I’m Racing My Off-Road Miata RIGHT NOW And You Can Watch Live Here

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to take a Miata on a real off-road race, wonder no more, Autopian pals. Thanks to the magic of StarStream, I’ve got a two-camera setup in Buddy the Off Road Miata, and we’re live-streaming Battle at Primm RIGHT NOW!

I know, it’s weird that I’m writing this AND racing simultaneously, but time is a construct. Deal with it.

We actually have two days of racing, April 11th and 12th, around 2:15 pm PT, and the format is pretty cool. The day is broken into hour and twenty-minute heats on a 15-mile course. It’s a lot of jumps and turns, and there are plenty of fast sections. Since Buddy is the only Miata in off-road racing, I kind of get thrown in with the Sportsman Trucks, which means my competition has way more power, big ol’ honking tires, and a helluva lot more wheel travel. Good thing I’m just here for fun!

Not that Buddy doesn’t have some zing under his hood. I’ve made a ton of improvements since he last graced these pages. The supercharger is gone in favor of a Garrett turbo. I loved having the old Jackson Racing blower on Buddy, but he had just inhaled too much dirt, and the rotors were toast. Since they don’t make that M45 supercharger anymore, there was no way to rebuild anything. Turbo it is! I also invested in a MegaSquirt ECU, so Buddy is tuned to nearly 200 ponies, a jump of 30 horsepower from the supercharger and stock ecu set up. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty scary.

He’s also gotten a boost, literally, with the suspension. I did some work with Hyperco to get a good dual-spring setup. Now the frontend is popped up a bit more, and he can handle the whoops a lot better. I have practically zero droop travel, but that’s what happens when you stick with the stock-length arms.

If you want to see Buddy’s full build list, you can check out yeahbuddy.fun but until then, I’ll see you in Primm this weekend!

Top photo: Erin Flaherty