I purchased my first Mazda Miata in 1990 and drove it for nearly 18 years without any major mechanical problems.
Over its lifetime I replaced the timing belt, tires and brakes several times, but never had any other major expenses.
In July of 2008 I purchased a second Miata MX-5. Unlike my original, which remained stock its entire life, my second Miata MX-5 is getting the full treatment. All the things I wanted to do to that first one, but never had the time or money for, are now being done to this new car.
My intentions were to build a fast yet easy to drive summer street car with excellent performance and handling.
I participate in an occasional track day at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, but I wanted the car to handle well both on the street and at the track. Miatas are well balanced cars right from the factory, but the third generation MX-5 is being delivered with a much softer suspension than the earlier first and second generation models.
MazdaSpeed, Mazda's factory racing development program, offers excellent performance products tuned specifically for the MX-5 Miata. These products strike the perfect balance between race car and street car.
MazdaSpeed works closely with Formula 1 suppliers like Brembo, Cosworth, AEM and Eibach to produce custom-designed Miata MX-5 performance products worthy of the MazdaSpeed name. If you're a regular Speed TV viewer you've seen Mazda's ads stating that "On any given weekend more Mazdas are road raced than any other car." MazdaSpeed is a big part of the reason why that's true.
The MazdaSpeed Suspension I installed is firm, but not overly so, and allows the car to perform well at the track as well as around town. The MazdaSpeed Coil-Over Suspension Kit with adjustable dampers and ride height settings makes it possible to quickly change the setup from road to race.
Mazda is the only Japanese manufacturer to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
MazdaSpeed plans to compete in the 2009 American Le Mans Series.
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