For those who know me well, it will be hard to believe that I don’t have the words to express how much I’m enjoying Ginger. Driving her puts a smile on my face, even when the ambient temperature is just above freezing and the top is down (note to convertible owners: unless there is moisture coming from the sky, the top should be down). However, there is always room for improvement.

My experience with lowering Zhaan and giving her a sport shifter has convinced me that judicious modding can improve any car by making it better tuned to meet the owner’s preferences and needs.

For Ginger, my biggest irritation is related to the evil that is common to all convertibles — chassis flex resulting from the floor serving as the only link between the front and rear of the unibody. There is only so much one can do for this as it is convertible and adding a ton of weight would be contrary to the Miata’s low-mass design ethos.

The next area isn’t so much an irritation as it is an area for improvement — power. 177 horsepower in a car that tips the scales about about 2500 pounds equals pretty decent acceleration, but turbo lag is an issue and let’s face it, one can always benefit from more power. That said, I don’t really want to open-up the engine or make really major changes (yet), particularly as the car still has two years of powertrain warranty.

With this in mind, here is my current modification plan for Ginger:

Mazdaspeed MX-5 Modification Plan

Initial Draft – 2008.11.01

2009:

1. Hard Dog Hard Core M2 Roll Bar with double-diagonal – safety first, right?
2. Flyin’ Miata Butterfly Brace – increase chassis rigidity to reduce noise, vibration, and harshness while helping the suspension to do its work

2010:

1. Flyin’ Miata Downpipe & Catalytic Converter
2. Flyin’ Miata Complete Intake Kit

2011:

1. Flyin’ Miata Exhaust
2. Flyin’ Miata Intercooler *

2012:

1. Who knows, but this page looks interesting and so does this one.

The intercooler has an asterisk beside it because where it places in the order will depend on how the car performs in the heat of summer — I’ve only driven it in cool fall weather. If the tiny stock intercooler does the job, then it will be last, but if I find it struggling to cope, it might move up the priority list.

As far as routine maintenance, next spring will see Ginger receive:

• new transmission fluid (Motorcraft Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid)
• new differential fluid (TBD GL-5/75W90)
• new brake fluid (TBD DOT 5.1)
• new power steering fluid (Dexron VI)
• new clutch fluid (TBD)
• brake service (rotors replace or turned), new pads, lubricated (brand TBD)
• interior shampoo

I’d like to do all of this work myself and with the exception of the welding of the exhaust, there’s nothing to stop me from doing all of it. However, the roll bar needs to be done properly and involves some non-reversible cutting and drilling, so I might look into getting that done professionally, or at least get some experienced hands to help.

It’s going to be very hard putting her for the winter, an activity that is planned for this coming week.

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