Spencer's Corner
Opening Introduction
Aftermarket
"The Wonderful World of Mod'$"
Article and photos by:
Spencer Lynn
Let’s be real, for those of us who consider ourselves Miata enthusiasts, much of the fun in ownership include modifying our little roadsters. When we gather our cars at events, we find ourselves eager to learn what other owners have done to their “rides”. From the very first day I became the owner of my ’94 Laguna Blue, “B” Package, six years ago, I got busy modding my car. Their exists a terrific aftermarket of parts, accessories and customization available to Miata MX-5 owners. If you choose, you can change everything from shift knobs to five liter, V-8’s and sheet metal, body replacements for an entirely different appearance. For most of us, however, we cannot wait to thumb through the latest Moss Motors Miata catalog when it comes with the mail. The average owner/enthusiast is satisfied with changing floor mats, a replica “8” ball shift knob, coffee mugs and ball caps. For others of us, their lies an insatiable urge to keep the mail order takers and UPS drivers busy with our latest accessory to add on to our Miata's. There exists at least a dozen aftermarket companies with a myriad of parts to replace the OEM (original equipment manufacture) or add ons to increase power, performance and handling. I thought it would be fun to explore the market and spotlight some of the products available for the three generations of our dear little MX 5 roadsters, in a series of article installments.
Having been the owner of a British MGB sports car in the late sixties, I had a preconceived idea of what sort of sound I wanted my Miata to make. I had barely put a hundred miles on my car before I found myself at Valley Muffler in West Covina where they installed a Magnaflow muffler and chrome exhaust tip. Now I did not want any “ricer” rattle or outrageous roar leaving the traffic lights. What I got was a respectable, throaty growl under acceleration, but a pleasant note cruising at freeway speeds, perfect. My pal Dave Davis has a custom exhaust system on his 2000 LE that makes everyday sound like a trip to the drag strip. Under full throttle, it will set off car alarms in the neighborhood. It sports a 4 inch pipe protruding from the center of his tail skirt and it not only sounds, but looks downright intimidating to would be challengers! It is not objectionable at all, but it demonstrates more noise is there if you summon. Performance wise, there are dual exhaust systems and headers available to boost your horsepower in the $300 to $500 price range. Nearly all of them report an increase in performance to keep in concert with your aftermarket improved intake and induction set-ups.
Miata Mania sells Borla, Cobalt, Racing Beat, Jackson Racing, Roadstersport and Magnaflow dual and single exhaust systems and components. Use care in shopping, however, not all custom headers are CARB approved, and are intended only for track cars. Moss Motors offers a Roadstersport system for ’06 and later NC models. It is a custom muffler with 3 to 3.5 inch, dual chrome tips. The “Q” model features removable cone baffles to give you a serious exhaust note under throttle with a pleasing purr at highway speeds of 3,500 to 4,500 rpms. They claim to be bolt on and in the $400+ price range. To find an exhaust system that provides the right note for you is the gift that keeps on giving every time you drive your car, I love mine and often turn off the music just to listen to my motor and exhaust tone on drives.
One style feature that I really appreciated about vintage European sports cars was their use of wood in the dash, steering wheels and shift knobs. Miata Mania offers rosewood shift and parking brake knobs and handles for NA, NB and NC models but their Eurosport rosewood steering wheels are only available for the NA series. The wood steering wheels come in two styles for $199.95 and sometimes they go on sale for a substantial savings. One is totally rosewood and the Eurosport is rosewood and black leather. I have had both in my ’94, but I prefer the feel of the all wood wheel the best, although the wood and leather looks great and coordinates well with my black interior. Currently, it is mounted on a wall in my home, airbag and all. The shift knob is similar in appearance and feel to a fine wood pistol grip. Both the shift knob and parking brake handle sell for $19.95 each, and that is a bargain, because they are very well made and finished. The set really adds a touch of class to your interior look and feel (see the interior photo). Another source for gear shift knobs in walnut and mahogany, both engraved and plain, is “Knobmeister.com”. He also sells billet, turned knobs and a variety of styles.
I might
add that it is recommended that you have a professional mechanic install the
wood, aftermarket, steering wheel due to the care and expertise required with
the airbag handling. I paid $40 to have mine professionally installed. You can
also find wood veneer kits for your interior and dash. They are less than $140
to $165 for the ’90 to ’09, NA, NB and NC models. They are provided with
adhesive backing to just peel and stick in place on the center dash, console and
around the shift boot. These kits come in a nice variety of choices from rose
and burlwood to red and black carbon fiber, platinum silver and aluminum
finishes. I stopped at the wheel, knob and handle in my car with the less is
more attitude, but to each, his own and these kits look great. They really
change the whole flavor of your interior at a reasonable price and little effort
for the application.
If you own an NB or NC model and want to spiffy-up your stock steering wheel, there are leather wheel covering kits in white, red, blue and black colors for around $40. They lace or stitch in place and look sensational.
Another mod available only for the first generation Miata is the Eurospec or Altezza tail light units. They come in clear plastic and black with red plastic tail light modules and are very simple to install in about twenty minutes for a cost of $149.95. Then there are the Spiderlite, star shaped, spring open, LED light modules to replace the OEM incandescent tail light bulbs. These were a “SEMA” product of the year, award winner and sell for $74.95 a pair with a needed $19.95, “Load Balancer” unit to keep them from flashing too fast. I have not installed these on my car yet but plan to soon and will photograph them in an upcoming article. They are hyped as being brighter than the stock bulbs and an increased safety enhancement. An added benefit of these LED’s is that they last, practically, forever without burning out and needing replacement like incandescent bulbs. So once you buy and install them, you can forget about them.
One lighting enhancement I did install recently, was the third brake light pulser module for ’90-’05 models to flash your center mounted brake light. It is $22.95 and $49.95 with a 15-second delay. The delay is advertised for when you are in bumper-to-bumper traffic and constantly stepping on your brakes but do not want the third light constantly pulsing, so it is delayed 15 seconds between activations. I do not care if mine constantly flashes, I figure anything designed to get the attention of the message texting idiot behind me, is worth it. The small module is very simple to wire and mount inside your trunk lid. It is very effective to be so reasonably priced.
As for a little exterior “bling” there are the fuel lid door kits available from Moss for between $79.95 and $109.95 in a choice of chrome or black for ’90-’97 and ’99-’05 models. They are as functional as they are good looking and install in about 10 minutes using the existing holes for the hardware. They also use the existing remote lid opener.
Regardless of your year or car’s color, these custom fuel lid doors are really cool looking and match the chrome style bar.
The stock gauge faces in my ’94 NA were black and I wanted white faces with some control of the luminescence. Mine were purchased from a now defunct speed shop in Walnut, so I don’t know anything about the brand or company they originated with. I can change the illumination from different shades of blue to green and adjust their brightness. However, Miata Mania/Moss Motors has a couple of ways to go with gauge faces. One company has just plain gauge face changes of white, yellow, and red with pricing from$40 to $125.95 for ’90-’05 model years. They also sell an electro-luminescent gauge face set for ’90-’05 years for $169.95 similar to those found in luxury sedans with ultra crisp lighting that changes colors and brightness. I get a number of comments about mine and I really enjoy them. My JVC stereo head unit also changes colors and puts on a lightshow with one of it’s settings. I guess I’m kind of nuts over the changing of colors in my dash. There have been some articles written in the old Miata magazine, giving step-by-step instructions on changing gauge faces and it is not too difficult an operation. It is mentioned that you should warm up you motor and note where the needle is on your temperature gauge, as well as, where the needles are on your other gauges. Great care should be taken in the removal of the needles because they are very fragile.
In the next installment of these articles, I will discuss suspension modifications, air intake improvements, interior accessorizing, headlight and parking light mod's, and interior and exterior trim for the “bling” effect.
Happy Miataing.
Spencer Lynn
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