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That wasn't my point. My point is - given time you'll inevitably read a myriad of whining comments from people who lament how "underpowered" the Miata is. Their attitude is from the street-racer and muscle-car perspective, ie:when someone stops next to you at a stop light in a souped-up super-charged V8 powered monster you should be able to (their words) "own them" with your Miata.
I'm not suggesting that modifying a vehicle to suit those needs is wrong, or shouldn't be done. Your Shelby remarks are precisely what Mazda tried to accomplish (well, sort of) with the MSM version of the Miata. But they did not(contrary to the "it's so underpowered crowd) try to appease the minority of car aficionados who think every "sportscar" sold is made for high-speed straight-line racing.
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OK Scott, I get your point. It's just that when I initially read your comments they rubbed me the wrong way a little. I seem to be one of those few people around here who walks the line between being a muscle car freak and a sports car fanatic, both modern and vintage. I can see where your coming from though, I run into guys (and girls) with the attitude you speak of all the time on the Mustang board I frequent. In their eyes, if your car can't run the 1/4 in at least mid to low 13's, they won't even give it a second look. Like I said, I enjoy both the drags and a nice twisty road course, so I can appreciate the abilities, and limitations, and both types of cars. I would never expect a Miata to run the 1/4 with some of my past Mustangs or Chevys, and likewise I would never expect my old 72 SS Nova to run a road course anywhere near what the Miata would be capable of (if at all, that thing literally handled like a brick), but I still love both types of cars. I guess the key would be to find or build a car that could live in both worlds equally well, which is why I guess the Shelby Cobra was such a legendary success. You could take it to the road course and beat up on real sports cars, then go to the drag and let that big 427 really scream. However, I have heard from people that have driven real Cobras that the 289 cars were more "pure" and better balanced cars, but I would still love to have that big block on tap. With todays technology though you could build a small block cobra replica with big block power, so it seems you could have the best of both worlds.