track day car

[K4000JB]

hi guys
a relative of mine is after an mx5 for doing track days next year he only wants to spend a grand on the donor vehicle. (due to not knowing if he will have the time to use it and if not then not to much being money tied up) so i digress .he asked me which early model to go for, as i dont know much about these i wonder if any of you guys have any views on which would be the best(lightest, strongest engine etc...)
thanks for your help
ant

[anonymous-user]

89-93 1.6 is lighter and more rev happy. 94-98 1.8 has a bit more power and torque, plus if you buy a Eunos import, chances are it'll come with a Torsen LSD. Avoid the 94-98 1.6 as it was detuned (90bhp-ish) so it wasn't too competitive with the 1.8.

Track prep - cage or hard dog rollbar, Axxis ultimate brake bads, P5 PureDrive suspension upgrade and if he's really wanting to go silly a turbo or supercharger to take power north of 200bhp. All available from Performance 5.

[MX-5 Lazza]

LexSport said:

89-93 1.6 is lighter and more rev happy. 94-98 1.8 has a bit more power and torque, plus if you buy a Eunos import, chances are it'll come with a Torsen LSD. Avoid the 94-98 1.6 as it was detuned (90bhp-ish) so it wasn't too competitive with the 1.8.

Only the 1.8 came with a Torsen LSD. The 1.6 had a viscous LSD which will probably be acting as an open-dif by now.
Also the early 1.8s (93-95) were pretty much as light as the later 1.6.
However, much of the weight that got added through the years was in extra chassis bracing which most people fit to the earlier lighter cars to improve the handling anyway so there is limited advantage in an earlier car!

[K4000JB]

thanks guys
as always great advise i will pass the info on
thanks again
ant

[Greg_D]

we recently did exactly this, read the details below:

www.phoenixraceworx.co.uk

Greg

[K4000JB]

Greg_D said:

we recently did exactly this, read the details below:

www.phoenixraceworx.co.uk

Greg

thanks greg will do
ant