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My Miata

2004 Mazda MX-5 · NB2 · Sunlight Silver

Bought off FB Marketplace on the Fourth of July, 2023. Still silver, still naturally aspirated, no longer stock underneath.

how it started

The silver Miata parked in an empty lot in low evening sun on the day it was bought, still on its original wheels with the top down.
the evening I bought it
The Miata’s interior seen through the open driver’s door, showing the stock steering wheel, gauges, seats and the original shift knob.
pretty clean for a 20 year old car!

I didn’t set out to build a car. I bought a Miata because it checked a few boxes: cheap, rear-wheel drive, and manual. It turned out to check quite a few more. Driving it led to autocross, mountain roads, and new friends to share them with.

Three years later, the car has evolved alongside myself as a driver. What started as a stock daily has gradually become a more capable car: better suspension, better grip, better reliability, and considerably more thought put into a twenty-year-old Mazda than was probably necessary. Just a small car getting progressively better at the thing it was meant to do.

current setup

The Miata’s engine bay: all stock except for the Flyin' Miata intake.
all stock except for the Randall intake from Flyin' Miata
The Miata up on jack stands in a garage with the front wheel removed and tools spread across the floor during the coilover installation.
coilovers going in

The build reads from the ground up: wheels and tires went on first, then coilovers, then a differential, and most recently, an intake and exhaust. None of it happened quickly. The first two years went almost entirely towards maintenance since the car is old enough to drink. A clutch and a lightweight flywheel at 97k miles, a secondhand alternator, and one December where the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, plugs and most of the seals came out in a single visit. The least exciting money I’ve ever spent, and all of it was me quietly deciding I was going to keep the thing.

The rest arrived in the last eighteen months. Wider wheels and tires, then coilovers at all four corners in January, fitted in a friend’s garage (shoutout Ryan!) because I don’t own any tools. Then the differential in April, and finally an intake and exhaust this September. The last two really put the cherry on top for, what I think, is a tasteful OEM+ build.

112k miles, entirely stock engine — which is either discipline or procrastination, depending on the day.

The Miata mid-corner on the Tail of the Dragon with the top down, leaning on its outside front wheel, driver visible.
three years and a lot of suspension later

as it sits today

car
2004 Mazda MX-5, NB2 — Sunlight Silver
engine
1.8 L inline-four w/ VVT
intake
Randall Cowl Intake V2 from Flyin' Miata
exhaust
RoadsterSport 4 muffler from Good-Win Racing
gearbox
5-speed manual
differential
Torsen limited-slip, 4.1 final drive
suspension
SuperMiata Tecna coilovers — 9kg front, 6kg rear
wheels
Advanti Storm S1 15×8 · Yokohama Fleva V701 205/50R15
stock
ECU, brakes, sway bars, bodywork
odometer
~112,000 miles

where it’s going

AI generated livery concept: a contact sheet of renders showing an NB Miata in midnight blue with a rear wing and a graphic livery.
concept - thanks chatgpt!

A new set of tires is on the horizon, my poor Flevas are beat. After that, a front sway bar and new brake pads. Beyond that and regular maintenance, not much else is on the list. It’ll stay naturally aspirated as long as I can help it — nothing against turbos/superchargers, there’s just something I like about the engine still being the one that left the factory twenty-odd years ago.

Then there’s the part that has nothing to do with going faster. Midnight Blue over the silver, a wing borrowed from an RX-7, and maybe even a livery. Someday, definitely.

photographs

The Miata climbing a corner on the Tail of the Dragon, trees close on both sides.
The Miata parked at a Blue Ridge Parkway overlook, top down, mountains behind.
Three-quarter front view of the Miata in golden evening light at the side of a country road, on the day the new gunmetal wheels were fitted.
Aerial view of several hundred Miatas parked in rows across a field at Miatas at the Gap.
The Miata on wet pavement outside a brick building, top up, on its gunmetal wheels.
Head-on view of the Miata cornering on the Tail of the Dragon with the top down.
The Miata parked beside a landscaped bank a few weeks after purchase, still on its original wheels.
The Miata parked on the grass show field at Miatas at the Gap among other Miatas, top up.
The Miata parked at a mountain overlook on wet pavement after rain, top up, ridgelines behind it.
The Miata back on its wheels in a garage with the hood up and a tool cart alongside.
Side profile of the Miata parked on a country road with the top down under a bright cloudy sky.
Aerial view of the Miatas at the Gap event site, with rows of parked cars, tents and a tennis court.
Close view of the front wheel arch: a gunmetal Advanti Storm S1 wheel with a Yokohama tire, against the car's silver bodywork.
The Miata parked on the shoulder of a mountain road with the top down, forested ridgelines behind it.
The Miata facing the camera in evening light, parked beneath a roadside restaurant sign.
The engine bay with the Randall Cowl Intake from Flyin' Miata.
The underside of the Miata on a lift, showing the RoadsterSport 4 muffler from Good-Win Racing.