1996 Montego Blue Mazda Miata Base Model

Reason for Purchase and Criteria
I purchased my Mazda Miata in 2003 after much research for an affordable fun to drive sports car. My criteria are a fun stylish car with inexpensive aftermarket options for a two seat convertible as well as a strong on-line community, check out www.Miata.net for the best on-line automotive community around. My purposes are improving my relationship with my wife, car maintenance skills, driving skills, a social outlet, and modify a car to my style. I purchased my car with 113k miles the last of which were unfortunately by someone who could not afford the car as it is a repo. I purposely avoided the higher model packages such as the M-Edition as I would feel guilty changing an already special car.

Purchase Experience
I used Autotrader.com to find my car. Locally there were few copies so I expanded my search to include Charlotte, NC where there are many more cars. This is how I came across mine. The car was sold by a small time used car dealer. We quickly worked out a deal and I drove home my project car.

Initial Problems
Once I got the car home, I began to find the issues caused by neglect. First of all, the car drinks oil. This is unusual for this car so I caught up the major maintenance, timing belt and all front engine seals as well as valve cover and CAS seal. This reduced the oil consumption tremendously. This also satisfied my need to wrench.
The paint is seriously neglected. Using the car care forum at Miata.net and autopia-carcare.com I researched how to bring back my cars paint. I have over time improved my car care techniques and restored the existing paint as much as possible given the age and previous neglect. The car is a beautiful Montego Blue which is a metallic blue/green color depending on the light and angle the car is observed.

Ownership Experience
First of all this car is a blast to drive. We drove it to the Blue Ridge Parkway the first chance we got and had a great time. Climbing US 52 we were passing sedans and SUVs in every curve with big grins on our face. On the Blue Ridge we had our first social encounter with other Miata owners as we passed a club going in the other direction. We have a gathering every year in Deals Gap, also known as Tail of the Dragon, that is my wife and I's annual couple vacation. We board the dog and the kid stays with the grandparents as we enjoy the very twisty road in the western part of NC and eastern part of Tennessee.
I also discovered auto-cross racing through the Miata forums and joined the local sports car club, Triad Sports Car Club. At any given event, Miatas are the dominant vehicle present. They are very competitive in the classes they race due to their nimble handling and size.
Daily life with the Miata is a lot of fun. First of all the car is not a drag race car, so if you are expecting massive acceleration then this is not the car for you. The power comes on about 4k rpm so many drivers never experience the power band of the car as they shift too soon. The car lives between 4k rpm and 7k rpm. My model has a rev limiter at 7,400 rpm and I have bounced off the rev limiter on more than one occasion. When you hit 4k rpm its like being in a different car, it just jumps down the road. The shifter is a dream. Although short shift kits are sold, it is not necessary as the shifter is very quick and feels great. I achieve gas mileage in the high 20's and even recently broke 30 mpg. I did do the 14 degree timing bump so I have to run high octane gas to avoid pinging. Normal timing is 10 degree BTDC and you can run regular unleaded. Braking is quick and responsive. The Miata uses four wheel disc brakes but do not come with an adjustable biaser. The Miata has a front bias just like almost all modern cars but a racing trick of using different types of pads front and rear can correct for this if you don't like this. Most people never notice this.

Modifications
Modifications fall into two areas for me, first is the interior and comfort and second is the performance modifications. I replaced the seat covers with Katzskin leather covers purchased through GoMiata.com and custom made to my design. These were tedious to install but greatly improved the comfort of the seats. The seats need a little more side and bottom bolster to be truly comfortable at high lateral g's. I also replaced the head unit and added new headrest speakers and door speakers.
Performance modifications include a Boss Frog Double Hoop roll bar, Racing Beat tubular anti-sway bar, Racing Beat End links, KYB AGX shocks which were the best performance and comfort modification made to date, Ground Control springs, and new bushings. All of these have made the car handle better and in many cases such as the bushings, reduced the rattles and squeaks.
The car had the original shock absorbers when I bought it and they were long gone. One of my first changes was the KYB AGX shocks. These were the best bang for the buck in an adjustable shock absorber. I can go from highway cruising to ready to race in about five minutes. Set soft you can cruise many a highway mile without discomfort, set hard you can tell whether a coin is heads or tails as you drive over it. Miata engineers really worked hard on the suspension and it is one of the best suspensions out of the box in existence. The car has double A-Arms at all corners that allow for camber, caster and toe without having to purchase camber plates. The suspension is a coil-over suspension at all four corners. For enthusiasts this is a dream. I upgraded the springs to the Ground Control kit. These springs allow for height adjustment at all four corners. The bad news is that the Miata does have one weak spot, rear suspension travel. The good news is the aftermarket has a few solutions for this. I chose the Fat Cat Motorsports NB (Second generation) suspension conversion kit with progressive bump stops. I had my car cross weighted and lowered at the local shop known for good work on Miatas and BMWs, Motorsports Connections. Lowering the Miata without addressing rear suspension travel is a recipe for a hard kick in the rear on every big bump. They also set the alignment up to my specifications and now the car absolutely eats curves like no other car.
Tires make a huge change to cars character as well. I always purchased tires with an eye to mileage and safety. On the Miata, I purchase them with an eye to performance as well. Many Miata owners have two sets of wheels, one for summer fun and the other for winter doldrums. For a summer fun tire, the Falken Azenis is very hard to beat. You will not get 80k miles off of these tires, more like 20k miles. The good news is they will be the most fun miles you've ever gotten from a tire. My first set were 215's which got to be very noisy after 10k miles. Now I am on 615s and they are both higher performance than the 215s and much less noisy.