~ by Chris ‘#16’ Demaras ~
I like to think of the cars in the driveway as the Demaras Racing fleet. But the new Miata is the closest thing we have to a race car. The GMC monster truck is great at bringing gear to the track, the WRX is good at playing rally car, while the Mini Cooper is quite capable on a race track until its brakes overheat. The SVX? Just too heavy and rare to be racing it.
The Miata is just perfect though. Cheap, light and well balanced…like me.
The previous owner bough the Miata in May 2021 completely stock, with the intention of building a ‘weekend warrior’ track car. The plan was to keep the car long term, and make sure to do everything right the first time. Every modified part was bought new, and the car only saw 6 track days before it was put up for sale.
The paint is original and in amazing condition, despite a few door dings. Being a ragtop, the Mazda was never winter driven, and was kept in a garage when not on the road; absolutely no rust.
The original owner did a complete refresh in 2020 including:
- new air filter, fuel filter, PCV valve
- new spark plugs and wires
- OEM Mazdaspeed motor mounts
- new timing belt, tensioner, idler pulley
- new water pump and thermostat
- upper and lower radiator hoses
- new accessory drive belts
- new throttle body, intake manifold, and valve cover gaskets
- new front wheel bearings and hubs
- shifter rebuild kit
- new coolant reservoir
- front main seal, camshaft seal
The second owner did major modifications in 2021 including:
- XIDA Race Coilovers with dual spring and billet coaxial mounts
- Hankook RS4 tires (225/45-15) on Avanti Storm 15×9 ET35 wheels
- HardDog double diagonal roll bar and harness bar
- SuperMiata crossflow radiator
- Racing Beat front sway bar with polyurethane bushings
- Baur extended lower ball joints
- Flying Miata adjustable endlinks and strut bar
- Flying Miata aluminum washer bottle
- Project MU floating lug nuts from Japan
- Cobalt cat-back exhaust
- Hawk DTC60 front pads, DTC30 rear pads
- 5XRacing Hardtop mounts
- 5XRacing drop floor kit
A drop floor kit is a new floor pan installed on the drivers’ side that lowers the seat about 2″. This is a must for passing the broomstick test (helmet below the roll bar). It is a very common modification in Spec Miata racing series, and is made of thicker and stronger steel than the original floor, so it’s safe. The floor was installed by O’Brien Motorsports, one of the top roll cage fabricators in Ontario.
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