This baby is a UK spec 1.8 Garnet Red MX-5 (Miata) Montana edition.
It has everything; hard top, air-con, heated leather seats, fogs, mohair top, alloys- everything except Limited Slip Diff & SatNav.
I got the car from new and was totally amazed by the handling.
In the first week I had it, I managed a 90MPH 4 wheel slide while doing a sweeping 90 degree bend.
It's still stock under the bonnet -at the moment; I'm slowly modding it to my taste.
The greatest performance enhancement to date are the wheels....
Goodyear Eagle F1's are phenominal.
Now, it's difficult to screech from stand-still and when I corner hard- my white blood cells are on one side of my body and the red cells are on the other!
The main problem with this MX-5 model is the paint (- Mazda call it 'Garnet red') it's so shiney that it's hard to see detail on a bright day.
It's also a bit expensive when motorbikes and people scratch it.
So far, I've added a ton of extras :-
MP62 supercharger @ 5.5PSI,
KYB AGX shocks,
Flyin' Miata springs (new style- lowers the car by 15mm,)
Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 tyres (on the 15" track wheels,)
FM sway bars (anti-roll bars,)
EBC Yellowstuff brake pads,
Speed bleeders,
Goodridge Stainless Steel braided brake hoses,
Chrome Door Speaker Surrounds,
Chrome Heater Switch Surrounds,
Variable Oil Pressure Switch,
Stainless-Steel U Shape Roll Bar,
U Shape Windblocker,
Radio Adapter Harness,
Radio Cubby Box,
LED Chrome Side Markers,
Silver Repeater, indicator, dip & main beam Bulbs,
Stainless Steel Wiper Blades,
Stainless Under Bonnet Light,
Chrome Bonnet Lifters,
Clear Side Repeaters with chrome rings,
Leather Gearlever Gaiter,
Chrome Trip Meter re-set Knob,
Chrome Roadster Badge,
Stainless Woven Mesh Grille,
TT Style Stainless Steel Fuel Lid,
Blue Electro-luminescent Stainless-steel sill plate covers,
S2000 'engine start' button,
Chrome Eye-ball Vent Centre Caps,
Chrome Instrument Rings,
Chrome Needle Cap Covers,
Coolant Temperature Linearizaion Mod,
Castrol SRF racing brake fluid,
JVC DVD player,
1200 Watt Sony amps,
8" co-axial Pioneer door speakers,
6X9" co-axial JVC parcel shelf speakers.
I decided to improve the totally inadequate Mazda ICE.
So far I've installed a JVC KD-DV6101...
Although it's a DVD player, it can also hold 4.7Gb of music per disc and can play CD, MP3 & WMA tracks and if the need arises, there's an AUX input for an iPOD or whatever you fancy!
To improve the all-round sound, I cut holes in the parcel shelf and fitted these JVC 6X9"s
To beef-up the general noise, I replaced the crappy 5X7" door speakers with some Pioneer 8" co-axials.
These little beauties can handle 350Watts peak power but I've managed to blow the left speaker.
I have now fitted a pair of these to replace them.
These sub-woofers are 900 watts peak and have an all aluminium driver and voice coil (fused together for better heat dissipation.)
Once you get rid of the Mazda plastic adapters, 8" speakers just slot into the doors.
The real funky thing is the bass- it escapes through the window seal when the window's down. If your arm's resting on top of the door- the bass massages your arm and blows the hairs on your skin.
Oh yeah, the reasons for the blown speaker are my amps.
I've put the amps on a board and mounted it upright in the boot (if that makes sense,)
I had to upgrade the brakes.
After a ton of contemplation, I decided not to go for the slotted & drilled discs.
I opted against these because they eat brake pads like crazy with only minimal performance gain, so I opted for new cheapo plain discs all around.
I'm very pleased that they work identically to the Mazda ones but are massively cheaper.
I coupled them with EBC Yellowstuff pads. They grip like crazy- well beyond Greenstuff, which in turn is significantly better than the stock Mazda pads.
The really good thing is that EBC Yellowstuff pads hardly dust at all.
Which means that my alloys stay cleaner for longer.
I've had the car for 4 years from new.
After 18 months the Mazda front pads were screeching badly so I changed them for EBC Greenstuff. They were a huge improvement!
After another 18 months, I changed from Greenstuff to the 'track pad'- Yellowstuff.
Wow a total upgrade.
They grip like mad from cold and haven't yet faded- & trust me, I've really tested them as hard as possible.
Interestingly, the Greenstuff pads still had plenty of life left in them- so it would be stupid to throw them away with this much pad left. They may be useful as 'spares' after a heavy track day.
Just to make the upgrade complete I added Speedbleeders to all the calipers, Goodridge Stainless Steel brake lines and some red caliper paint for good measure.
The rear distribution block & S/S line.
The front caliper
Close up of the Speedbleeder & S/S brake line
The front caliper & new disc
Rear calipers painted & ready to go...
Ready to mount
Just for bling sake, I had to add these illuminated sill plate logo thingys...
These are the 17" alloys I got recently
When I get the time I will update the photos as there's a heap more stuff on it now.
Thanks for looking at my ride,
Dave
