Just got to drive a Miata for the first time.....

....and it was a MazdaSpeed MX-5 no less!

Bone stock with 21k miles on it. Apparently one of my dad's close friends bought it today and came and stopped by my house to show me. After looking at it for a few minutes he said "Do you want to drive it?"

Hell Yes!

What an unbelievably fun car to drive! A bit tail happy as the boost comes in, but it seems like you can do a fair bit of throttle modulation and keep it somewhat on boost. I just can't get over what an awesome feeling car it was.

Slightly stiffer springs and a bit more rebound damping and it would be nearly perfect.

Too bad I don't have the coin for one!

is it just me, or does this site regard miatas like pringles "once you pop you cant stop"

You should investigate a Flyin Miata kit on a first-gen Miata. More power, less weight, much less money.

I <3 my boosted Miata.

I wish the FM kits were CARB approved. I'm not saying that to give FM a hard time, because I realize that Cali is being stupid, not them. I just wish it was legal to get sweet FM luvin'.

lol thats one of my goals in my weight loss... to be able to reasonably fit in a miata... then i know i'll HAVE to buy one :)

40# down... another 50# and i should have a shot at it lol...

did i mention i want a miata?... a small snail hanging on the side of the engine should make me happy :)

z31maniac, on the behalf of Miata owners, I'd like to apologize for the boost behavior of that engine. Mazda really screwed up some of the fundamentals of that setup. It's easy to fix, but a stock one doesn't have much power, is laggy and has a tip-in hesitation that really gives a bad impression.

Great package otherwise, I really like the Mazdaspeed.

Yeah, the motor seems punchy, which I'm sure is down to the rearend gear choice, the you hit 4700ish RPM and BANG off you go!

Are the earlier model Miatas chassis as stiff? I can't imagine so, this one also had a rollbar. Is that stock on a MazdaSpeed?

The chassis seemed really rigid for a 'vert.

Hmmmm, I may start thinking about getting a Miata to go with the E30. But then the question is which one to make more track oriented!

The way the motor's set up, the turbo spools hard and late. It's not great, but it can be fixed easily enough. Add to that short gearing, the less impressive 6-speed and a lower rev limit than any other Miata and it works a little differently.

The 2001-05 cars are the stiffest of the bunch. The rollbar is not standard, and that helps. Earlier cars are floppier (especially when you consider that the originals are turning 20 next year) but again, this can be dealt with.

I agree too obviously! an early Miata can be had cheap, and adding a turbo makes it even more fun. I've had my turbo on for 8 years now and aside from one vaccum line coming off once, has been dead reliable.

Best thing about a Miata with a turbo is that if you don't run around with it in the boost the personality of the car doesn't change, to add fun and speed just push down on the gas and it goes from Jeckle to Hyde. It even still gets good milage as well, although you do have to use premium gas.

My Turbo I've always run at only 6psi because until this spring I still ran the stock clutch, but even at low boost the car is impressive. Chris Rummel

A turbo is nearing the top of my to-do list on my '91

As for the floppy chassis, help is on the way for me in the form of a FM butterfly brace (I ordered it today!) to complement my newly installed FM springs on Tokico Illuminas.

Holy E36 M3 I love this car!

I recently bought an 03 with the sport suspension. It has 27k miles. It's floppy as hell (then again, my other car is a Subaru with a 4pt roll bar). It also feels really slow.

That being said, it's a blast to drive. FM turbo kit will be in the works as soon as I get a Koni/GC setup sorted, and a roll bar and hardtop installed.

neon4891 wrote: is it just me, or does this site regard miatas like pringles "once you pop you cant stop"

Yes, and for a very good reason.

I had an 05 Mazdaspeed Miata for a while. Keith hit the sore points exactly. The stock turbo spool was sad. The gearing absolutely sucked. The lower redline especially combined with the short gears and 6 speed tranny sapped the fun out of revving.

Everything else was awesome - the brakes, the stock suspension was good, the metallic red paint was sweet, the interior changes were great.

Any word on good CARB approved forced induction setups? For the 1.6, I know that Greddy kit is ultra popular, but I have a 1.8. The only ones I know of are the JR Super kits. This is probably something I should troll on turbomiata for.

Of course, by the time I'm ready to lay down cash to replace my gerbils with a snail, FM will probably have something I can legally use.

ETD Racing header to attach a Greddy Turbo kit to a 1.8L.

I wouldn't recommend it tho. I'd go with FM or a BEGI kit first. You'll replace just about everything on that Greddy kit. Ask how I know. About the only thing left of the Greddy kit I bought for $500 is the turbo and the downpipe. I'd love to ditch them both as the turbo is only oil cooled and non-roller bearing. The downpipe is restrictive at 2 in diameter.

If I had it to do all over again I'd go BEGI-S kit or an FM kit and stroke the big check.

I would say the most depressing thing about a Mazda-speed is the 4.10 gear and the 6-speeds lackluster interface. Aftermarket gearsets of 3.63 are availiable, and braces, tighter mounts, and torque dampers help with shifter feel a ton, but at 32k mi I had to rebuild my shifter with new bushings because they were already shot. I only had the car about 5k mi at that point.
BEGI, FM, and Corksport all offer great ways to fix the engine's issues. My turbo spools in the mid-high 3k rpm range, and I'm rid of the hesitation that comes standard with the car. Still on the stock ecu at about 9psi. For the price, it really can't be beat by any other roadster availiable.

What do people think about supercharging Miatas? Has anyone here driven one? (Keith, I'm looking at you . . .) Is turbocharging better in this specific car than, say, a twin-screw?

I've autoxed a few sc miatas and I love them. I've never driven a turbo miata, but if it is a properly sized turbo, I would imagine it would be a lot of fun too.

The best thing to do to a Mazdaspeed with regards to the driveline is to pull the 6-speed and drop in a 5-speed. You'll have better gear spacing, a taller top gear (really!), better shifting and you'll probably make some money off the deal.

FM actually offers both turbos and supers, but overall I think the turbos work better. You'll find that everyone at FM agrees, actually. Where the superchargers are fun is when you want to kick the tires free - they're the hoodlum cars. But more important than if your compressor (or blower) is driven by a turbine or a belt is the implementation. Overall, I feel there's been more effort put into the turbos and a lot more progress over the years.

Twin-screws aren't seen very often for a few reasons. Kenne Bell (IIRC) had an Autorotor-based kit that used the 0.89l compressor, and I believe they have an exclusive for that unit on the Miata. Their kit wasn't a great one, but the end result is that the 0.89 isn't available. The 1.2l has been used, but it turns out that it really only works well when it's wound up tight to at least 12 psi - and then you end up running perilously close to the redline of the compressor. They had a failure rate on the compressors that was a bit too high to be comfortable, but when they're working they're a riot to drive. Very fun, but not really available right now.

The M45 (aka Sebring aka Downing/Atlanta aka Jackson Racing) supercharger kit has been around as long as the Miata has. It was originally designed for a 6 psi application on a 1.6, and that's where it works best. Trying to extract more hits the point of diminishing returns almost immdiately and it has a few driveability quirks. Still, if you want to bolt one on and then never mess with it again, it's a decent setup.

The MP62 Eaton has become the blower of choice, and I believe GRM is going to be playing with one shortly. There are good implementations and bad implementations on the market - there's one kit in particular that shows a very high rate of engine failure, mostly due to fuel control problems and knock. The MP62 is a blower that many people enjoy.

I sold my 90 Miata (original owner) in August and bought a MazdaSpeed. I was a little concerned about the extra 400 lbs. and the weak turbo setup, but really bought it for the chassis and age (or lack thereof). The MazdaSpeed isn't quite as tossable as the 90, but it feels like the ultimate cornering is better. I'm hoping to get some decent wheels/tires and see what it can do at an autocross. The gearing will be an issue, and I may end up taking Keith's advice about swapping in a 5-speed.

I'll probably take care of the turbo setup this winter. FM's downpipe/intake/intercooler upgrades look like a good place to start, and I can go with the ECU later if necessary.