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NiNe2FiVe

NiNe2FiVe

Sicc OG
#219,651
Apr 26, 2003
10,869
16,112
0
60
East Oakland, USA
#219,651
LS3 Powered Miata



It’s 100 degrees in the valley, but up here, the oxygen’s thin and the temperature’s cool. I’m hammering on Flyin’ Miata’s newest creation: a 2009 Mazda MX-5 with a 430-hp General Motors LS3 V8 under the hood. Flyin’ Miata, based in Grand Junction, specializes in V8 Miata conversions. For reasons I won’t go into here, they call this one Atomic Betty. It’s the best car I’ve driven all year.
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There’s a Tremec T56 six-speed manual bolted behind the LS3. The big, milled-aluminum shift knob clicks through the pattern with the paced deliberation of a Southern judge, and the clutch pedal is barn-door stiff. The gearbox feels like it was plucked from the Trans-Am glory days. I don’t spend my time kicking in stables, so my first act behind the wheel is to stall the car. Twice.

With the heroics out of the way and a clear stretch of road ahead, I plant the throttle. There are 19 years of chassis development between a 1990 NA-chassis Miata and this 2009 NC, and you can feel every second of that time when you start clicking through gears. Unlike first- and second-gen cars with V8 swaps, this NC feels like it grew in the womb with this much power. It doesn’t ripple beneath you. It’s solid, even as the speedometer needle swings past 120 mph.
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Flyin’ Miata stuffs the whole driveline into the car without cutting any sheetmetal—required work on the earlier cars. There’s even room for tubular exhaust headers. V8 Roadsters supplies cradles for both the General Motors engine and the Ford 8.8 rear differential. Aside from a few small modifications, everything bolts into place.
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This is the heaviest car Flyin’ Miata has ever assembled. The power retractable hardtop, power heated seats, and V8 driveline push the curb weight to 2821 lbs. Even so, Atomic Betty has a power-to-weight ratio that’s within spitting distance of a Porsche 911 Turbo S. The car goes.

Still, it’s not just a straight-line punching bag. The big Tremec is the heaviest part of the driveline swap, and since it sits in the center of the car, the Miata’s famed balance remains unsullied. Mazda graced the roadster with a 52:48 split. The V8 car makes do with 52.7:47.3.
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In a word, this car is sorted. A turn-key conversion will cost you $42,995 for warrantied crate GM driveline components, plus a donor NC. That’s big money if you don’t already own a 2006–2014 Miata, and it’s a hard sell when a new Corvette convertible starts at $58,995.
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DuceTheTruth @DuceTheTruth
 
Props: DuceTheTruth and DuceTheTruth
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