MX-5 Cup: Build it and they will come

What does it take to get on track in the MX-5 Cup series?

When it comes to building the third generation Mazda MX-5 for the SCCA Pro Racing Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires, the extensive parts inventory of Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development, not to mention the well-engineered series-specific items that are required, simplify the process. When building an MX-5 Cup car you wont be doing a lot of parts shopping, because (per the rules) nearly every nut and bolt wears a Mazdaspeed part number.

The process starts with finding a suitable chassis; you can pick from the 2006-'14 MX-5 range. Kelley Blue Book puts a used car retail value of $9,000 to $18,000 on those cars, depending on the year and condition. Just keep in mind when shopping for your donor car that it's a good idea to start with the required six-speed manual transmission, otherwise you will have to replace the five speed in favor or it.
Suspension, brakes, intake, exhaust, drivetrain components, and even the series required sealed race engine all come directly from Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development.

The only parts you won't be sourcing directly from Mazdaspeed is your personal safety equipment and the driver's compartment safety gear. The roll cage can be found in kit form from Anthony Woodford Racing, and you should expect to pay $2,499 plus freight for the kit, which comes as five prefabricated pieces. Tony Woodford from AWR plans one to two days for installation, but reports some of the big teams have installed so many that they can do it in a fraction of that time. "Hale Motorsports can do one in about five hours," Woodford says.

Randy Hale of Hale Motorsports has built a lot of MX-5 Cup cars over the years, finding they are also popular with people outside of MX-5 Cup.

"People get them as track day cars," says Hale. "It's a good value – they are safe and reliable."

The Hale crew has building these cars down to a science, but notes that it is certainly possible for the do-it-yourselfer to assemble one in their home garage. "It takes us 100 hours to build one from a street car," he notes.

Hale has an extensive build list, breaking down the cost of the MX-5 Cup performance parts, as well as safety equipment and labor. A turnkey build, with you supplying the donor car, tops out around $49,000. That price includes the sealed MX-5 Cup engine as well as first-rate data, video, and interior safety items.

If you want to tackle the project yourself you can cut the budget by about $10,000, but you may need to plan on spending as many as double the hours of what an experienced builder can complete the task in.

Hale also says he has found donor cars for as little as $5,000, and since you are replacing a number of aging items with performance pieces, or new OE parts, purchasing a high mileage street car is not a bad route.

Doing it yourself or hiring a professional builder, it's hard to find a better value in professional racing than MX-5 Cup.