How to Build A drift Miata (NA/NB)

Is a Miata A good Drift car?

This shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but the Miata is a great drift car. It’s RWD and doesn’t need much to be a competent for a beginner drifter. You can weld the diff and grab a set of drift knuckles and you’re pretty much good to go.

Can You Drift A Stock Miata?

Like mentioned above, the stock na/nb miata is pretty close to being a drift car out of the box.. but will likely require a LSD or welded diff. You’ll also probably want drift knuckles and coilovers. Finally, a hydraulic handbrake will top off a budget build. That said, you can “drift” a stock Miata. (wet pavement helps, lol)

How to Drift a Miata

You’ll want to learn the basics of drifting. Miatas don’t have a bunch of power, so you’ll need to learn how to keep momentum. Learning how to initiate the drift with a clutch kick can be extremely useful with lower power cars like the Miata.

Miata Drift Parts

Here are the basics needed to build a drift Miata.

Miata Drift Knuckles

Here are a few of the best drift knuckles:

• DriftKnuckles.com – Unicorn Angle Kit ($500 + $200 core charge)
• Zerek Fabrication – Service or Product ($220-360+)
• Fabulous Autolab – Drift Knuckles ($265-295, $60 refund for cores)
• Gutentight Racing Knuckle Modification ($375)
• Destroy or Die – Super Knuckles ($485)
• Unicorn Racing Designs – Angle Kit ($620)

LSD / Welded differential

If you’re serious about drifting, you’ll want to be able to get the power down to both tires. This requires either one of the factory limited slip diffs. Here is a guide to the years/models that came with an LSD from the factory.

Tires

Most people run nicer and wider tires in the front. Typically 205/50/15 or so.

On the rear, whatever tires you can get cheap in the 185/60/15-195/35/15 range.

Miata Drift Setup

Here is the basic drift setup for a Miata. These are good ballpark modifications and settings to get going with your new drift build.

Suspension

Check the coilovers post for more recommendations here. In general, you want a quality coilover that won’t break under the abuse of drifting and the ability to adjust ride height.

Spring Rates

I’ve seen two schools of thought:

• Softer than Racing Spring Rates: This helps the front grip and gives you more feeling in transition.
• Significantly stiffer Rear Spring Rates: This helps the low power car initiate and maintain drifts.

Sway Bars

Again, I’ve seen everything from, “Run stock bars” to “Throw a stiff rear sway bar on it.”

This will likely come down to power level and personal preference. It’s totally fine to start out with the stock sway bars.

Steering

Miata’s are plagued with quite terrible bump steer when lowered at all from stock ride height. A set of steering rack spacers will fix this issue.

Miata Drift Alignment

You’ll likely want somewhat significant front camber, and moderate rear camber. You shouldn’t need to change toe. Ride height will be determined by wheel fitment and steering geometry.

Miata Drift Builds

Drift Missile

v8 drift miata

Check out this incredible youtube playlist:

JDM drift miata

One of my favorite videos, a Miata only drift day at Nikko Circuit.

Cummins Drift Miata

This thing sounds so ridiculous.

Formula Drift Miata

Look at this wild triple rotor MX-5 drift car.

Miata Drift RC Car

Check out this rad little RC miata with working pop-up headlights!