The 10 WORST MX-5 Miata Modifications | [Are YOU on The List?] 

I support ANY mods that you choose to do to your car, as long as they don’t endanger others. Building a car is something that should make you happy, and if you like your mods do them. I mostly made this video to see what kind of (and how many) comments it got. Build on and keep having fun with your cars!

Good to know I can put truck nuts on my miata and it won’t be considered one of the worst miata mods

No way would I delete my A.C. Greetings from too-hot Florida.

Most of these were just "don't cheap out"

If you really want a cone filter, make yourself a heat shield, this helps block some of the exhaust heat

*Cold air intake* Mounted upon exhaust headers AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

My personal list: Stickerbombing, Rattle can painting (body panels not valve covers and stuff), obnoxiously large shift knobs, chassis mount wings, “drift charms”, cross tape on headlights, canards, excessive camber/stance. And a hate of mine (not a mod) is just people “abusing” miatas, since its a cheap car people feel the need to just break, rice, mistreat, and cheap out on parts. Sad to see such a great vehicle not built to sema levels of cool as say a supra or a skyline as often just because of its price tag and hp number even tho the rest of the car is just as amazing.

IMO the people at Mazda knew what they were doing and did the leg work to make a pretty much perfect car. I don't see many mods which will improve it. The attention taken to detail in conception is amazing - even down to panel testing various exhaust configs in order to choose the most pleasing tone, and designing the door mirrors to deflect airflow away from the occupants faces when the top is down. My UK spec 1995 1.8iS has a hot air intake because a previous owner had fitted one. I've added a homemade heat shield. As for modifying the pop ups I've never understood why anyone would do that. They are the signature of the car. Maybe the sealed beam units are a bit feeble at night? Dunno. Here in Europe we have H4 units, so with decent quality bulbs and properly adjusted lights I've found no problems lighting my way through the mountains of the Ardeche (France). I'd never fit a body kit, ducktail or wing - just more opportunities for water to get trapped and cause more tinworm IMO. But my biggest hates are stancing or those truly ridiculous dildo sized gear shifters, if you're gonna fit one of those you may as well make it penis shaped and pink and be done with it. Great video BTW.

MMMM... Spray painted wheels anyone? Painted White letters on tires? Ohwait

You just have to reroute the cold air intake

First mods i did on my first MX5: - Galaxy shifter boot - Dragonball shift knob - QSP deep dish steeringwheel - Toycar cityplan floormats - a USB LED disco light - Rising sun sticker - velvet wrapped tombstone - carbon wrapped ashtray - french spec yellow headlights - Yoshimura sticker ON the exhaust(bad idea) - Ducktail spoiler - RS front and back lip - vinyl tinted window on Hardtop - white markered the tires - dragon center wheel cap stickers

The idea of lowering a Miata causes me a headache. Is she not low enough???? Thanks for the roll bar comment. That's a safety issue. Ditto on the tires. Agree with your list. And, I like that you didn't over apologize for having an opinion. You said it up front! Good enough...let 'ear rip.

The ac removal is not for weight reduction. It’s to remove it from the belt and it does release more power than any of the other mods mentioned. I agree however, not worth roasting in traffic for. I loved the fact I could just reach back and flip my top up and go to ac when I made the wrong decision topless or not.

I’m on $100 used race lands you just gotta be bout it 😂😂

Basically a video on every thing i regret Doing to my miata

The only mods I would do on a Miata are quality of life improvements like LED blubs, otherwise I would do whatever I can to keep the car as stock as possible. I wish production of the NA Miata was much longer, or I wish it could be revived. Imagine having a new NA Miata made exactly like how it was in the 90s out in the streets now

widebody/sleepy eyed miatas make me depressed

Great info, thanks for sharing.

Btw great video mate, don' t stop them. My NB Miata only has larger and outie wheels and 205/15 tires.

it’s been 2 months or so since i removed my AC and i deeply regret it lol

This guy just listed basically everything the average project Miata has

great video

Good point about the roll bars. Thanx for that one !

Your channel is one of the better Miata oriented channels. Very good content, well prepared, and well presented. 👍

Great video man.

I removed my AC, the condenser was rotted out anyway and I needed room for intercooler piping. Doesn't get too hot in NZ apart from a few days in summer and it's not my daily driver. I did add more insulation around the tunnel and floor and heat shielding around the dump pipe as the floor gets hot on a turbo Miata. Definitely makes it bearable on longer drives on a hot day.

Appreciate the rock music in the background

Where did you get those leather interior add ons? Looks amazing man!

What kind of Roll bar do you have, and what kind of stereo? Have been trying to find a half decent of both for my Miata 🙏🏻 links?!

You are spot on!!

100% correct! There’s so many that could be added like big wings on a stock street car or worse fake wings screwed to the trunk lid but you hit some good ones.

Bruh, my dream car, shame that this didnt came to production here in Brazil, well some are imported but you know the price is too high...

I got the yonakas in box waiting to install, and your car height looks exactly what I want. What settings do you run? I always heard offhand the style bars would never help, never seen or knew that could just horrifyingly fold forward like that

ilmotorsport 40% stiffer rubber motor mounts are actually really decent. If you have to replace your motormounts anyway just roll with those. The extra vibrations aren't too bad and it actually reduces drivetrain flex. If you combine it with the ilmotorsport diff mounts you will find yourself missing shifts less often because of the whole drivetrain flexing. I have both in my dailly.

5:06 I drive with crappy rear tyres and it makes the expirience really really fun idk what you are talking about bro :D

Good video

I’ve got no issues with my race motor mounts they were awful at 1st but after like 100 miles it feels no different than stock mounts

Did you get a custom fabricated roll bar, or a bolt in one, if so what is it and where did you get it? Wanting one that is good

Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the intake wouldn't you avoid the issue of sucking in hot air if you install a heat shield between the headers and the intake?

Cool!!!! Where did you get the centre console rest from? :-) me likey

Me, who doesn’t own a miata: *hehe* *boi*

It looks like you've got NB wheels on yours, correct? If that's what I'm seeing, can you tell me if there are any downsides? I'm asking because I want to put those NB wheels on my NA. Thanks!

Hey, where did you get those sticker badges? I like how they look and I don't have any badges on mine currently haha

Mind telling us where you got your center console cover from? :)

Most of these i would agree with except the low profile headlights. Ive had it for a long time and really like it.

Im guilty of: 1 but i made a heat shield and did advanced the timing also port matched the head, intake and, exhaust manifolds while i was doing the headgasket after noticing an oil leak from between the head and the block, 5 my style bar is weird tbh i cant find any other like it, its not like all the other ones that you can just feel how flimsy they are, this one has a 3/8 inch thicc bar that goes across the bottom with bolt holes for a racing harness and the tubing is thicc like 3/32, it looks custom made, 6 i wouldnt say my tires are super cheap but they are inexpensive, but i go with 195/50/r15 lexani lx 313, just because theres a good balance for me between grip and slip, 8 i have a manzo catback and high flow cat, yeah it drones, but i just wear ear plugs on long drives, 9 my miata has no a/c or p/s and i live in 90+ degree weather, i just roll the windows down and unzip the rear plastic.

I want to put fender flares and wide bodies on now to get that hovercraft look lol

I personally like the sleepy eye if done right. I’ve seen them setup where the regulator for the headlight motor is adjusted to about half way with light bars instead

Iove my poly motor and diff mounts. Probably going to try stiffer duro next time around too for the motors (innovate brand)

Looking to get an NA miata down the road, hopefully can save the money for it later this year, I will most def be changing to led lights for the rear lights and turn signals, though the pop ups, imma hope I can just change to an LED bulb, for the AC, since it’s a project car, imma probably put an electric AC if I can, and just get a better alternator, and also move the battery to the rear of course

Good tips.. I am searching for a good NA.. and dont want a bunch of crap on it. DMAX

In addition, deleting the undertray will cause cooling issues during spirited driving.

How do you fix the cone intake situation?

Tbf, i just bought a miata 2004 a week ago, its in amazing condition, absolute 10/10 low mileage, serviced every 700-1k miles, its got no body scratches at all, only on 66k miles. I have an entire list of mods to do with the car but always try and watch these types of vids to see what to avoid and see what others think as well as any advice i can get

The three best mods that i would recommend to ANYONE (though #3 comes with an asterisk): 1. Lightweight flywheel, 2. LSD rear end (i think mine was from an FC Rx-7, it's been a while), and 3. Replacing all mirrors with a set of cockpit mirrors from an F-4 Phantom! The first two are no-brainers, but the third one turned out WAAAAAAY better than I'd hoped, but with a catch. They mount internally by design (they're from a fighter jet after all) and they're slightly convex. Took about a month for my eyes to adjust and stop seeing double each time I looked in them. And because i didn't fab taller brackets and just used the stock aircraft cockpit mounts, putting the top up renders both side mirrors uselss and leaves BARELY enough of yhe rear view mirror useful enough for legality. I never put my top up so this isnt an issue for me. But removing the stock side mirrors cleaned up airflow so much that it basically eliminated cabin buffeting entirely! All i feel now is the minor eddy current from around the windshield. But best of all, they look sooooo fucking cool!❤❤❤

Even a little plastic box around the filter with a pipe going to fresh air will do. Can even wrap in carbon fibre vinyl so looks the part yet cheap as :)

Love this chanel , what radio screen you use ?

m8 I am deleting my A/C, but only because the new engine I'm going to swap in doesn't have an A/C compressor. also going to delete my power steering so I don't have to go to the gym as much

Where do you get that trunk with tiny lip

4:31 Mine was stock lol. Gonna replace it tho.

Do you have a link for those coil overs?

People say the Nc looks like a boat then add fender flares. Hahaha. I put on the ac with the top down. Good list.

Well I’m guilty of the sleepy eye mod but my car doesn’t look stock at all. I used to have the hot air intake have since put the stock box back in. I have heavy knock off wheels (xxr) and cheap tires ( I was broke and needed tires at the time) if you look in my channel you will see the car that’s guilty of this stuff. I’m currently waiting on my wide body but do plan to actually make the wheels fit and later down the line get wide wheels to fit in it for a meaty look.

Lmao hot air intake

Where did you get the roll bar cover?

Looks like I'm only guilty of having a style bar, but in my defense it was installed by one of previous owners, so I consider myself sin-free!

Any recommendations for good tires ?

Never let this man cook again.

I like the lazy eyes.....chill bro.

Probably about to get a miata with 60k mileage。What should i do to it?

I’m guilty of having static led headlights... and soon to be guilty of ac delete(it’s broken)

I might as well do an ac delete because it doesn’t work anyway

Joke's on you! I don't have any of these mods 'cause I can't afford a Miata!

I wasn't on this list but now I've got no choice but to remove my AC after a front end disagreement with a fox 🙈

I agree with 95% of the list. However, as someone who lives in a temperate/cold environment, I am biased towards an AC delete, especially if your car is a soft top. It not only acts as weight reduction and gets rid of an accessory pulley on your engine that saps power, the real gain is in engine temps. Cooling is the Achilles heel of Miata performance driving, and even without a reroute, getting rid of that AC condenser in front of the radiator will do wonders for an overheating engine. That’s my two cents, it’s a free mod, and reversible if you’re careful while removing and can afford some spare freon ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You put in the intake wrong, you need to reroute it and face it forward. Money Pit over on Donut Media has a great example on how to properly do that. Also most of these "regrets" are very useful mods to the car and a Miata is best in curvy roads imo. So stiff suspension, upgraded engine mounts, wide tires/ wheels are perfect mods.

Mazda competition motor mounts are sick. Not bad at all and feel Great.

This goes for any car, but quick release steering wheels, tsurikawas and flashing brake lights

Are *Enkei RPF1's* too *heavy*?

what was your miatas mileage at when u got it?

What size are your tires

It’s time for a new hvac panel in there

hot air intake made my mx5 sound twice as good, no regrets

#11 putting white tires sticker on ... LOL

Well, when I can barely see the road when I drive with stock pop ups, sleepy eye low profile lights are kinda a need

idc if the cold air intake is actually a hot air intake it sounds fucking awesome and when you are driving and or have a heat shield cold air is coming into the engine bay so its not that bad 6:13 my exhaust has a massive drone and i love it. its just boring without a drone

Hi, whats your radio?

Miata owner dreaming of mr2

#11 Duplex exhausts

ive donee none of that list which is nice lol

As for number 10, the reason people do that is because it's a pain in the a$$ to find decent wider wheels in 4x100. You can find 15x10 wheels. But then your next problem is finding tires to fit that. I know this because I've been doing research for the past few months on this. However if you have any tire suggestions for that size, please lmk.

i’m not guilty of any of that but i bought my miata without working ac so it’s been a very very hot summer daily🥴

My car has a mouse trap role bar but it’s wielded in

Can’t do an Ac delete if your car didn’t come with ac

When I get a mineta MX-5 1990 I'm gonna make it electric and have butterfly wing doors

respect

didn’t mention aftermarket steering wheels are dangerous bc you delete your airbag and you’ll need that more than a roll bar since took over crashes are rare compared to head on collisions and mild fender benders

damn bro called me out on my $600 low profile headlights on my stock miata, and clear LED tailights, atleast they aint ebay tho lmao

I love this Chanel. Praise mx5! Amen

Only one that I’m guilty of is AC delete.... btw it’s 91 degrees outside.......