New Cat Owner with Questions

[Vovchandr]

4 minutes ago, Reiver said:

I supercharged a first gen Miata years ago.... that is really the way to go if you want it to move.

 

I have a supercharger sitting for my 1.8 sitting waiting to be installed. Maybe one day I'll put it in. 

[Reiver]

5 minutes ago, Vovchandr said:

 

I have a supercharger sitting for my 1.8 sitting waiting to be installed. Maybe one day I'll put it in. 

Pretty straightforward.  The injectors were stock but they were over designed and gave great PSI under load.  I did mount a gauge for that but it was never an issue.

[Silber]

16 hours ago, redursidae said:

Sorry that I don’t have a clear cut answer for you, but I don’t think there is one.

 

It’s a 2170lbs car, with a VVT engine swap, ITBs and headers. Lots of chasis and suspension work. Made 132whp and built with the Lotus 26R as my vision. I’m expecting the new engine to make around 180whp.

 

I totally understand. My Miata was about 1950 lbs, but only a meager 108 whp, but it was so fun to drive. Wanting to replicate that feeling is what led me down the path to get a 7. Different cars, different experiences, so I agree that it isn't a clear cut answer. One thing I can say for sure is that I get a lot more attention from people in the 7. Everyone likes that car, little kids, old farts, car enthusiasts, and that makes it fun in a way the Miata never was.

[JohnCh]

There are a number of us on USA7s with Miatas. I have a '91 base NA with Flyin Miata suspension, chassis, and brake upgrades, but the engine, with its blistering 116hp, remains stock. It's huge fun and fights well above its weight, but for me, on a winding back road, there is no comparison with either my old Westfield or the Caterham. It's hard to have the same level of immediacy in a car that weighs over 50% more, and few cars are as intuitive, progressive and steerable with the throttle as a well-sorted se7en. When the road and conditions align, they create experiences that stick with you for a very long time.

 

18 hours ago, redursidae said:

My expectation is that I’ll enjoy them for different reasons

 

Having read through your great thread on miataturbo.net, you've built a very special Miata, and I have no doubt what you wrote above will prove true. It's nice to have choices. I'm looking forward to reading how you evolve the Caterham.

 

[demoray]

14 minutes ago, JohnCh said:

There are a number of us on USA7s with Miatas

Can confirm.   My daily is an ND.

 

My Caterham is a much more visceral and engaging experience but it's not tenable to drive hundreds of miles in a single session without significant breaks.

 

With my Miata, we drove from Louisville to DC in a single session, only stopping briefly for restrooms and gas.

[BruceBe]

On that broken dipstick, you might want to at least ask the PO about it. If he didn’t get it out, but autocrossed it a lot afterward, it likely won’t give you a problem. Probably.

 

We’ve pulled oil pans to get these out, for peace of mind.

 

The Raceline sump creates an overlapping edge where the dipstick enters the pan. The tip of the stick lodges against that edge and if the dipstick is forced, will break at the weakest point.

 

Cheers,

-Bruce

[Vovchandr]

1 hour ago, JohnCh said:

There are a number of us on USA7s with Miatas

 

I'm singlehandedly ruining the average Miata ownership of USA7 members with 5.5 NA's....

[redursidae]

9 hours ago, Silber said:

 

I totally understand. My Miata was about 1950 lbs, but only a meager 108 whp, but it was so fun to drive. Wanting to replicate that feeling is what led me down the path to get a 7. Different cars, different experiences, so I agree that it isn't a clear cut answer. One thing I can say for sure is that I get a lot more attention from people in the 7. Everyone likes that car, little kids, old farts, car enthusiasts, and that makes it fun in a way the Miata never was.

 

That's very light for a Miata! I guess it was an NA6 given the power? Do you still have it?

 

Totally the case regarding attention. In only 2 small drives I've done in the seven I've gotten many pointers and thumbs up. People love it.

 

7 hours ago, JohnCh said:

There are a number of us on USA7s with Miatas. I have a '91 base NA with Flyin Miata suspension, chassis, and brake upgrades, but the engine, with its blistering 116hp, remains stock. It's huge fun and fights well above its weight, but for me, on a winding back road, there is no comparison with either my old Westfield or the Caterham. It's hard to have the same level of immediacy in a car that weighs over 50% more, and few cars are as intuitive, progressive and steerable with the throttle as a well-sorted se7en. When the road and conditions align, they create experiences that stick with you for a very long time.

 

 

Having read through your great thread on miataturbo.net, you've built a very special Miata, and I have no doubt what you wrote above will prove true. It's nice to have choices. I'm looking forward to reading how you evolve the Caterham.

 

 

Good to hear Miatas are appreciated here too. They're fun to drive, fun to work on, and a great canvas to experiment, learn and improve. But I have to agree regarding the sevens being an unique experience. Once I got to drive one (a 485 no less!) it was like nothing else and I kept EVO magazine's 420R video on repeat. Once I tried them on track...let's just say my wife has been very patient.

 

Thank you, I appreciate that. Lots of thought and love has gone into building Scooter into what it is, and a lot is hidden from sight. I'll start a thread for building the Cat on here. It'll be a slow process given the Miata's engine is still in progress, but that gives me time to learn and get to know it some.

 

On 3/9/2026 at 4:53 PM, Vovchandr said:

 

I have a supercharger sitting for my 1.8 sitting waiting to be installed. Maybe one day I'll put it in. 

 

If you have any questions or need help with the tuning side of things feel free to reach out on here or miataturbo.net (same username). That forum is a gold mine of information for modifying NAs and NBs, with NCs starting to make appearances in recent years.

[Silber]

13 hours ago, redursidae said:

 

That's very light for a Miata! I guess it was an NA6 given the power? Do you still have it?

 

It was an NA8, low power due to high altitude here in Utah. I wish I still had it, but I wrecked it at an autocross back in 2019. I have a picture of it over in my thread in the Member Rides section.

 

Apologies for hijacking your thread to start talking about Miatas. I'm looking forward to your build thread here with the 7.

[redursidae]

Sorry to hear about your Miata :/ . I read through your thread when I was researching se7ens but didn’t remember that part.
 

No apologies needed! I don’t mind taking Miata detours