As you’re probably guessed by the title I am a miata fan.

I still have to pass driver’s licence, but I know for certain my first car will be a Mazda MX-5.

I have tried the tailor my simracing setup to fill as close as I can on the budget to an MX5.

Here’s what I’ve come up with :

Let’s start off with the chassis which is the next level racing wheel stand 2.0. Upon that, I have installed the Simsonn Plus Pedals. I am also a big formula ones fan so having pedals that can withstand up to 200kg of pressure was very important to me.

The shh shifter comes with H pattern and sequential modes that helps me switch between various cars. It has a swappable top that takes the shape of the H pattern you wish to use.

The chair I use is a reclinable gaming chair that looks a little like a bucket seat that I found on AliExpress. Once hooked in the wheelstand’s tray and lowered, it kind of feels like you are sitting in a sport car, similarly to the MX5 that is famously low.

Of course, no simrig would be complete without the wheel base.

I myself had purchased the MOZA R5 Bundle with the s-rp pedals. Pedals that I have also repurposed into a clutch just stay on the budget side of things.

The MOZA R5 has become a great wheelbase especially with the MOZA Pit House software that allows you to really get the most out of your experience. I have been dialing it in for months now, trying to get as close as possible to the feel of a real MX-5.

Still, be wary of overheating during heat waves in the summer. I had the misfortune of doing two purple sectors on Suzuka in f124 and the steering just abruptly stopped and I crashed into a wall because the wheelbase had overheated in a room at over 40°C in the middle of a day long session. customer support was more or less helpful and took forever to ship the rights components and I then had to solder my way through it for the first time but it works now and I haven’t had any problem for over a year now.

My wheel of choice would have to be the MOZA GS V2 steering wheel but I still use the ES steering wheel that came in the bundle for more versatility. I have modified my GS V2 wheel by sticking an old android phone with thin bezels. It allows me to see data on track and be fully immersed in the race just like a Formula 1 steering wheel (did I mention I love F1?)

Talking of immersion, the display I use is the Xiaomi P1E 4K TV. It’s not the best, it’s not the fastest but it was what I had and it was free when I brought my phone a few years ago. Remember this is supposed to stay a “budget build”

The TV is set upon a thin shelf structure, bearly wide enough for the TV feets to fit. It gives me room to put accessories like a keyboard, mouse, my phone, another phone stand that hold another old phone I use that has something similar to Carplay via a simhub dash display.

In the end, the journey to making my siMX-5 is going to be a long one. I’m satisfied with what I have today but I know I’ll be upgrading my setup every now and then to tailor my experience.

Thank you very much for reading this far.

I hope I was able to inspire you and maybe give you an idea to implement in your setup.

Would love to hear suggestions for upgrades and your own setups.

– MT