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!
UPDATE: Buddy borked himself
View this post on Instagram
Top photo: Erin Flaherty
I miss the days of beautiful race cars without advertising, but the number of stickers on that Miata is quite impressive!
Emme, I hope buddy is OK. I am tempted to buy the Paco kit to lift my NC miata for wintertime ice lake driving here in Maine. But I really need 2 Miatas so I can have one for each season.
When lifting coil-overs were made for the FRS/BRZ i got really excited. Stock height in the summer and an extra inch in the winter would have been great. But I learned that “adjustable” coil-overs were really only adjustable until a little bit of corrosion got on the threads and then you were basically stuck there. If I had eventually made it my winter car, they were going straight on there, though.
Yeah corrosion on the threads sucks. I was thinking if I keep it as one car I’d swap spring and strut in the winter with the spacers, and then coilovers in the summer. Along with allignment and other adjustments. Its a bit more work. Then again, I’m also contemplating building a roof rack that fits over the soft top. So I’m apparently not normal.
I just hope you’re ok.
Looks like something in an Instagram link borked as well? In any case, thanks for putting this together!
I’m sure it’s my popup blocker, but I can never see IG posts on this site nor click on the link. I hope Buddy is OK. I’m guessing Emme is fine since she posted it.
Will you marry me ?
You GO Emme! You were great on Zack Klackmans Drivers Test. Having been paired with Hardigree you should have received 2 points to begin with.
Keep on Zooming.
Action starts at 5:58:21
Youtube considers to me to a be a ‘bot’ unworthy of their member-produced and ad-supported content.
Yootoob is currently offering me a deal on all their material for $600 a month, the first three months only.
Undecided
Buddy seems like a hell of a build for this terrain, good luck out there! It’s rad to see this livestreamed.
Awesome! Love to see a Miata off-road!
Oh no! A flat!
Nice!