MSM? Seriously considering it

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
04/10/2019 at 00:34 • Filed to: None

Just came across a MSM in my Neverending search for a Miata. It's more money than I want to spend but it's a really good price for this car. Low mileage, super clean, and I mean it's a MSM so that is pretty sweet. Might not be the best track car but gotta take the opportunities when they come. I'm gonna at least go look at it and think about getting a PPI if I get serious. I worry about overheating concerns with using it as a track car and just complicated break downs due to turbo stuff. If I'm gonna spend money, might as well get something special.

DISCUSSION (18)

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 00:54

I like this idea, but I do hear they are more expensive to own, especially if you track the car. Since my brain has been rewired on what I consider reasonable running costs, I’d say do it!

Steve in Manhattan > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 01:15

PPI = best decision ever. You have room to negotiate if it needs a wheel bearing(s) or a differential. O2 sensors, brake pads, rotors - let us know what happens!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor
04/10/2019 at 01:30

Yeah that was my concern generally. I mean I figure if I don't try to get more power out of it, it should be fine. But I kind of worry about the rabbit hole of mods it might need for reliability sake. I have just never seen a clean one for sale under $10k. If I wasn't planning in tracking it, it would be perfect and I wouldn't even hesitate. I want to drive it I guess and see if it wins me over with turbo noises.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Steve in Manhattan
04/10/2019 at 01:32

Yeah I'm pretty confident that "firm price" is pretty damn solid, considering the market. But yeah I just want to know if anything crazy is wrong with it if I'm spending that kind of money. I'm still eyeying cheaper cars but I'll go look at this one since it's not too far from home. I'm almost hoping it's got rust or something so that I don't want it lol. But it seems cool to dream about at least.

ihm96 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 05:07

I say save your money if it’s a track car and get a more basic one or one that somebody else already took the modding price hit. Just seems like the MSM is more of a buy it to be a Miata nerd and go to meets in your original oem MSM that you keep clean (to be clear, an awesome thing to do as well. People that keep time capsules are awesome, I just always mod stuff cause that’s part of the hobby for me)

bhtooefr > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 06:01

I’ll just say that the NB’s 6-speed is fucking atrocious , IMO, and the Mazdaspeed automatically gets it.

nerd_racing > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 07:44

That’s a good price. If I ever get a MSM I will wait for Lava Orange.

Arrivederci > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 07:49

If the intent is for a track car, you’d do better with a base NB than a MSM.

What’s going on with the hood alignment in those pics?

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 09:24

It’s a very small turbo and factory power was 178 HP so to me I don’t see the turbo as being an issue. If it was say an overboosted mazdaspeed3 then I think there would be a concern. I’m assuming that this car would come with an LSD, 6 speed and nicer shocks and heavier springs sooooo....

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > bhtooefr
04/10/2019 at 09:33

I already have a 6 Speed in my Miata now. Even with trashed motor mounts, I've never had an issue with enjoying it. It's still better than shifting the 6spd in my STi lol. The problem with the MSM is the higher rear end ratio, lowered redline (for safety), turbo lag, and a few known reliability issues. All of that for piss poor power gains.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ihm96
04/10/2019 at 09:36

Well yeah but I did want something special as well though. The problem is I'm not finding I'd really save much money elsewhere. If I buy a sub $4k Miata, it is going to have garbage paint which is not fixable and is the only thing I care about. I'd treat this as it being a very nice NB and therefore I'm only really paying $1k for the fact that it's a MSM. I have to see what it's like in person and find out if it's been maintained. But yeah I agree that it's not my priority but I am definitely a Miata nerd so it kind of intrigues me.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Arrivederci
04/10/2019 at 09:40

Yeah, that was my concern too. Hard to tell from the photos. Looks straight but I’ll definitely take a closer look. I don’t plan on modding any Miata for power regardless so it shouldn’t really matter which I use. If I wanted power, the MSM is actually a bad choice usually just because everything has to come out and start over. And it ends up costing more than just buying a NB1 and building from there. But that's assuming the MSM Costs $9-10k plus like they usually do. So I'm more curious if this is actually "priced low to sell" or if it's just too good to be true as I expect.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > nerd_racing
04/10/2019 at 09:43

Yeah that's definitely the best color! But I'm more of the "anything but silver" so is be happy with this color for sure. The good price is the only reason I want to check this one out. I'd look at it as being a normal NB and so if it's not basically perfect in person, it wouldn't be worth it to me. Plus I've never driven a MSM so it would be neat to do it just for the lulz.

412GTI > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 10:03

That’s funny I just saw that car on the Miata Buy/Sell page yesterday. I think he’s been trying to sell it for weeks and finally dropped to price down. 7 grand seems like a pretty good deal for a good condition MSM.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/10/2019 at 10:13

The biggest problem with the MSM is that Mazda put the close ratio 6-speed box in them. The end result is that by time the turbo spools up, you basically hit the rev limiter in every gear. They’re almost frustrating to drive fast. If you swap a 5-speed gearbox into one, it makes them a vastly better car. My miata shop owning mentor made a number of MSM owners very happy by doing so.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > 412GTI
04/10/2019 at 11:15

Yeah, its definitely been listed a while. And at that price its difficult for me to pass up, even if its not exactly what I am looking for. From my perspective though, theres no reason why it would be worse as a choice for a track car. Other than I would feel bad if I were to damage it or anything. I will at least go look at it and see if there’s any red flags or anything that would cost me too much to fix.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
04/10/2019 at 11:20

I spent a couple of hours yesterday reading through threads about the MSM. 5 speed swap was definitely the most common thing I saw in there! Along with the 3.xx rear end instead of whatever 4.xx is in there. Lots of people say that the best way to build it is to take everything out that makes it a MSM and start over lol. But I dont plan on “building” regardless so I am curious moreso if completely stock they have any issues beyond the turbo manifold bolts falling out that I keep reading about. If I wanted to autocross, it would definitely be a TERRIBLE choice but for casual HPDE and lots of street driving, I can’t see the gearing really annoying me that much.

Its 100% a case of good price and thats what makes it worth looking into. The only MSMs I have seen in that price range were absolute dumpster fires with 200k+ and salvage titles on them. The other curious thing I saw was that you usually come out ahead with doing a 5 speed swap. Since the MSM 6speed is highly desireable for high power turbo builds and the 5 speeds are pretty cheap, you usually make money in the deal.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
04/10/2019 at 11:28

Yeah it has all of the best goodies that a Miata could come with. But it also has more weight and some complications to deal with for realiability. Along with less than desirable performance traits. Its more of a collectors item since Mazda designed it to be fun for the street rather than have any sort of track abilities.