Hi all,
Just signed on. I have a 97 miata that I've pretty much driven the life out of. We have emission inspections here in Denver and I barely made it through thanks to some sea foam and a prayer. I'm looking real hard at an '03 Miata with only 14K miles on it. for 10 grand. The car is immaculate. Only problem is it has an automatic tranny. I know that really sucks. I've been there, done that with autos. I drove my neighbors '99 and it was gutless. I was thinking of how it would be with a decent turbo install. Any ideas out there. Oh, and please don't preach to me about automatics and all that crap. Just helpful feedback would be appreciated. No, I haven't bought the car yet but I'm looking pretty hard at it. I don't plan to race it. It will be a daily driver. I just want a little extra zip when I need it. It has the factory hard-top already on it and all the bells and whistles.

Looking forward to some creative feedback and some helpful advice. I know this probably isn't the right place to ask for help. I'll get there shortly. Anyhow, hello to all. and thanks in advance.
Jim

 

(Preachy crap deleted on second read lol)

If you only commute with the car/drive in urban areas and don't like to tear up the mountains then go for it....anything is more fun with a turbo bolted on If you like to attack any twisties then it'll never be as fun as you want it to be.

You might consider a supercharger (Heresy!) if you only daily it, since you'll have plenty of torque down low regardless of what gear it chooses for you.

 

+1 on the supercharger. I say do that, make 160whp and DD the **** out of a screaming autotragic miata!

Go luck with the build if you do pick it up

 

Yeah, I did the mountain thing with my '97 5 spd. Lots of fun. Any more it's just a daily driver. The supercharger sounds like megabucks. What's a decent lo end dependable (if that makes sense) turbo setup gonna cost?

I guess I'd better pop over to the correct blog to post any more questions. Now to figure out which one that is

 

Howdy!