this: most people think a lot of power is needed to make a car go sideways but, with a proper gearbox and a really good LSD, something like 140 or 150 bhp is enough to make a car of around 1000kgs go round the world with it's tail out.

Read all about LS1 swaps, a very common thing now, and its especially picked up in the d0rift0 world.

Drift world is a sad world. It's not an example for nothing as the car are made not to be efficient. Made to behave not as a car, but as a machine that goes only sideways.

these eurofanboys need to stop crying about it and try and realise that handling isnt the most important thing to some people. .

Sure. And the most important thing in a woman is not the way she does sex. It's the size of her breasts.

Apparently not for Mazda, seeing they went with 16s and 17s for the 05 model

Don't roll your eyes yet. Go pic an uninsteresting magazine about european cars, and check what they say about the latest MX-5. Yes, they say the car got less comunicative and less fun.
Design trends have spoiled even the MX-5.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Still plenty quick though. I loved it when I got a ride in an NC MX-5, first time I'd been in a convertible and my mate give it some serious right hoof. You couldn't've driven this V8 MX-5 like the little 4cyl one was.

[henk4]

Once again I remind you of this: most people think a lot of power is needed to make a car go sideways but, with a proper gearbox and a really good LSD, something like 140 or 150 bhp is enough to make a car of around 1000kgs go round the world with it's tail out.

in your case (and in mine but 40 odd years ago) we know that 47 BHP is enough to have a nice looking car go sideways as well....

[henk4]

Gordon Murray is always nice to listen to or to read. This months' EVO column being no exception. He is talking there about torsional stiffness of chassis, starting of as follows.

"I tried the new Mazda MX5 a couple of weeks ago and it surprised me just how luxurious it felt relative to the Mk1 I drove many years ago (It has also lost a lot of the original's feedback and and driver appeal- but that is another story). Mazda's engineers have been obviously hard at work on the torsional stiffness of the MX5 as this tends to be the main area which helps a car feel "solid"........"

Just wanted to illustrate with this quote what the essence of the old MX5 is: Feedback and driver appeal, and not extreme power......if you put that in you will be disappointed in the same way as Murray.

[McReis]

in your case (and in mine but 40 odd years ago) we know that 47 BHP is enough to have a nice looking car go sideways as well....

Indeed!
On last months EVO there I read an interesting letter on the readers column.
A guy was talking about how much fun he had when he was young by driving his father's Austin 1100 on it's skinny tires and with the poor engine. He recalled the big 4 wheel drifts that could be experienced at low speeds, and how that was helpful for people to learn to control a car on the edge of it's limits. Big section tires do take the limits further, but make the cars snappier and their behaviour harder to learn.

Gordon Murray is always nice to listen to or to read. This months' EVO column being no exception. He is talking there about torsional stiffness of chassis, starting of as follows.

"I tried the new Mazda MX5 a couple of weeks ago and it surprised me just how luxurious it felt relative to the Mk1 I drove many years ago (It has also lost a lot of the original's feedback and and driver appeal- but that is another story). Mazda's engineers have been obviously hard at work on the torsional stiffness of the MX5 as this tends to be the main area which helps a car feel "solid"........"

Just wanted to illustrate with this quote what the essence of the old MX5 is: Feedback and driver appeal, and not extreme power......if you put that in you will be disappointed in the same way as Murray.

I think Gordon Murray is the modern Colin Chapman, if maybe more complete. (He's the one to admit the inspiration). So, to read that from him serves not only to make our point but to make MKI Miata happy an proud.

[VtecMini]

I think Gordon Murray is the modern Colin Chapman, if maybe more complete. (He's the one to admit the inspiration).

I prefer to think of them like God and Jesus. They're both awesome in their own way, but you certainly wouldn't have had Jesus if it wasn't for God's existence in the first place.

[henk4]

I prefer to think of them like God and Jesus. They're both awesome in their own way, but you certainly wouldn't have had Jesus if it wasn't for God's existence in the first place.

In that case Chapman was God on a shoestring..(Graham Hill: "when you are being overtaken by your own wheel, you know you are driving a Lotus")

[Matra et Alpine]

In that case Chapman was God on a shoestring..(Graham Hill: "when you are being overtaken by your own wheel, you know you are driving a Lotus")

Being fair to Colin.

It wasn't for cost reasons he did it.
His engineering "Principle" was that everything should do at least two jobs and break on the cool down lap

[henk4]

Being fair to Colin.

It wasn't for cost reasons he did it.
His engineering "Principle" was that everything should do at least two jobs and break on the cool down lap

yes it was an "engineering" shoestring...all in the interest of saving weight..

[Ferrer]

yes it was an "engineering" shoestring...all in the interest of saving weight..

If I remeber correctly Lotus were once denied the entry in the Le Mans 24h because the wheels had too little nuts to support them. Since then Lotus never returned officially to Le Mans.

[Slicks]

About the last question I don't know if you're serious or not, so I won't answer.
And about the 300bhp car, yes I did. 340 to be precise and just 6 cylinders, so probably not powerfull enough yet...

So why wouldnt you want a Miata to pull like the 340hp you rode in?

Original Elises had about 130bhp. That's what I was referring to.
More interesting is that yes, I have driven a 116bhp Miata a couple of times and, though having only a lousy viscous LSD, it can so sideways on every surface. Maybe not for the lenght of France, sure. But enough to be fun and challenging.

And the original Elise was still lighter than a Miata, providing better power to weight.

Once again I remind you of this: most people think a lot of power is needed to make a car go sideways but, with a proper gearbox and a really good LSD, something like 140 or 150 bhp is enough to make a car of around 1000kgs go round the world with it's tail out.

Really all you need to get sideways is some worn rear tires...

Drift world is a sad world. It's not an example for nothing as the car are made not to be efficient. Made to behave not as a car, but as a machine that goes only sideways.

Ok... i didnt know there was a exact definition of what a car behaves like.

Sure. And the most important thing in a woman is not the way she does sex. It's the size of her breasts.

I love how close minded you guys are. Ever stop to think that not everyone lives in Europe, or places with roads made when the dinosaurs walked the earth? Like I said earlier, there are guys running around without a front sway bar, and skinny front drag tires with 12" wide back ones. Hopefully that will give you a clue of what the roads are like.
In other words, in real world driving, youd get more performance use out of a 500hp drag car than you would a track car like the Exige. Theres no where to turn, but plenty of straights.
So for us, sex = acceleration, and boob size = handling...

Don't roll your eyes yet. Go pic an uninsteresting magazine about european cars, and check what they say about the latest MX-5. Yes, they say the car got less comunicative and less fun.
Design trends have spoiled even the MX-5.

boohoo, so they made the miata easier to live with.
Well I guess we better inform Ferrari that they need some Mazda 14" wheels for best performance right?

[henk4]

I love how close minded you guys are. Ever stop to think that not everyone lives in Europe, or places with roads made when the dinosaurs walked the earth?

as if I needed more confirmation why I voted for Sliicks as the funniest member on UCP

[henk4]

=
In other words, in real world driving, youd get more performance use out of a 500hp drag car than you would a track car like the Exige. Theres no where to turn, but plenty of straights.

poor real world, nowhere to turn..so you hit the throttle, get to max legal speed in 3 seconds, put the cruise control on and there's your fun....Enjoy