got a '97 miata, what should i do

[pb4ugoout]

my brother is comin home from korea in a few days and so my dad and i just went out and got him a red 97 mx-5. it's got 58k on it and runs pretty good. it was owned by a girl so i'm pretty sure it's been taken care of. it's got white stripes that are being removed in a few days. they are all faded and look like crap. i've modded my MSP a little and am still in the process. never owned a miata tho and wanted some opinions on what to do first. i already swapped the stock alloys for a set of motegi's i had in the back yard. just wanted some feedback from you all. not lookin to make crazy power but will eventually go FI. thanks in advance guys!

 

[KpaBap]

upgrade driver skill, driving school and auto-x


some new shocks and springs wouldn't hurt either, the stock shocks are shot by now

 

[pb4ugoout]

hmmm, i'm a pretty good driver but school always helps. i want to take one of those SCCA classes and there are some good classes down at the old darlington motor speedway that i can do. expensive tho. anyways, hes never driven rear wheel before so it will be a little different although i can't see this thing having enough power right now to be able to scare anyone driving it. and i was thinking about a new suspension as well. needs something a little stiffer. and yea they are starting to go. keep the good stuff comin!

 

[Mad Hatter]

Congrats! I should have my 97' next week(thumb).

 

[mx5guy]

Racing beat exhaust

 

[rx7gslse]

there's really not much power to be gained from an normally aspirated miata.. Not enough to really be worth the $$. Get an exhaust (one that you liek the sound) and a tuneup.

Suspension is really easy to upgrade. Stock is good. ut there's a lot to go up from there. AGX shocks & springs are a great upgrade for not too much $$.

that and maybe a rollbar for stiffnes.

beyond that, just start savin your pennies for soem sorta FI kit....

www.flyinmiata.com
www.brperformance.com
www.miata.net

 

[lagunamiata]

Agreed, not much power without FI. Since it's a '97 you have an O2 sensor after the cat, most likely the ECU won't like having the cat replaced with a high-flow one. I have a Jackson Racing high-flow on my '94 because of that. A friends '97 M didn't like the cat.
A cat-back swap will give you 5+ hp, from all the test I've seen.
Intake - get rid of the stock airbox and snorkle. A cone filter is worth 5 hp alone on a chassis dyno.
Advance the timing to 12 or 14, depending on what gas you want to run.

Enjoy the car! Come up to Charlotte for an autocross!

 

[JOS3]

upgrade the suspension.

 

[Shane5425]

my brother is comin home from korea in a few days and so my dad and i just went out and got him a red 97 mx-5. it's got 58k on it and runs pretty good. it was owned by a girl so i'm pretty sure it's been taken care of. it's got white stripes that are being removed in a few days. they are all faded and look like crap. i've modded my MSP a little and am still in the process. never owned a miata tho and wanted some opinions on what to do first. i already swapped the stock alloys for a set of motegi's i had in the back yard. just wanted some feedback from you all. not lookin to make crazy power but will eventually go FI. thanks in advance guys!

make it a monster, drop a 302 v8 in it... (guitar)!!! a guy makes a kit for it, comes with everything but the engine, tranny, and rear diff..

 

[iLisa]

my brother is comin home from korea in a few days and so my dad and i just went out and got him a red 97 mx-5. it's got 58k on it and runs pretty good. it was owned by a girl so i'm pretty sure it's been taken care of. it's got white stripes that are being removed in a few days. they are all faded and look like crap. i've modded my MSP a little and am still in the process. never owned a miata tho and wanted some opinions on what to do first. i already swapped the stock alloys for a set of motegi's i had in the back yard. just wanted some feedback from you all. not lookin to make crazy power but will eventually go FI. thanks in advance guys!

first thing you should do is drive it to Virginia.

 

[MiaTurbo]

how heavy are those wheels? Miatas do not like heavy wheels. Stick to a wheel/tire combo of 30-35 pounds. It would be nice to be less than 30, but it'll cost a more

 

[pb4ugoout]

well i'm not sure about wheel weight but the thing handles much better with those wheels and tires than it did with the stock stuff. i think the first upgrades will be intake and exhaust. i can put in a mil eliminator if i need to. then i'll move to suspension and then a flyin miata turbo kit.

 

[garretts77]

I say roll bar should be first thing... safety and stiffer chassis...

My buddy and I put the Flyin Miata stage 2 suspension and some 205/45/16's on his 1990 and that damn thing is a lot of fun.

 

[lagunamiata]

We put a Hard Dog M2 Hard Core in my '94 on Saturday. It made a big difference in how the car feals. Much tighter now.
Pics - http://public.fotki.com/relittle/miata/hdhcrb/

 

[garretts77]

We put a Hard Dog M2 Hard Core in my '94 on Saturday. It made a big difference in how the car feals. Much tighter now.
Pics - http://public.fotki.com/relittle/miata/hdhcrb/

That's the one we did too. It took a little dremeling to get it to fit though. It took us a lot longer than it should have, but it came out nice in the end. My hands were shredded though from all of the little cuts from sheet metal. I need gloves...

 

[Rdshark1]

Got my 94 Laguna 10/03...by 11/03 it had Falken Azenis on the stock 14s, Hard Dog double diagonal roll bar, Tokico Illuminas & matched Eibach springs, Racing Beat sway bars & chassis brace, and was on the track for High Speed Touring. Since then I've upgraded to 15" wheels (Konig Heliums w/Toyo Proxes T1-S).

We don't waste time around here