[Miata] Upgrades (was Replacing Rear Window)

[John Freas]

Previously on Replacing rear window, <mark.ariagno at boehringer-ingelheim.com>
said...

>  Thanks John, you do know your cars.  Is the 1.6 a turbo?  My fiats all
> needed lots of tlc, but at the time, cheapest little sports car around and
> easy to work on.  I like the hinge idea for the plate.  All in all, I love
> the miata.  Gas here in missouri just hit 4.10 ...ouch.
>
> What mods are fun projects on the miata?
>
The 1.6 can be turbocharged or supercharged through the aftermarket but they
didn't come from the factory that way.  My car is pretty stock and the
numbers I gave assume no performance mods.

I had a friend in college who spent most of his spare time under, around or
over a Spider 2000.  It was a great, fun car but he drove it hard and they
don't like that.

Our gas here is hanging between $3.92 and $3.99.  It won't be too long
before it breaks the $4.00 mark.

Mods for the Miata are many, and asking which ones are fun is kinda like
asking what flavors of ice cream taste the best.  It depends on what you
like and what you want your car to be.  As I said, you can turbocharge the
car, with bolt-on, time-tested kits that can produce 250 rear wheel hp and
up.  They are made by a company called Flyin' Miata out in Colorado:
http://www.flyinmiata.com, but since you are concerned with fuel I'm
thinking that's not the direction you intend to go.

For handling mods you should also look to FM.  Sway bars, shocks (the OEMs
are usually good for only about 30K miles or so), and springs are available
for the car and each will improve handling.  FM has a package on matched
components that comes in under $1,000 and produces a fantastically handling
Miata (not that it was bad to begin with).

You can also add various intakes including cold air, and larger exhausts,
and they will add a little to the performance and improve on the engine
sound, but whenever we improve performance we also increase potential fuel
flow, so beware ;)

Tires are one of the very first things I'd be looking at.  I don't know
what's on there right now, but not only do good, sticky tires really make a
handling difference, but they are a huge safety factor.  Make sure you have
some good tires.  A lot of us go with summer tires in the non-snowy months
and then either park the car or switch to dedicated snow tires on all 4
corners in the winter.  The car handles snow extremely well with snow tires
on, and is really scary without them.

I'd recommend you look around on miata.net and on FM's website for some
ideas and come back for input from the crowd on the ones you like the sound
of.

Happy shopping.

    -John
------------------------------
John Freas <%20john7690 at comcast.net>
1992 *YELLOW* "Sting<http://john.freas.home.comcast.net/pix/sting/sting.html>
"
1995 Black R Package
"Spike<http://www.geocities.com/clash_girl/Spike_Scrapbook.html>
"
Elizabethtown, Indiana
- Standard Disclaimer
<http://john.freas.home.comcast.net/disclaimer.html>Applies -
Team LS1,2, SP, the Gap...
I love my Miata
girl<http://www.geocities.com/clash_girl/Spike_Scrapbook.html>and my
Miata Baby
"I have no idea what those dimple things on the windshield frame are for."
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.realbig.com/pipermail/miata/attachments/20080703/34294386/attachment.html