Daily driver gets a new heart

The 95R package we picked up for $750 two years ago finally got it's makeover. The goal was a clean looking daily driver that should pass emissions testing in every state. Current weight is about 2150lbs with a splash of fuel. 147whp on CA91.

Suspension
We fitted Xida-S with 700/400 rates. RB 1.125" #54105 front sway bar. Rear is the OEM 12mm with urethane bushings for street, 14mm bar for track use. Prothane control arm and diff bushings, SuperMiata end links. Diff is the stock 4.1 type 1 Torsen.

Brakes are OEM Sport Brakes with our two piece rotors and XP10's up front, XP8's in back, stainless lines all around with Motul RBF600.

The car has an NB front subframe, spindles and depowered steering rack.

Engine
We blueprinted an NB2 motor with Supertech 11.0:1 83.5mm pistons that were shaved down to create 10.5:1 compression. Supertech valve springs, SCAT forged rods and ACL race bearings. The rest is 100% OEM parts. Head and bottom end is otherwise stock. 5W30 Amsoil. Magnaflow Metal core cat. Exhaust we built is a bit too loud so we're putting a Racing Beat midpipe and Powerflow muffler on it. ECU is a special Adaptronic 440 ECU configured just for this type of conversion. Thread on the ECU here http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=403239

  As an experiment, we initially built the car with an EUDM header and heatshield to retain a full OEM appearance and functionality. We also kept the OEM NA8 airbox and NB2 MAF. With all that OEM hardware and a cat, we squeaked out 126whp on CA91.

  Next we experimented with a few different intakes and settled on a K&N 60-6900 CARB legal kit. With that kit installed we made 147whp after wrapping the crossover pipe in thermal sheet and adding a Racing beat header. With the header, our CARB emissions compliance went out the window.

For now the car has no oil cooler but we'll add a very small Setrab with -10 push on hoses and Mocal thermostatic sandwich plate. Koyo 37mm radiator and Koyo cap with M-Tuned reroute.

Drivetrain
6 speed trans running Amsoil MTG. Clutch is a clutchnet stage 2 for 1.6 (200mm), organic sprung hub. Lightweight 8.8 lb Cr-Mo flywheel. 15x9 6UL's on 225/454 RS3's running about 26psi. I painted the wheels Ford tungsten gray code T8.

Miscellaneous bits
Harnesses are G-Force 5 pt camlocks. Seats are OMP Grip with custom made fixed brackets. Bar is a Hard Dog HC DD. Wheel is a Momo 350mm mod 78, NRG 2.5 QR and Momo hub.

We added V8 Roadsters subframe braces for added torsional rigidity. We'll some E-Code 55/65 halogen lights so we can actually see where we are going once the sun goes down.

John did a partial wire tuck under the hood. The relay box and ECU are behind the pax airbag cover.

Driving it
  It's a blast! Amazing throttle response and torque way down low. The gearing and light flywheel let it zip through the gears like a kart. One can short shift at like 2500rpm and still keep way ahead of traffic from a light. In 6th gear at 45mph, it still has enough torque to squirt into spaces in traffic. The ride with the 700/400 Xida-S is very firm but not harsh at all. Feels a bit lumpy at very low speeds but smooths out and begins to glide once you start hammering it. Brakes feel amazing. Super sensitive, tons of power. The XP's dust quite a bit but that's typical of the XP's.

We took it to round 1 of the 2012 Miata Challenge at buttonwillow Sunday Jan 29th. Clocked a 2:02.813 which is almost 2s faster than the Spec Miata lap record, and we did it on "street" tires.Very happy to have a concept, piece it all together tune it and have it turn out even better than I envisioned. These cars just so much fun to play with.