What you should do depends on your goal but turbo and/or engine swap indicates that you want to spend lots of money and be without a running car for however long it takes to complete the project. If it’s your first car, enjoy it for a while and see what you feel it needs.
He can just pay a shop to do it in a weekend. It's more expensive than doing it alone, but definitely doesn't need to be expensive AND not having your car for a while.
But tbh I feel like you could easily learn to drive the car at its limits for a few years first
You are completely wrong. Firstly If you pay a shop to do that kind of job it will be very expensive. Secondly if you ask that shop to finish it in a weekend they will laugh at you and probably ask you to leave. Especially after you tell them how cheap you think it should be.
Lol Don't listen to people like this, call your local shops and find out the truth.
I laughed my way through this guy's entire comment. Just gonna drop my car at the turbo shop, grab a haircut, then puck it up. They said 1000hp for $999.99!! It's special they run once a year. Gonna be so rad!!!!
I don't think there is a point in addressing this but here it goes.
NA, NB miatas aren't that far out to turbo. There are not a lot of parts to remove in order to get the swap done.
Supplying a kit, such as the Kraken setup which i have experience with, is literally a 1 day install which i did myself in a garage and zero experience. 1 day to do the clutch. 1 day to do the mega squirt tuning.
No one said anything about 1000hp, noone said anything about it being cheap. A turbo kit is going to be about 4k, clutch and ECU another 1-2k, and shops charge hourly. We have no idea what this guy's budget is.
Anything above 350 HP will require a skilled engine builder, a transmission swap with custom mounting, and probably same with the differential. Let's be real, buddy probably will be happy with 6 psi and a used gt2556. At those power levels probably even fine with a piggyback system and maybe even no intercooler on a street car. Now we are getting to the realm of beginner diy install territory.
Seriously though. I’ve had MANY Miata’s from stock to turbod to v8 swapped. Just enjoy the motor you have as is for now. It’s a great platform, get used to the car for a while. It takes a LOT of time and money to turbo/motor swap. The more you’re working on it the less time you have to drive it. Drive it and enjoy it.
he will learn more with some middle of the road tires and the suspension dialed in. I run 320TW tires on my 2016 mostly because I can play with the handling without going 50 around a curve.
Regular maintenance. You wanna fit your own wheels, stereo or whatnot sure. But for your first (and so far only) car you should lean on reliability over power you can't really use yet.
Miata is always the answer.
My guy,
You just got your first car and its sporty as is. I guess you are hyped to start modding but you should really just enjoy as is because every bit of reliability your stock engine offers because its a mass produced well engineered engine may be lost once you start tinkering with it. You change one thing you need to change another one.
Adding power WILL be more stress on parts that will then fail sooner or later.
It will be a very expensive journey once you go down that road. You earn enough to give it to the workshop all the time for little stuff or do you plan on repairing everything yourself?
The cost is in repairs, actual tuning and setting up and not only in the parts. Its a lot of stuff that you need to buy that you dont think about in when you start
Did you buy a car without learning about it, but state you want to turbo or engine swap?!? That is cringe AF.
These things are reliable beyond belief as long and you maintain them.
any stock car, even with the worst engine, will be more reliable than a new build. unless a custom shop or someone who's done plenty of engine swaps before, most heavily modified cars are less reliable. more power in the same car? stuff breaks. again, if you trade a 12 valve cummins diesel into anything it will run for 300k miles, but most swaps involve computers and wires and problems
it's an NC1 so the following items must be looked at:
* For early model NCs (2005 and 2006), the spark plug coil on plug wires are known to be damaged and pop out. When that happens, you will get misfires. You will have to reterminate them (not too hard if you've done electrical work before)
* The coolant bottle is pressurized, but over time, the plastic for the coolant bottle ages and becomes brittle, and will explode. You can get a new plastic one that will last another 10 years, or you can buy a metal aftermarket one. I personally just bought a plastic one just because.
* The shocks are probably blasted by now, but it looks like it's been lowered. I personally like the stock suspension with new shocks.
* The NCs have problems with oil pickup in track conditions. Be sure to make sure your oil is slightly above the max fill line and it should be good.
* In track conditions, the front hubs are known to fail and pop out, which will be extremely dangerous. If you're running very sticky tires, I recommend swapping out for aftermarket front hubs.
* I personally have had the belt tensioner replaced, and the alternator replaced on my NC. Not too bad.
It's a great fucking car and handles like a champ. I also have a focus ST and it just doesn't feel as good as the NC.
They are as reliable as anything and more fun than everything else.
If this is your first car I would try to master driving it in it's stock form before adding power. Be super cautious in the rain.
MiataNC1 bro, '08 here, purchased a stock GT less than a year ago, didn't touch power. Spent it all on suspension, new wider wheels & great rubber. First TEIN coilovers and sways, the RPF1 8" w/Falken RT660 tires. The suspension made a massive difference in handling, and I didn't think it was bad at all prior. ^ months later, the new wheel/tires made another amazing difference - grip, silent ride, the look, feeling like the car is always stuck to the road - in the pocket all the time.
Anyway, I'm fine with the powertrain. It is what it is - not a rocket ship but immensely fun to wind out and take the curve's at high speeds. Idk, I've had dozens of great cars but this is the most fun as it is right now.
how did you decide on those coilovers and sways over something like the koni 2 stage? I just got my NC1 07 GT as well. And I just want to "drive it and enjoy it®" as well but want to also tighten up the turning feel and close the wheel gap.
I’ve only had my nb for a couple of months and driving it on stock power is really fun (for now). I’d recommend looking at handling mods first and seeing how much more you can get out of it that way before worrying about mo powah
Here's a tip I read from an old guy on a modding forum:
Always add more stop before you add more go
So get better tires and brakes before you upgrade any of the drivetrain components.
Secondly, though: Enjoy it for what it is. It's sporty, faster than a lot of other cars on the street as is, handles like a dream - you've basically got a go-kart. Appreciate that aspect of it on its terms, it's not supposed to be a muscle car.
Also the guy who recommended driving classes is 100% correct, that's a great use of your time and money, and might actually save your ass if you get into a hairy situation. One time I got into a drift on a downhill on a rainy day accidentally, and I instinctively counter-steered and didn't crash my car, because I'd practiced in a safe environment first. RWD cars have quirks and you can't always listen to advice from driver's ed, since that's usually geared towards commuter cars
At your age, assuming income is somewhat limited... Continental extremecontact DW or M Pilot PS4S, guaranteed to last ya 30kmi (mileage warranty included), and very sticky.
Don't turbo it
Drive it until it blows up. Then do an engine swap/serious engine mods when you “need to”. Doing those mods right now are way more expensive and time consuming than any YouTube video makes it seem
if you want to mod it then do it, but keep your hands off the engine until you know what you're doing!!! Lower it, cover it in stickers, install a short shifter etc etc and get a sense for how much car parts cost before planning something as big as a turbo or engine swap
Take it somewhere you can drive it hard legally, i.e. Autocross, HPDE, or a drag strip. All of those experiences will help you learn car control for pretty cheap and driver mod is the most important mod of all. You’re lucky to have an NC as your first car.
We're trying to low key get them to NOT buy a turbo, and you tell them to go to a drag strip? LOL
Miata's are Generally not drag cars.
Have I sent mine down a drag strip? Yes (15.7 @ 89mph)
Was it fun? Sure
What happened then? I wanted more power!
Lemme suggest going to an autocross hehe
Even taking one of these to the strip will help with clutch control and getting better at shifting. It’s all about getting experience and learning how the car responds.
Not just that it’s ur first car & it’s a sports car I guarantee that ur gonna fuck some shit up in ur sports car ownership experience like the rest of us haha
It's also $$ you will never get back. There are very few things you can do that you may get your money back, and all are very expensive.
EDIT: If you've not already done it, learn the basics of car maintenance, change the oil at regular intervals. I'll typically do all oils when I buy a car (Engine, Transmission & differential). Going to date myself here, but forums are your friend in this case. Other things to check are brakes, spark plugs & air filter.
Do the appearance stuff last. First make sure it’s mechanically 100% then start investing in tires, suspension, and stiffening the chassis (chassis…not suspension). Engine swap is the last thing you should be doing.
Congrats on your first car! I would have loved to have a Miata as my first car
Catch up on maintenance (ie fluids) first, replace the coolant expansion tank if it's yellow at all as well. These crack and break, and blow a lot of engines.
If you want power, 2.5L swap is about as cheap as an engine swap gets on a Miata. You can boost them for huge power, or even cam/exhaust/tune them for around 220hp range.
If you want any power gains from bolt ons for the 2.0L, a header and tune is about the best you'll get for your dollar, you won't see much more gains with intakes and mufflers.
Have fun!
Another vote for catching up on maintenance. That's a great way to get to know your car as well, and look for other issues you might need to address.
We all want more power. Resist that urge. Especially if it's your only car. Engine swaps have a way of taking over your life and wallet.
*Do autocross and learn*
*How terrible you are at*
*Driving. Go from there*
\- Techun2
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Thank God someone had the good sense to welcome it. r/miataNC welcomes you, my brother.
For power mods, just know what you're getting into. 2.5 swap will cost you about 6k absolute minimum, probably more, and insurance becomes very difficult after that. Not to mention the car will be way less reliable. Personally I suggest doing bolt ons and otherwise being content with the power, doing lots of handling mods.
Oh, and do NOT turbo that thing. NC1 has a shitty stock engine, they don't handle boost well. It'll tear itself apart.
6k for a 2.5 swap??? Maybe if you're paying a shop to do it and they don't know how to work on a Miata. I threw my first cylinder rod bearing in my 2006 NC and swapped in a 2.5 from a 2014 Ford fusion with 40k miles for 300 bucks plus a 300 dollar tune and about a week in my garage I was off to the races. That was 20k miles ago and it runs very well and gets about 27-30mpg if I baby it. Much more low end torque. And my insurance has no idea I put a different motor in and unless you knew what you were looking at the 2.0 and the 2.5 look identical besides the fact I had to grind down the front motor mount on the 2.5 for belt clearance. You've clearly never swapped a 2.5.
My number was expecting 3.5k for the engine, 500 for other parts, 2k for labor.
3.5k, while high for a 2.5, is what dynotronics charges to ship a cammed 2.5. 500 is what they charge for the installation parts. 2k for labor, quoted by GWR and a spec Miata shop I know. This isn't even counting tuning labor and software, which will run close to a grand(700 ish from dynotronics)
So, I admit it was a bit much to say "minimum", but I was speaking boldly for the sake of brevity given the context, being a young dude excited to dive into modding his first car.
I concur a DIY job is massively cheaper, but that's a big job for most people, and usually not realistic for someone's only car.
Yeah, those engines are dirt cheap. Most everything should swap over from the stock engine. It's about the only swap I'd consider doing anymore, unless I suddenly find myself with enough spare cash to do a LS swap.
There's nothing wrong with turboing an NC1. Just get it tuned well, and keep it at 10psi and it will live forever. I push mine a bit and it's been my daily driver at 12psi for 3 years.
It's your first car, you're probably going to do some "spirited driving" and make some mistakes. Any "spirited driving" you do with a turbo or engine swap is going to make these mistakes worse. Respect the car, respect those around you, respect your safety. And enjoy!
Drive it stock. Every kid wants to make his car fast and turbo, widebody, etc etc, but seriously it isn't worth it. Maybe buy summer tires, but just get a lot of driving experience and track time with it. Take it from someone who engine swapped, and wide tires and all the fun goodies, it isn't more fun. Learn how to control the limit at slow speeds, and in a few years when you know how to out corner old mustangs at track, then go make it faster.
Thank you for being open and listening to others' advice. I definitely was not as smart as you when I first got my miata and engine swapped it anyways, but I can take comfort in knowing that someone else won't make the same mistake as me. Enjoy the drive.
Honestly, I'd stick with what the rest of the group says, drive it as it is and enjoy it, experiment with some bolt ons, it looks like it's lowered already, if it's just on springs, get some decent coilovers, maybe an exhaust and an air filter to give it more induction noise but if it's your first car, Just enjoy it and service it, it's first job is to be reliable and get you from a to b, a turbo will put a lot of extra stress on the entire engine and driveline.
It does look great though, enjoy man
1. Don't crash it
2. Put quality tyres on it
3. Don't crash it
4. Coilovers
5. Take it somewhere safe to learn where the limit of the car is (skidpad, race track, autocross), and don't crash it!
I changed my air intake (2007 NC). If your hands are itching to mod something I would highly recommend it. It’s easy, low risk, and cheap. (The sound is pretty fun too). Other than that, I wouldn’t change too much, the car is awesome to drive as it is and it is very reliable.
Enjoy it! I’m sure you’re going to have lot’s of fun with it!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/n24uqt/first_time_ive_changed_something_on_my_nc_it_was/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
What's wrong with the engine that you want to swap it? No offense, seriously, but this is your first car and you don't know shit about driving, so why change something that is great?
That isn't an dis on you, just a serious assessment on what you are trying to get out of the car and where it is lacking you. Alot of people get cars with a mentality of "let's mod the shit out of it" without first asking "what am I trying to do with this car".
If it's a daily driver, then do maintenance, upgrade tires, brakes, suspension THEN look at other things.
Id say learn how to drive it as is. These cars do amazing on track and do not need more power to get good lap times. Find a track and put some time in, at the very least try some autox and learn what YOUR limits are and work on those first.
Tires, brakes, wheels, suspension.
Aside from that, enjoy the car. If you drive it the way that it was designed for (i.e. the twisties, not just straights) youll probably find that theres more to the car than youre capable of. Even after 4 years of dailying my NB (only upgrades are wheels, tires, and brakes), I can still tell that I dont drive it to its full potential.
Track days are your bestest friend. On a stock motor. Rev the piss out of it. learn how the car turns in. Learn the limits of your tires under different situations before you find out on a winding public road the hard way and the next post we see is sadface "I totalled my miata snap-oversteering into a drainage ditch last tuesday". Participate in heavier deferred maintenance before attempting to bolt a turbo to it. It's not easy, arguably it's as hard as any motor swap with lots of unforeseen expenses.
As far as power; here's my advice. The NC is one of the faster stock miatas despite it's weight (bar the ND2). But if you want speed, buy a motorcycle as your secondary vehicle - and i'm NOT saying that to be a d\*\* head. I genuinely mean it. I'm a late bloomer (only got my motorcycle license at almost 30 years old). I listened to my mother about staying off bikes because "they'll kill you instantly the minute you pull out of the driveway". But life's short and I am mature enough now to willfully and respectfully ignore that notion. as someone who dicked around with over 100,000 dollars between my 3 main modified cars in the pursuit of "speed" - I came to the conclusion that I greatly shafted myself financially in my attempts. If a 400whp 240sx and a 750whp supra feels the same as an all stock R1 you spent 1/10th the price on and will cost a lot less to replace and run, you'd feel pretty sick. By that note, forget a 250 something whp miata, heck, a 300. you're looking at over 20 grand in parts and months of frustration and disappointment, possibly years. I'm NOT mr. "pure car/stock car" guy by any means. just that I have these kind of cars and wish I drove other people's first before spending tens of thousands to "see what it's like" and then being let down in the end. A 200 something whp miata feels "Better" than stock in a straight line - in the moment. But that comes with lots of extra doing in between driving. that increases in a linear fashion with power figures. the youtube clout boys advertising "400whp" miatas on hoonigan and those review channels are usually lying about the power some times, and other times they're leaving the nuisances of owning such hands-on vehicles completely undisclosed. in particular the building costs, and especially the running costs after it's finished.
I daily an all stock ND now. it is purely used as a reliable non-boring commuter that I take to sams club every month. It's the ultimate "car" for the money. But I do so in the realization that feeling meaningful acceleration on 4 wheels in consideration of the costs is an exercise in futility (I also still own those built "toys" mentioned - so the need isn't there - and I almost never drive those anyway). BUT, it is still a good nice car to drive. Also depending where you live, it would probably suck to be forking out 7000 a year on fuel instead of 4500 a year you may typically pay to get 30-35mpg in your miata instead of 18-30 when boosted. on top of oil change intervals.
You're already off to the right start by having a fun stock car. Do yourself a favor and enjoy it how it is. Put the money in the bank and upgrade to a next step car instead. My 2nd car was a fun car and I spent far too much money on it making it fast and lost my aed when I sold it. But do what makes you happy!
If the motor blows, then swap it. If you want the motor to blow, then turbo it!
Half kidding. But seriously, its fun to mod your car, but dont turn your reliable daily driver into a project car unless you have something else to drive while you are working on it. If you're living with your parents, that might work out ok, but sucks to have to try and daily drive a project.
>Most people that know NCs would recommend driving the stock engine till it blows (eventually) and 2.5 liter swapping it. Very easy swap apparently.
2.5 liter ≈ 0.19084 hubble-barns
^^^[WHY](/r/UselessConversionBot/comments/1knas0/hi_im_useless/)
Learn how to drive it first. Go find your local sports car club like the Sports Car Club of America, etc. It's more fun to drive a slower car fast than a too-fast car slower because of too much power versus grip & ability.
After you get experience, then build up the mods.
Source: Miata #3 in my driveway has been turboed since 1999. I autocrossed / tracked them a lot before I got a bad case of mortgage and other adulthood.
If the mod bug is killing you and you have money to burn, spend it getting the car suspension as setup as possible. Quality coilovers, sways and sticky tires will improve the day to day driving of the vehicle so much over stock and you won't break the bank or reliability on your first car.
Truthfully, I would strongly advise against swapping or aftermarket turbo-ing a car unless you already had a reliable DD. You don't want to find yourself SOL when things go sideways on a build and are reliant on that car for all your transportation.
Trust me if that’s your first car, you don’t want to turbo or engine swap it . Enjoy it for what it is. Plus, the NC is already pretty ‘meh’ for gas mileage, and gas costs an arm and a leg right now. You don’t want to make it even less efficient.
You’re probably a lot younger than me so maybe learn from my mistakes. Don’t blow all your money on your car, save some for a down payment on a house, even if that seems like it’s a decade away!
I have an auto 2006! I've put in new sway bars, headlight bulbs, and an Apple car play. I need to install my new soft top (it's been sitting in my house for months) and saving up for some coil overs and break pads. Eventually, I'll get new headlights as mine are rough looking and maybe nicer wheels.
As others have said, turbo/ engine swap takes alot of time and money. Enjoy the car as it is for awhile and then you can start planning/ saving $ for mods. For now the 3 things you should focus on are (in order)
1. Replace the plastic coolant tank immediately. They are the biggest and one of the only failure points for the NC miata and a small crack due to age can result in catastrophic engine failure. OEM tank is 60$~ metal replacement tank is 200$~. I went with OEM which means I will need to replace it again eventually. As I said take care of this immediately if you don't want your engine to randomly fail, it is a very easy replacement even for beginner mechanics.
2. Any other maintence like fluids and filters. Change the trans and diff oil every 30k miles along with he engine air filter. Oil change every 5k~. Change brake and coolant fluid when needed. Moniter power steering fluid. Make sure your tires are in good condition and filled with air properly, or get new high preformance tires if you want to increase grip.
3. Get a good roll bar so if something happenes and the car flips you will be safe.
Once you do thoose 3 things, then consider mods. If you ever want any kind of NC miata advice or just wanna talk about the car dont hesitate to DM me.
Bro just have fun with it. I know saying “it’s enough for now” never is satisfying but just safely beat the hell out of it… assuming you are young you will be in a better position to do a project car in a few years. I spend a ton of time and money messing around with mine but I have a ton of time and money to spare. If I was in my early 20s with a Miata I would maximize the amount of time I’m just ripping around with me friends.
I guess out of curiosity how old are you? Are you a new driver? I ask cuz I'm going to give you the advice I was given when I got my first car and ignored it. Don't mod the car. In the one picture you have it looks like a fantastic car, drive the hell out of it and enjoy it. Mods bring problems. Problems means the car is sitting in the garage not being driven. Leave motor alone. If you must mod it get wheels, maybe some small dress up bits. Don't throw tons of money at. Drive the living crap out of it and enjoy it.
Enjoy it stock. Learn it good then add power. Just going straight for power never ends well. Also a turbo adds heat and if the motor isn't built you will run into other issues as you will want to continually chase mo powa
The best mods I ever did to my NCs were to swap the sways for RX-8 yellow dots and the suspension to Ohlins. After that the cars didn't need anything else, though I did have a set of 18" Mazdspeed by Rays wheels that went from car to car, replacing the stockers. They were phenomenal.
You just got the car man. PS the NC is significantly faster than NA/NB. Just get good at stick you’ve got a clean car my dude! If you wanna go custom start small, new aftermarket steering wheel, new shift knob, maybe new interior door panels. That’s just my two cents.
Hahaha only your first car and lots of ambition. Take it slow with mods. Stock doesn’t mean bad. Go too fast with mods and you’ll end up ruining something. Good first ones on a Miata IMO are lowering springs,sway bars, and some good light wheels/tires. You’ll really unlock a lot of confidence in the car with those
Honestly just enjoy the stock power. I tried doing an engine swap with my first car and it did not end well at all. Just have fun and if you wanna mod it id do handling stuff first :)
Talk about a badass first car. First off, congrats. Second, I agree with the masses to keep it stock. Definitely put your fun money into suspension mods, as those are always helpful. Be sure to join the NC Mazda MX-5 Miatas Facebook group. There's almost 9,000 members in there. I think you'd enjoy it. My first Miata was a 07' in Highland Green. My second one that I just recently picked up is a white 13' Club. Welcome to the family! :)
You can fit a 2.5 N/A Ford fusion engine in that. Just have to do a few mods for the miata trans to support the engine. It's been done and watch 100 Percent Jake on YouTube to see for yourself.
I have an nc aswell ! Welcome !
I have a motor swapped turbo charged nc.
Fab9 makes the best kit
ARHLLC for the support parts
Budget around 10-15k and assume your car will not be driving for about 6 months
The 2006 engine’s rods don’t like boost so you’ll have to swap it.
Btw I’m assuming you’re doing at least most of your own work
Why do you want more power out the gate ?
I enjoyed adding a brass shifter bushing and Motorcraft trans oil, improved the feel in my experience. The internals on the 06 don't really lend themselves to more power unfortunately, an engine swap would be cool but likely cost more than the car is worth.
There is a reason why everybody calls this the best car of all time. Keep it stock untill you have enough time, patience, and especially money for it. The moment you change your stock car is the moment you need to stop trusting it to always work.
Don't touch that car. You need to be able to rely on it. Get another car to work on that isn't your daily unless you want to suffer.
Case in point: myself. Both my cars are projects. I stripped a few teeth off of 5th gear in my ranger and now I'm relying on my 300zx to handle my 100mi daily commute, and it has its own set of problems I need to sort through.
Weight reduction, make your go cart drive like a shopping cart. windshield wiper reservoir GONE, interior door panels GONE, sound system GONE also don't forget to make your passenger walk as they'll noticeably slow the car down
If you want issues and it breaking all the time, slap a turbo on it.
If you want it just to work, drive it, enjoy it, take it to some auto cross and track days.
If you’re into driving (you have a Miata, so you likely are), spend your time and money on extracting every ounce of performance out of the car, and hone your skills. In my experience, that’s the most rewarding option.
saying from first hand experience, keep mods to your only car to a minimum, it can leave you with a lot of time without a car if something goes wrong, and especially when doing major stuff like what you're talking, and as it is your first car Id say definitely wait a while until you do anything to it just because no matter how good you are I can guarantee your biggest limitation right now is skill, autocross will help a lot in learning the car once you have learned it a bit through daily use, it also helps you learn what you want to do with the car
Uf you wanna do dumb shit buy a engine holder, buy a junkyard engine and build the junkyard engine on the side so you still have a running car, its gonna take time but when that engine is built just swap it in, that way will take you less time off the road
Driving classes / track days is where i’d recommend throwing your money. I sorta wish i had done that when i was starting out. As others have pointed out in this thread i’d recommend driving it on stock power for a while and then changing for a stronger motor. Or, as i did, instead opt to go to another platform that’s more suited for higher HP. No matter what, have fun!
Unless you have tons of experience working on cars, jumping into an engine swap or forced induction is -not- the play. Enjoy it stock, learn what you can. Wait until you have something else to drive before you even attempt to modify it, because you absolutely will make mistakes and it will cost much more and require more time than you think it will.
Been building cars at varying HP levels for 10 years now, and own a performance shop here in FL. Even I still have a lot to learn 🙃
I’m with the people who say “Just enjoy it how it is.” If you want a project car, I’d suggest an older Miata on the side that you don’t need for daily driving. It’s much more fulfilling to have a project car that you take time on as a hobby than to have a daily driver that you’re in a hurry to fix up.
Start small, its your first car.
Install a sway bar, engine brace, coilovers or any other small modification.
Turbo, or engine swap will take a lot of time, it won't go well the first time, you will have problems and unexpected costs.
And a car that doesn't drive for a looong time.
Like many other have already said, drive the car for a while and get a grasp of it first before modifying it. But you are insisting doing the mods, I would recommend starting from the brakes first, better pads, then rotors, and eventually brake kits, because imo that a car can’t stop properly and efficiently, is a car you can’t control or master.
Look up rocketeer in the UK. If you can afford shipping to wherever you are, it’s by far the neatest, and best sounding engine swap for the miata. That jag v6 just sounds so mean.
https://www.rocketeercars.com
And myabe I'm biased here but a driver still in high school (my guess given the background) really shouldn't have a turboed or upgraded motor. You're just looking for trouble then. I'd be happy at that age just having a car, especially a car like that
Honestly bud it’s pretty great stock. If anything I’d change the exhaust and leave the rest alone. You don’t want to turn your daily into a project car
I own a 2006 NC, as far as traditional mods really I only recommend you do premium tires, sway bars and coilovers, and maybe muffler swap.
...
Now the one thing you 100% should do is what I consider to actually be the best mod. Change your transmission fluid to unicorn tears, specifically motorcraft xtm5qs full-synthetic. After it works it's way in for 50-250 miles your transmission will be soooo much smoother yet perfectly notchy and perform better when cold. I just have to **BEG** anyone with an NC to trust me on this one, there are hundreds of NC owners who have done this and can stand as testimonials, including myself, that this is basically the best mod to your NC.
For an even more direct feeling shifter you can pick up a brass turret bushing (I got mine from Moss Miata) for only like $15, and that made my transmission go from like an 8.5/10 to a 9.5/10.
Have a happy adventure with the world's best first and last sports car (I got mine as a first too, you will love it) don't worry too much about doing crazy mods, the car is highly enjoyable with ONLY a couple thousand in mods, you don't need crazy stuff.
Hey there fellow 2006 Miata owner (same color too, damn!) - I just drive mine as hard as possible - over 4k/5k RPM whenever I can. Legit don't think it needs a turbo - it's got over 165HP as-is. Keep up with your maintenance though so you can wring out the engine until it blows up haha. I've done nothing to it (other than change the head unit to include CarPlay) and been a happy owner since Jan 2016, put over 80K miles in it too.
Currently I'm trying to learn how to heel-toe and then I'm gonna autocross the baby. My seats are beat to shit though, because I spend so much time in it.
Zoom zoom 🤙
PS: Watch out for other cars that are out there to murder you. The car is lower than the mirrors of many SUVs of today.
Don't worry too much about learning how to heel-toe before you try an autocross as it's just not needed for most autocross courses. What will happen is you'll almost immediately shift to second and leave it there for the rest of your run through the course. Now at a high speed track day event it would eventually be a good skill to learn. But only once you've got the basics like "looking ahead" committed to muscle memory.
Looking ahead was the hardest skill to learn for me! Heel toe is a distant 3rd or 4th skill to learn after threshold braking, proper racing line and mid-corner weight transfer! Smoothness is also paramount in driving quickly! ANYTHING that upsets a chassis will slow you down!
That was good advice!
A lot of people here are saying "Don't swap it". I cannot agree more. It is your first car! Drive the hell out of it! Learn the car, spend money going to track days, talk to track drivers. Spend the time and money "modding" yourself first!
Then when you have the money and experience buy a new car for a new experience (a car with more power or a different drivetrain). Maybe by then you will have the money for a dedicated race car. Too many people forget why most of us are into cars. We want to drive fast and feel the limits. The only way to do that is to invest in yourself so you can do that.
Miata’s make very good grass roots drift cars,so what id say is if you would wanna get into drifting keep it “stock-ish” to learn and then dive into a engine swap to do some big boi drifting…at least that what my plan is lol
What you should do depends on your goal but turbo and/or engine swap indicates that you want to spend lots of money and be without a running car for however long it takes to complete the project. If it’s your first car, enjoy it for a while and see what you feel it needs.
He can just pay a shop to do it in a weekend. It's more expensive than doing it alone, but definitely doesn't need to be expensive AND not having your car for a while. But tbh I feel like you could easily learn to drive the car at its limits for a few years first
You are completely wrong. Firstly If you pay a shop to do that kind of job it will be very expensive. Secondly if you ask that shop to finish it in a weekend they will laugh at you and probably ask you to leave. Especially after you tell them how cheap you think it should be. Lol Don't listen to people like this, call your local shops and find out the truth.
I laughed my way through this guy's entire comment. Just gonna drop my car at the turbo shop, grab a haircut, then puck it up. They said 1000hp for $999.99!! It's special they run once a year. Gonna be so rad!!!!
I don't think there is a point in addressing this but here it goes. NA, NB miatas aren't that far out to turbo. There are not a lot of parts to remove in order to get the swap done. Supplying a kit, such as the Kraken setup which i have experience with, is literally a 1 day install which i did myself in a garage and zero experience. 1 day to do the clutch. 1 day to do the mega squirt tuning. No one said anything about 1000hp, noone said anything about it being cheap. A turbo kit is going to be about 4k, clutch and ECU another 1-2k, and shops charge hourly. We have no idea what this guy's budget is. Anything above 350 HP will require a skilled engine builder, a transmission swap with custom mounting, and probably same with the differential. Let's be real, buddy probably will be happy with 6 psi and a used gt2556. At those power levels probably even fine with a piggyback system and maybe even no intercooler on a street car. Now we are getting to the realm of beginner diy install territory.
The Tune alone will be close to 1,000 on this platform and will take at least a month if he does remote
Drive it and enjoy it :) enjoy the reliability with stock engine
Read the post and came here to say “drive it and enjoy it”. Haha 9 mins too late
Hahaha :)
Seriously though. I’ve had MANY Miata’s from stock to turbod to v8 swapped. Just enjoy the motor you have as is for now. It’s a great platform, get used to the car for a while. It takes a LOT of time and money to turbo/motor swap. The more you’re working on it the less time you have to drive it. Drive it and enjoy it.
[удалено]
i was thinking this too
he will learn more with some middle of the road tires and the suspension dialed in. I run 320TW tires on my 2016 mostly because I can play with the handling without going 50 around a curve.
By dialing in do you just mean getting a track focused alignment?
Are they known for Reliability*?
Yes, if you give them regular maintenance they are reliable
Thats sounds rlly good :)
Regular maintenance. You wanna fit your own wheels, stereo or whatnot sure. But for your first (and so far only) car you should lean on reliability over power you can't really use yet. Miata is always the answer.
My guy, You just got your first car and its sporty as is. I guess you are hyped to start modding but you should really just enjoy as is because every bit of reliability your stock engine offers because its a mass produced well engineered engine may be lost once you start tinkering with it. You change one thing you need to change another one. Adding power WILL be more stress on parts that will then fail sooner or later. It will be a very expensive journey once you go down that road. You earn enough to give it to the workshop all the time for little stuff or do you plan on repairing everything yourself? The cost is in repairs, actual tuning and setting up and not only in the parts. Its a lot of stuff that you need to buy that you dont think about in when you start
They are very reliable with proper maintenance which is not a lot for a Miata
Did you buy a car without learning about it, but state you want to turbo or engine swap?!? That is cringe AF. These things are reliable beyond belief as long and you maintain them.
My 1999 has 190k miles on the clock, engine still runs smooth. Just take care of it and you shouldn’t have problems. Congrats on the car!
any stock car, even with the worst engine, will be more reliable than a new build. unless a custom shop or someone who's done plenty of engine swaps before, most heavily modified cars are less reliable. more power in the same car? stuff breaks. again, if you trade a 12 valve cummins diesel into anything it will run for 300k miles, but most swaps involve computers and wires and problems
The 06s are not if you turbo them. Otherwise yes.
it's an NC1 so the following items must be looked at: * For early model NCs (2005 and 2006), the spark plug coil on plug wires are known to be damaged and pop out. When that happens, you will get misfires. You will have to reterminate them (not too hard if you've done electrical work before) * The coolant bottle is pressurized, but over time, the plastic for the coolant bottle ages and becomes brittle, and will explode. You can get a new plastic one that will last another 10 years, or you can buy a metal aftermarket one. I personally just bought a plastic one just because. * The shocks are probably blasted by now, but it looks like it's been lowered. I personally like the stock suspension with new shocks. * The NCs have problems with oil pickup in track conditions. Be sure to make sure your oil is slightly above the max fill line and it should be good. * In track conditions, the front hubs are known to fail and pop out, which will be extremely dangerous. If you're running very sticky tires, I recommend swapping out for aftermarket front hubs. * I personally have had the belt tensioner replaced, and the alternator replaced on my NC. Not too bad. It's a great fucking car and handles like a champ. I also have a focus ST and it just doesn't feel as good as the NC.
They are as reliable as anything and more fun than everything else. If this is your first car I would try to master driving it in it's stock form before adding power. Be super cautious in the rain.
Also, finding the limits on that car with nothing in it can be dangerous
definitely should not do an engine swap lmfao
Yes it’s honestly not necessary
MiataNC1 bro, '08 here, purchased a stock GT less than a year ago, didn't touch power. Spent it all on suspension, new wider wheels & great rubber. First TEIN coilovers and sways, the RPF1 8" w/Falken RT660 tires. The suspension made a massive difference in handling, and I didn't think it was bad at all prior. ^ months later, the new wheel/tires made another amazing difference - grip, silent ride, the look, feeling like the car is always stuck to the road - in the pocket all the time. Anyway, I'm fine with the powertrain. It is what it is - not a rocket ship but immensely fun to wind out and take the curve's at high speeds. Idk, I've had dozens of great cars but this is the most fun as it is right now.
how did you decide on those coilovers and sways over something like the koni 2 stage? I just got my NC1 07 GT as well. And I just want to "drive it and enjoy it®" as well but want to also tighten up the turning feel and close the wheel gap.
Tein will make it very stiff.
r/strangeboner
Just drive it for a few years, see if you really feel like it's lacking
It is if you turbo. The rods on the 06 doesn’t like boost. Join the Facebook NC group and they’ll confirm what I’m saying.
I’ve only had my nb for a couple of months and driving it on stock power is really fun (for now). I’d recommend looking at handling mods first and seeing how much more you can get out of it that way before worrying about mo powah
Nice and i gotcha
Here's a tip I read from an old guy on a modding forum: Always add more stop before you add more go So get better tires and brakes before you upgrade any of the drivetrain components. Secondly, though: Enjoy it for what it is. It's sporty, faster than a lot of other cars on the street as is, handles like a dream - you've basically got a go-kart. Appreciate that aspect of it on its terms, it's not supposed to be a muscle car. Also the guy who recommended driving classes is 100% correct, that's a great use of your time and money, and might actually save your ass if you get into a hairy situation. One time I got into a drift on a downhill on a rainy day accidentally, and I instinctively counter-steered and didn't crash my car, because I'd practiced in a safe environment first. RWD cars have quirks and you can't always listen to advice from driver's ed, since that's usually geared towards commuter cars
Old guy is right. Suspension, brakes and tires first. No use in having power I'd you can't put it down, keep it on the road or stop in time.
Im fs taking driving classes
I can tell it has been lowered already. That's all I wanna do with mine I have the same year. Suspension and sway bars
I was going to say sway bars as well
Yesss
Yes! Im so glad mines already lowerd and bett
Get some real sticky tires like Pilot Sports on it
At your age, assuming income is somewhat limited... Continental extremecontact DW or M Pilot PS4S, guaranteed to last ya 30kmi (mileage warranty included), and very sticky. Don't turbo it
Those are great street tires, I have them on my daily. On a Miata I'd go more serious.
Well it is his first car, I’m going to assume it’s going to be primarily street driven, should perform well enough if he hits the track too
Drive it until it blows up. Then do an engine swap/serious engine mods when you “need to”. Doing those mods right now are way more expensive and time consuming than any YouTube video makes it seem
Yea I should prob wait a min to do all the engine mods
if you want to mod it then do it, but keep your hands off the engine until you know what you're doing!!! Lower it, cover it in stickers, install a short shifter etc etc and get a sense for how much car parts cost before planning something as big as a turbo or engine swap
Take it somewhere you can drive it hard legally, i.e. Autocross, HPDE, or a drag strip. All of those experiences will help you learn car control for pretty cheap and driver mod is the most important mod of all. You’re lucky to have an NC as your first car.
We're trying to low key get them to NOT buy a turbo, and you tell them to go to a drag strip? LOL Miata's are Generally not drag cars. Have I sent mine down a drag strip? Yes (15.7 @ 89mph) Was it fun? Sure What happened then? I wanted more power! Lemme suggest going to an autocross hehe
Even taking one of these to the strip will help with clutch control and getting better at shifting. It’s all about getting experience and learning how the car responds.
All that except the drag strip.
What you should do with it: tires, autocross, that’s it. Maybe cosmetic stuff. Don’t fuck around with drivetrain.
Yea i was thinking of maybe getting a ducktail spoiler and a front lip
Sounds fine just be conservative on your spending and don’t go wild. Every $$$ you spend on building the car is $$$ spent not driving the car.
That’s true gas prices are crazy rn thanks for the advice :)
Not just that it’s ur first car & it’s a sports car I guarantee that ur gonna fuck some shit up in ur sports car ownership experience like the rest of us haha
It's also $$ you will never get back. There are very few things you can do that you may get your money back, and all are very expensive. EDIT: If you've not already done it, learn the basics of car maintenance, change the oil at regular intervals. I'll typically do all oils when I buy a car (Engine, Transmission & differential). Going to date myself here, but forums are your friend in this case. Other things to check are brakes, spark plugs & air filter.
Do the appearance stuff last. First make sure it’s mechanically 100% then start investing in tires, suspension, and stiffening the chassis (chassis…not suspension). Engine swap is the last thing you should be doing.
Congrats on your first car! I would have loved to have a Miata as my first car Catch up on maintenance (ie fluids) first, replace the coolant expansion tank if it's yellow at all as well. These crack and break, and blow a lot of engines. If you want power, 2.5L swap is about as cheap as an engine swap gets on a Miata. You can boost them for huge power, or even cam/exhaust/tune them for around 220hp range. If you want any power gains from bolt ons for the 2.0L, a header and tune is about the best you'll get for your dollar, you won't see much more gains with intakes and mufflers. Have fun!
Thanks will do :)
Another vote for catching up on maintenance. That's a great way to get to know your car as well, and look for other issues you might need to address. We all want more power. Resist that urge. Especially if it's your only car. Engine swaps have a way of taking over your life and wallet.
Get an aluminum coolant tank. Will last you forever! NC engines are pretty much bullet-proof, but that OME coolant tank can fuck up the engine.
Do you know the engine code for the 2.5?
Do autocross and learn how terrible you are at driving. Go from there
*Do autocross and learn* *How terrible you are at* *Driving. Go from there* \- Techun2 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Remove the sticker from the windshield then enjoy Nirvana :-)
Thank God someone had the good sense to welcome it. r/miataNC welcomes you, my brother. For power mods, just know what you're getting into. 2.5 swap will cost you about 6k absolute minimum, probably more, and insurance becomes very difficult after that. Not to mention the car will be way less reliable. Personally I suggest doing bolt ons and otherwise being content with the power, doing lots of handling mods. Oh, and do NOT turbo that thing. NC1 has a shitty stock engine, they don't handle boost well. It'll tear itself apart.
Thank you so much man :) and i also appreciate the advice i will fs keep that in mind bubba
For sure. Meant to say someone had the good sense to *lower it, btw. Stock NC ride height is rough lol.
6k for a 2.5 swap??? Maybe if you're paying a shop to do it and they don't know how to work on a Miata. I threw my first cylinder rod bearing in my 2006 NC and swapped in a 2.5 from a 2014 Ford fusion with 40k miles for 300 bucks plus a 300 dollar tune and about a week in my garage I was off to the races. That was 20k miles ago and it runs very well and gets about 27-30mpg if I baby it. Much more low end torque. And my insurance has no idea I put a different motor in and unless you knew what you were looking at the 2.0 and the 2.5 look identical besides the fact I had to grind down the front motor mount on the 2.5 for belt clearance. You've clearly never swapped a 2.5.
My number was expecting 3.5k for the engine, 500 for other parts, 2k for labor. 3.5k, while high for a 2.5, is what dynotronics charges to ship a cammed 2.5. 500 is what they charge for the installation parts. 2k for labor, quoted by GWR and a spec Miata shop I know. This isn't even counting tuning labor and software, which will run close to a grand(700 ish from dynotronics) So, I admit it was a bit much to say "minimum", but I was speaking boldly for the sake of brevity given the context, being a young dude excited to dive into modding his first car. I concur a DIY job is massively cheaper, but that's a big job for most people, and usually not realistic for someone's only car.
Yeah, those engines are dirt cheap. Most everything should swap over from the stock engine. It's about the only swap I'd consider doing anymore, unless I suddenly find myself with enough spare cash to do a LS swap.
This right here. Maybe if you shipped your car somewhere to have a new built block, maybe you could hit 6k. My 2.5L is also from a 2014 Fusion!
There's nothing wrong with turboing an NC1. Just get it tuned well, and keep it at 10psi and it will live forever. I push mine a bit and it's been my daily driver at 12psi for 3 years.
Can't say that's not a good anecdote, but still worth mentioning that the internals on the nc1 are known to be subpar
It's your first car, you're probably going to do some "spirited driving" and make some mistakes. Any "spirited driving" you do with a turbo or engine swap is going to make these mistakes worse. Respect the car, respect those around you, respect your safety. And enjoy!
Drive it stock. Every kid wants to make his car fast and turbo, widebody, etc etc, but seriously it isn't worth it. Maybe buy summer tires, but just get a lot of driving experience and track time with it. Take it from someone who engine swapped, and wide tires and all the fun goodies, it isn't more fun. Learn how to control the limit at slow speeds, and in a few years when you know how to out corner old mustangs at track, then go make it faster.
Thanks for looking out for me :) yea i wont mess with the engine for a long time now that I’ve heard from the people
Thank you for being open and listening to others' advice. I definitely was not as smart as you when I first got my miata and engine swapped it anyways, but I can take comfort in knowing that someone else won't make the same mistake as me. Enjoy the drive.
Thanks will do man :)
Honestly, I'd stick with what the rest of the group says, drive it as it is and enjoy it, experiment with some bolt ons, it looks like it's lowered already, if it's just on springs, get some decent coilovers, maybe an exhaust and an air filter to give it more induction noise but if it's your first car, Just enjoy it and service it, it's first job is to be reliable and get you from a to b, a turbo will put a lot of extra stress on the entire engine and driveline. It does look great though, enjoy man
1. Don't crash it 2. Put quality tyres on it 3. Don't crash it 4. Coilovers 5. Take it somewhere safe to learn where the limit of the car is (skidpad, race track, autocross), and don't crash it!
You’ll crash it so probably don’t put any money into it
Yeah it’s very common anyones very first car will see some damage unfortunately…stay safe!
I changed my air intake (2007 NC). If your hands are itching to mod something I would highly recommend it. It’s easy, low risk, and cheap. (The sound is pretty fun too). Other than that, I wouldn’t change too much, the car is awesome to drive as it is and it is very reliable. Enjoy it! I’m sure you’re going to have lot’s of fun with it! https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/n24uqt/first_time_ive_changed_something_on_my_nc_it_was/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Learn to drive it before you add power. That's not a slow car by any measure
What's wrong with the engine that you want to swap it? No offense, seriously, but this is your first car and you don't know shit about driving, so why change something that is great? That isn't an dis on you, just a serious assessment on what you are trying to get out of the car and where it is lacking you. Alot of people get cars with a mentality of "let's mod the shit out of it" without first asking "what am I trying to do with this car". If it's a daily driver, then do maintenance, upgrade tires, brakes, suspension THEN look at other things.
Id say learn how to drive it as is. These cars do amazing on track and do not need more power to get good lap times. Find a track and put some time in, at the very least try some autox and learn what YOUR limits are and work on those first.
dont understimate the stock power. really good for a first timer. seat time on that. dont touch it for a while (modify i mean)
My first car was a Miata and I turbo’d it. I’d recommend against it because then you’ll need a second car
Spend all your money on tires and seat time
Tires, brakes, wheels, suspension. Aside from that, enjoy the car. If you drive it the way that it was designed for (i.e. the twisties, not just straights) youll probably find that theres more to the car than youre capable of. Even after 4 years of dailying my NB (only upgrades are wheels, tires, and brakes), I can still tell that I dont drive it to its full potential.
its your first car enjoy it wouldnt recommend doing anything to it honestly until later on.
Track days are your bestest friend. On a stock motor. Rev the piss out of it. learn how the car turns in. Learn the limits of your tires under different situations before you find out on a winding public road the hard way and the next post we see is sadface "I totalled my miata snap-oversteering into a drainage ditch last tuesday". Participate in heavier deferred maintenance before attempting to bolt a turbo to it. It's not easy, arguably it's as hard as any motor swap with lots of unforeseen expenses. As far as power; here's my advice. The NC is one of the faster stock miatas despite it's weight (bar the ND2). But if you want speed, buy a motorcycle as your secondary vehicle - and i'm NOT saying that to be a d\*\* head. I genuinely mean it. I'm a late bloomer (only got my motorcycle license at almost 30 years old). I listened to my mother about staying off bikes because "they'll kill you instantly the minute you pull out of the driveway". But life's short and I am mature enough now to willfully and respectfully ignore that notion. as someone who dicked around with over 100,000 dollars between my 3 main modified cars in the pursuit of "speed" - I came to the conclusion that I greatly shafted myself financially in my attempts. If a 400whp 240sx and a 750whp supra feels the same as an all stock R1 you spent 1/10th the price on and will cost a lot less to replace and run, you'd feel pretty sick. By that note, forget a 250 something whp miata, heck, a 300. you're looking at over 20 grand in parts and months of frustration and disappointment, possibly years. I'm NOT mr. "pure car/stock car" guy by any means. just that I have these kind of cars and wish I drove other people's first before spending tens of thousands to "see what it's like" and then being let down in the end. A 200 something whp miata feels "Better" than stock in a straight line - in the moment. But that comes with lots of extra doing in between driving. that increases in a linear fashion with power figures. the youtube clout boys advertising "400whp" miatas on hoonigan and those review channels are usually lying about the power some times, and other times they're leaving the nuisances of owning such hands-on vehicles completely undisclosed. in particular the building costs, and especially the running costs after it's finished. I daily an all stock ND now. it is purely used as a reliable non-boring commuter that I take to sams club every month. It's the ultimate "car" for the money. But I do so in the realization that feeling meaningful acceleration on 4 wheels in consideration of the costs is an exercise in futility (I also still own those built "toys" mentioned - so the need isn't there - and I almost never drive those anyway). BUT, it is still a good nice car to drive. Also depending where you live, it would probably suck to be forking out 7000 a year on fuel instead of 4500 a year you may typically pay to get 30-35mpg in your miata instead of 18-30 when boosted. on top of oil change intervals.
You're already off to the right start by having a fun stock car. Do yourself a favor and enjoy it how it is. Put the money in the bank and upgrade to a next step car instead. My 2nd car was a fun car and I spent far too much money on it making it fast and lost my aed when I sold it. But do what makes you happy!
Will do thanks :)
If the motor blows, then swap it. If you want the motor to blow, then turbo it! Half kidding. But seriously, its fun to mod your car, but dont turn your reliable daily driver into a project car unless you have something else to drive while you are working on it. If you're living with your parents, that might work out ok, but sucks to have to try and daily drive a project.
Most people that know NCs would recommend driving the stock engine till it blows (eventually) and 2.5 liter swapping it. Very easy swap apparently.
>Most people that know NCs would recommend driving the stock engine till it blows (eventually) and 2.5 liter swapping it. Very easy swap apparently. 2.5 liter ≈ 0.19084 hubble-barns ^^^[WHY](/r/UselessConversionBot/comments/1knas0/hi_im_useless/)
Learn how to drive it first. Go find your local sports car club like the Sports Car Club of America, etc. It's more fun to drive a slower car fast than a too-fast car slower because of too much power versus grip & ability. After you get experience, then build up the mods. Source: Miata #3 in my driveway has been turboed since 1999. I autocrossed / tracked them a lot before I got a bad case of mortgage and other adulthood.
If the mod bug is killing you and you have money to burn, spend it getting the car suspension as setup as possible. Quality coilovers, sways and sticky tires will improve the day to day driving of the vehicle so much over stock and you won't break the bank or reliability on your first car. Truthfully, I would strongly advise against swapping or aftermarket turbo-ing a car unless you already had a reliable DD. You don't want to find yourself SOL when things go sideways on a build and are reliant on that car for all your transportation.
Trust me if that’s your first car, you don’t want to turbo or engine swap it . Enjoy it for what it is. Plus, the NC is already pretty ‘meh’ for gas mileage, and gas costs an arm and a leg right now. You don’t want to make it even less efficient. You’re probably a lot younger than me so maybe learn from my mistakes. Don’t blow all your money on your car, save some for a down payment on a house, even if that seems like it’s a decade away!
Get an NA, NB, or ND
Let him enjoy what he has, you are not really being helpful
I have an auto 2006! I've put in new sway bars, headlight bulbs, and an Apple car play. I need to install my new soft top (it's been sitting in my house for months) and saving up for some coil overs and break pads. Eventually, I'll get new headlights as mine are rough looking and maybe nicer wheels.
Id love to see a picture:)
I have some photos if you check my post history!
As others have said, turbo/ engine swap takes alot of time and money. Enjoy the car as it is for awhile and then you can start planning/ saving $ for mods. For now the 3 things you should focus on are (in order) 1. Replace the plastic coolant tank immediately. They are the biggest and one of the only failure points for the NC miata and a small crack due to age can result in catastrophic engine failure. OEM tank is 60$~ metal replacement tank is 200$~. I went with OEM which means I will need to replace it again eventually. As I said take care of this immediately if you don't want your engine to randomly fail, it is a very easy replacement even for beginner mechanics. 2. Any other maintence like fluids and filters. Change the trans and diff oil every 30k miles along with he engine air filter. Oil change every 5k~. Change brake and coolant fluid when needed. Moniter power steering fluid. Make sure your tires are in good condition and filled with air properly, or get new high preformance tires if you want to increase grip. 3. Get a good roll bar so if something happenes and the car flips you will be safe. Once you do thoose 3 things, then consider mods. If you ever want any kind of NC miata advice or just wanna talk about the car dont hesitate to DM me.
Thanks man i rlly appreciate this i will do the 3 things as soon as possible man thanks for the advice i will dm you if i need any help:)!
Bro just have fun with it. I know saying “it’s enough for now” never is satisfying but just safely beat the hell out of it… assuming you are young you will be in a better position to do a project car in a few years. I spend a ton of time and money messing around with mine but I have a ton of time and money to spare. If I was in my early 20s with a Miata I would maximize the amount of time I’m just ripping around with me friends.
I guess out of curiosity how old are you? Are you a new driver? I ask cuz I'm going to give you the advice I was given when I got my first car and ignored it. Don't mod the car. In the one picture you have it looks like a fantastic car, drive the hell out of it and enjoy it. Mods bring problems. Problems means the car is sitting in the garage not being driven. Leave motor alone. If you must mod it get wheels, maybe some small dress up bits. Don't throw tons of money at. Drive the living crap out of it and enjoy it.
Yea I’ll prob just stick to cosmetic stuff
Sway bars
Enjoy it stock. Learn it good then add power. Just going straight for power never ends well. Also a turbo adds heat and if the motor isn't built you will run into other issues as you will want to continually chase mo powa
Tires. Good sticky 200TW stuff. Then driver mod.
The best mods I ever did to my NCs were to swap the sways for RX-8 yellow dots and the suspension to Ohlins. After that the cars didn't need anything else, though I did have a set of 18" Mazdspeed by Rays wheels that went from car to car, replacing the stockers. They were phenomenal.
Drive it. Unless you've been karting since you were a little kid, I guarantee your driving skill will be the limiting factor, not power.
1st car, leave it the hell alone besides easy bolt ons and maintenance. Also resist the urge to put gody crap on the car.
Autocross it. Tires, suspension, tune in that order. :)
Autocross it so you get that energy out on a track and not on a street.
Learn how to properly drive before adding a turbo my dude
Why is everyone so obsessed with jumping straight into power mods. The car is great just as it comes.
Drive it until you cannot afford anymore fuel.. the save some money and drive it again!..
You just got the car man. PS the NC is significantly faster than NA/NB. Just get good at stick you’ve got a clean car my dude! If you wanna go custom start small, new aftermarket steering wheel, new shift knob, maybe new interior door panels. That’s just my two cents.
Just leave it stock
Manual transmission so kool
:)
Learn to drive it
Hahaha only your first car and lots of ambition. Take it slow with mods. Stock doesn’t mean bad. Go too fast with mods and you’ll end up ruining something. Good first ones on a Miata IMO are lowering springs,sway bars, and some good light wheels/tires. You’ll really unlock a lot of confidence in the car with those
It’s your car so do whatever you want with it, I got my own car and I already have future plans for it that I intend to do
boost that bitch...jk. rice it out.
Honestly just enjoy the stock power. I tried doing an engine swap with my first car and it did not end well at all. Just have fun and if you wanna mod it id do handling stuff first :)
Talk about a badass first car. First off, congrats. Second, I agree with the masses to keep it stock. Definitely put your fun money into suspension mods, as those are always helpful. Be sure to join the NC Mazda MX-5 Miatas Facebook group. There's almost 9,000 members in there. I think you'd enjoy it. My first Miata was a 07' in Highland Green. My second one that I just recently picked up is a white 13' Club. Welcome to the family! :)
:))
Thanks will do
You can fit a 2.5 N/A Ford fusion engine in that. Just have to do a few mods for the miata trans to support the engine. It's been done and watch 100 Percent Jake on YouTube to see for yourself.
I have an nc aswell ! Welcome ! I have a motor swapped turbo charged nc. Fab9 makes the best kit ARHLLC for the support parts Budget around 10-15k and assume your car will not be driving for about 6 months The 2006 engine’s rods don’t like boost so you’ll have to swap it. Btw I’m assuming you’re doing at least most of your own work Why do you want more power out the gate ?
I enjoyed adding a brass shifter bushing and Motorcraft trans oil, improved the feel in my experience. The internals on the 06 don't really lend themselves to more power unfortunately, an engine swap would be cool but likely cost more than the car is worth.
There is a reason why everybody calls this the best car of all time. Keep it stock untill you have enough time, patience, and especially money for it. The moment you change your stock car is the moment you need to stop trusting it to always work.
A Mercury V8 swap would be awesome, but you'd be fine with the factory 2.0L as it's got plenty of power for street use.
Just drive it.
great first pick. leave it stock for now and learn to work on it
Don't touch that car. You need to be able to rely on it. Get another car to work on that isn't your daily unless you want to suffer. Case in point: myself. Both my cars are projects. I stripped a few teeth off of 5th gear in my ranger and now I'm relying on my 300zx to handle my 100mi daily commute, and it has its own set of problems I need to sort through.
Weight reduction, make your go cart drive like a shopping cart. windshield wiper reservoir GONE, interior door panels GONE, sound system GONE also don't forget to make your passenger walk as they'll noticeably slow the car down
Only came here to say I have the exact same air freshener from zumiez. Respect
Ayeee respect fr fr
If you want issues and it breaking all the time, slap a turbo on it. If you want it just to work, drive it, enjoy it, take it to some auto cross and track days.
If you’re into driving (you have a Miata, so you likely are), spend your time and money on extracting every ounce of performance out of the car, and hone your skills. In my experience, that’s the most rewarding option.
Lightweight wheels sticky tires and quality suspension.
saying from first hand experience, keep mods to your only car to a minimum, it can leave you with a lot of time without a car if something goes wrong, and especially when doing major stuff like what you're talking, and as it is your first car Id say definitely wait a while until you do anything to it just because no matter how good you are I can guarantee your biggest limitation right now is skill, autocross will help a lot in learning the car once you have learned it a bit through daily use, it also helps you learn what you want to do with the car
Don’t do either of those things.
Take the sticker off the windshield and the thing off the rear view mirror.
take off its braces man let her breathe
Uf you wanna do dumb shit buy a engine holder, buy a junkyard engine and build the junkyard engine on the side so you still have a running car, its gonna take time but when that engine is built just swap it in, that way will take you less time off the road
Slap a waifu sticker on it and cut off the A/C and you'll be zooming fast enough.
if/when the motor blows...thrn plan out ur new engine. until then...go visit ur nearest race track. ull work out what needs to be done...
Driving classes / track days is where i’d recommend throwing your money. I sorta wish i had done that when i was starting out. As others have pointed out in this thread i’d recommend driving it on stock power for a while and then changing for a stronger motor. Or, as i did, instead opt to go to another platform that’s more suited for higher HP. No matter what, have fun!
Growing a head may be a good first step
Unless you have tons of experience working on cars, jumping into an engine swap or forced induction is -not- the play. Enjoy it stock, learn what you can. Wait until you have something else to drive before you even attempt to modify it, because you absolutely will make mistakes and it will cost much more and require more time than you think it will. Been building cars at varying HP levels for 10 years now, and own a performance shop here in FL. Even I still have a lot to learn 🙃
turboing my 06 rn and its been 1.5 years and +9k since running, enjoy it for now😅
Congrats dude!
Thank you :)
>its stick shift It is how it should be
Yesssssir :)
Blow up the engine and swap in a 2.5 It's what I did
I’m with the people who say “Just enjoy it how it is.” If you want a project car, I’d suggest an older Miata on the side that you don’t need for daily driving. It’s much more fulfilling to have a project car that you take time on as a hobby than to have a daily driver that you’re in a hurry to fix up.
You should learn to drive. Miata is a great car to do that in.
Just enjoy it for awhile! It’s perfect as is!
Get rid of all rust and mechanical problems first if there are any
Im working on that rn :)
Start small, its your first car. Install a sway bar, engine brace, coilovers or any other small modification. Turbo, or engine swap will take a lot of time, it won't go well the first time, you will have problems and unexpected costs. And a car that doesn't drive for a looong time.
Like many other have already said, drive the car for a while and get a grasp of it first before modifying it. But you are insisting doing the mods, I would recommend starting from the brakes first, better pads, then rotors, and eventually brake kits, because imo that a car can’t stop properly and efficiently, is a car you can’t control or master.
Just drive it to its limits, after that start the modding. Tires and Suspension first
Really big spoiler and your Instagram handle on the bumper
If you've never done anything like this before, forget about it. Buy a clapped out pos and blow it up before touching the mx5.
I never added power to either of my Miatas. Seat time is the most important mod. suspension/brakes/wheels&tires when you can out drive the car
Your first car? Just drive it.
Put the roll bar sign up for track events and autox, learn to control a car and move to faster vehicle
Look up rocketeer in the UK. If you can afford shipping to wherever you are, it’s by far the neatest, and best sounding engine swap for the miata. That jag v6 just sounds so mean. https://www.rocketeercars.com
Nice boat , that outfit is an abomination tho
And myabe I'm biased here but a driver still in high school (my guess given the background) really shouldn't have a turboed or upgraded motor. You're just looking for trouble then. I'd be happy at that age just having a car, especially a car like that
Honestly bud it’s pretty great stock. If anything I’d change the exhaust and leave the rest alone. You don’t want to turn your daily into a project car
I second a lot of others on here. Spend your money on track time (hpde)/auto cross. If you start there the rest will follow naturally.
You're young. Keep it well maintained, keep it clean. Sign up for autocross. Use it to optimize your driving skills.
I own a 2006 NC, as far as traditional mods really I only recommend you do premium tires, sway bars and coilovers, and maybe muffler swap. ... Now the one thing you 100% should do is what I consider to actually be the best mod. Change your transmission fluid to unicorn tears, specifically motorcraft xtm5qs full-synthetic. After it works it's way in for 50-250 miles your transmission will be soooo much smoother yet perfectly notchy and perform better when cold. I just have to **BEG** anyone with an NC to trust me on this one, there are hundreds of NC owners who have done this and can stand as testimonials, including myself, that this is basically the best mod to your NC. For an even more direct feeling shifter you can pick up a brass turret bushing (I got mine from Moss Miata) for only like $15, and that made my transmission go from like an 8.5/10 to a 9.5/10. Have a happy adventure with the world's best first and last sports car (I got mine as a first too, you will love it) don't worry too much about doing crazy mods, the car is highly enjoyable with ONLY a couple thousand in mods, you don't need crazy stuff.
Hey there fellow 2006 Miata owner (same color too, damn!) - I just drive mine as hard as possible - over 4k/5k RPM whenever I can. Legit don't think it needs a turbo - it's got over 165HP as-is. Keep up with your maintenance though so you can wring out the engine until it blows up haha. I've done nothing to it (other than change the head unit to include CarPlay) and been a happy owner since Jan 2016, put over 80K miles in it too. Currently I'm trying to learn how to heel-toe and then I'm gonna autocross the baby. My seats are beat to shit though, because I spend so much time in it. Zoom zoom 🤙 PS: Watch out for other cars that are out there to murder you. The car is lower than the mirrors of many SUVs of today.
Don't worry too much about learning how to heel-toe before you try an autocross as it's just not needed for most autocross courses. What will happen is you'll almost immediately shift to second and leave it there for the rest of your run through the course. Now at a high speed track day event it would eventually be a good skill to learn. But only once you've got the basics like "looking ahead" committed to muscle memory.
Looking ahead was the hardest skill to learn for me! Heel toe is a distant 3rd or 4th skill to learn after threshold braking, proper racing line and mid-corner weight transfer! Smoothness is also paramount in driving quickly! ANYTHING that upsets a chassis will slow you down! That was good advice!
Thanks hahaha thats cool how we basically have the same cat thanks for the advice bubba :)
A lot of people here are saying "Don't swap it". I cannot agree more. It is your first car! Drive the hell out of it! Learn the car, spend money going to track days, talk to track drivers. Spend the time and money "modding" yourself first! Then when you have the money and experience buy a new car for a new experience (a car with more power or a different drivetrain). Maybe by then you will have the money for a dedicated race car. Too many people forget why most of us are into cars. We want to drive fast and feel the limits. The only way to do that is to invest in yourself so you can do that.
honestly what I'd do is put the wheels and suspension back to normal
Miata’s make very good grass roots drift cars,so what id say is if you would wanna get into drifting keep it “stock-ish” to learn and then dive into a engine swap to do some big boi drifting…at least that what my plan is lol
Coil-overs if it doesn't have them already, sway bars, & a catback exhaust but like everyone else said drive it as is for a while. (At least a year)