Category Archives: ND Miata & Roadsters

10 Modifications & Upgrades You Should Do To Your ND (2016+) MX5

Here is a short list of modifications that we believe are totally worth doing to your 2016+ ND Mazda MX5 Miata. This list was made after doing a trip throughout the whole USA (17,000+ KM) and racing the car at Laguna Seca Raceway (check out our blog section The Road(Ster) Trip). It’s not a list entirely for racing, nor entirely for street use, it’s to have a good overall balance.

Safety

As we always say, safety first! Let’s talk about some modifications that we believe will just improve your safety and will be worth it (as a wrecked MX-5 is not as valuable as the one who’s never been in an accident).

1. ZOOM Wide Blue Mirrors

This is one of the mod that we ALWAYS do on ALL of our Roadsters. Why? Because our cars are super low and these mirrors have 2 functions : wide depth of view (so you can see what’s in your dead angle with your roof is up) and blue mirror (anti-glare). It’s pretty awesome when driving at night and being followed by a car with bright lights. We also recommend getting the Jupiter Blue Rear View Mirror to minimize glare from cars at night! If you want something a little different, check the JoyFast Wide Mirrors.


(Photo : ZOOM Wide Blue Mirrors)

 

2. Mazda Backup Camera

This is a very popular item. It’s coming standard on the 2019+ models, but for those of us with a ND1, it’s a great mod to have. It takes a few hours to install, but it’s so worth it to be sure never to back up on anyone or a curb. The optional cleaner is really nice as the camera can get dirty/get humidity as it’s not covered.


(Photo : Mazda Backup Camera)

 

3. Aftermarket Muffler

Why is a muffler a safety device? Our cars are hard to notice (very low/small) and the factory exhaust is quite silent. A muffler is a good way for others to know we are there (loud pipes save lives). Although there are performance gains from it, they are very limited without ECU tuning. Our favorite in term of sound/looks is the Integral Kobe Type-US Muffler. You want to control the noise? Check out the Fujimura Dual-Sound Muffler! Want a totally different look? Check out the Autoexe Dual Center Exhaust!


(Photo : Autoexe Dual-Center Muffler)

 

Performance

4. Coilover Suspension

The OEM suspension on the ND MX-5 is great, but you will reach its limit at one point. Body roll is quite big on the car and we just love to see lowered Miatas! Our pick for street suspension would be the Cusco Street Zero which will reduce the body roll while making the car even more comfortable than from factory. For racing, it really depends on your goals, but you can check out our Coilovers for ND!


(Photo : Cusco Street-Zero Coilovers)

 

5. Lightweight Wheels

Changing wheels greatly affects the dynamics of your Roadster. The vehicle is very lightweight and does not have the huge power that most sports car have. This means that keeping weight low is really important, and even more important for rotational mass. Our best pick for street wheels are the 16×8 +35 Rays TE37 Sonic Wheels that are forged, light weight and really mean looking. If you’re more racing oriented, we believe that the 17×8.5 +40 Rays TE37 Saga Wheels would be your weapon of choice, allowing you to run wider tires and bigger brakes. If your budget doesn’t allow for forged wheels, we think that the Enkei PFM1 17×8.5 +40 Wheels are awesome stylish, lightweight and high quality wheels for the price. If budget doesn’t matter and you want the lightest wheels available, check these 16×7.5 +28 JoyFast T66-F Wheels or 17×8 +34 TWS T66-F Wheels (if you need bigger brake clearance).



(Photo : RAYS TE37 Saga 17″ Wheels)

 

6. Chassis Bracing

The ND MX-5 is super lightweight. Unfortunately, making the car so light had a small drawback on the chassis rigidity. It’s not so bad, considering it’s quite easy to fit with strut braces and underchassis bracing. Our recommended solution is to run the Autoexe Strut Tower Bar Set combined with Autoexe Member Brace Set for maximum rigidity. If you want to try a very simple mod that you’ll feel right away, try the Nielex Pro-Spec Knuckle Support that will fix a very weak point of the ND. The Nielex piece has sold over 3000 units in Japan as it’s a very inexpensive mod that will make the steering feel much more stable/solid.  If your car is lowered, don’t forget to change your Front & Rear Sway Bars to bring back suspension geometry to how it should be (our pick : Autoexe Sway Bars).

 
(Photo : Autoexe Strut Tower Bar Set)

 

7. Brake Pads

This is a mod that anyone doing spirited driving will enjoy right away. Please be careful, though. We found out that most street brake pads will not survive intense circuit racing. If you don’t plan on racing your car at the track, our pick would be the famous ACRE Light Sports Brake Pads which produce minimal brake dust and give the car a very nice and direct brake feel. If you intend on racing, depending on your racing category, we have a variety of Racing Brake Pads available! Need more braking power than the OEM brakes can offer? Check out the Runduce Big Brake Kit!


(Photo : Runduce Big Brake Kit)

 

Styling

8. Performance Steering Wheel

We think one of the weak point of the fourth generation MX-5 is the thin and easy-to-scratch leather steering wheel. Upgrading to a thicker steering wheel will feel A LOT better during spirited drives, it’ll improve the look of your interior and most likely give you more leg room as most of them are D-Shaped (this means that the bottom part is flat). The replacements steering wheels that we offer (look for pictures of steering wheels with airbag) will retain the OEM airbag and all your buttons (radio/cruise control) and can be used with paddle shifters as well (for automatic transmission). Our favorite is definitely the KenStyle Leather Steering Wheel (for street use) or KenStyle Suede Steering Wheel (for racing). If you want the most advanced steering wheel on the market, don’t forget to check out the DAMD Performance Steering Wheel! Honorable mention to the Autoexe Sports Steering Wheel for those who want to upgrade without going too thick.


(Photo : KenStyle Leather Steering Wheel)

 

9. Japanese Style Floor Mats

The ND’s interior is so minimalistic and perfect that it’s hard to make it look much better. A neat upgrade that most enthusiasts will love are the upgraded floor mats. Our personal favorites are the Zero X Pattern Floor Mats that will match the red stitching on the interior, but for the more old school lovers, Zero Checkered Floor Mats (Small) or Zero Checkered Floor Mats (Big) will just do the trick! All the floor mats that we sell are manufactured in Japan and are made to last very long.


(Photo : Zero X-Pattern Floor Mats)

 

10. Short Antenna

It’s one thing that most owners hate to look at. The OEM antenna makes the car look like a RC car. A very cheap investment will make your car’s exterior look much more luxurious. If you like the look of Honda S2000 OEM Antenna, check out the TUCKIN99 Short Antenna. If you want the shortest antenna on the market, look at the Arrows Super Short Antenna!


(Photo : TUCKIN99 Ver1 Short Antenna)

 

Bonus Upgrades

BONUS 1 : Custom Finish Emblems

All the custom emblem kits that we sell include the OEM JDM “Roadster” Emblem that fits right in the holes of the original MX-5 one and shows your knowledge of the Japanese culture! It also confuses the people who never saw the ND MX-5 and think it’s a new model. Those emblems are brand new and will replace your OEM ones. Our most popular are the REV9 Black Chrome Emblems, followed by the REV9 Flat Black Emblems and the REV9 Gloss Black Emblems. If you like the chrome emblems and just want more JDM touch to your vehicle, get the Mazda OEM Roadster Emblem.


(Photo : REV9 Black Chrome Emblems)

 

BONUS 2 : Seat Covers

If you bought a ND with fabric seats and want to upgrade your interior (and keep the OEM seats looking brand new for better resale value), consider putting some nice and tight fit Seat Covers. The Seat Covers that we sell are made so that if you get into an accident, the seat airbags will deploy without any problem due to the construction of our seat covers. Our favorite choice is the Autowear Seat Covers followed by the DAMD Seat Covers and for those who want a more custom option, check out the Nakamae Sports Seat Covers and Nakamae Quilted Seat Covers! Installation of any of these 4 just take under 30 minutes and makes the seat much more comfortable.


(Photo : DAMD Quilted Seat Covers)

 

BONUS 3 : Lightweight Flywheel

If you had a NA or NB Miata, one thing you might miss is the very quick throttle response from the cable throttle. Unfortunately, the ND has an electronic throttle and it’s not as quick to react as the good old cable. We found out that changing the flywheel to a lighter weight flywheel just does the trick. Be careful, though, if you pick a flywheel that’s too light, it’s going to affect the driveability of the car. If you want the perfect balance, we recommend the Autoexe Sports Flywheel (which is also available for the 1.5L Engine) which is perfect for street or race use.


(Photo : Autoexe Sports Flywheel)

ND’s at Tokyo Auto Salon 2019

January of every year is a special time thanks to Tokyo Auto Salon.  We saw a few ND’s this year but overall nothing too exciting. Despite this, Mazda did surprised us with a new ND part many of you were asking for.

Let’s get started!

Autoexe

Autoexe brought out a sweet looking Machine Gray Metallic RF.  It’s sporting a ND-05S Front Bumper.

The car was also rocking 17” Rays Gram Lights 57XTREME Wheels which looked really nice with the paint color.

The back of the vehicle was showcasing their ND Rear Spoiler , Rear Diffuser and their Dual-tip Centered Exhaust.

Inside the interior, we saw some goodies that we just added to the web store recently. Like this Autoexe Smart Key Cover.

Also, the Autoexe Carbon Paddle Shift Covers.

Lastly, the Autoexe Fuel Cap Cover. My favorite!

Leg Sport

Leg Sport came out again with the same Mariner Blue ND we’ve seen the past 3 years. Never gets old to see it though!

Here we see the Leg Sport Front Lip and Carbon Cooling Grille.

Gotta love carbon fiber!

In the rear, we see the Leg Sport Club Sport Rear Diffuser painted to match the body and the Ducktail Spoiler in carbon fiber.

The Leg Sport Club Sport Side Skirts were also on display. They are very small but they flow with the body lines very well.

Their ND Roll Bar was also on display which comes with carbon fiber panels to fill the gaps created from the install. Super nice.

Garage Vary

Garage Vary brought out their Demo car which everyone is familiar with by now. This time with with a few new parts.

The new super aggressive Front Bumper is hard to miss.

I’m wondering how it would look with the integrated canards painted.

Also new are these Fender Canards!

They look so good with the Vented Fenders!

This is a nice view of the Garage Vary Side Steps.

Out in the back, we see the Garage Vary Ducktail Spoiler, Rear Air Duct, and Rear Diffuser T-2. Also shown is a padded Carbing Roll Cage.

Inside we see the super cool Garage Vary Meter Gauge Hood.

Under the bonnet, we see the Garage Vary’s Ram Air Intake System with carbon fiber housing.

R-Spec

R-Spec made a appearance again.

Their ND Half Bumper is still very striking.

Their ND Rear Spoiler comes with a integrated back up camera!

The blue 18” Work Meister Wheels matches the company’s color scheme.

Mazda

Mazda had a large booth with a few ND’s. The most exciting unveiling was on this ND.

Carbon Fiber Hard Top !

It’s perfect!

Also in the Mazda booth were a few ND race cars from HM Racers and Cabana.

 

We hope you enjoyed our (short) coverage of Tokyo Auto Salon 2019! We can’t wait to see what 2020 brings for the ND roadster.

If you are interested in any of the parts shown, please don’t hesitate to send us an email for pricing and availability. Subscribe to our newsletter for update on new car parts for your car!

 

 

REV9 Taipei Meet at biggest Mazda Dealership in Asia

Right now, I’m doing a business & fun travel, aka Workation. I choose Taipei because of relatively low cost of living, safety and because I have many customers from Taiwan.

Even though this was not supposed to happen, I decided to organize a small Roadster meeting!

There was not so many people who showed up (heavy rain, last minute event), but I am glad that the biggest Mazda dealership in South East Asia decided to let us use their location. Check the photos, it’s worth it.

The Meet

Meetings in Taiwan are much different than the ones in America. Most people don’t just come to hang out and show their cars, they prefer to do activities (driving, dinners, etc.). So, many people didn’t show up because it was mostly a picture session that I was hosting (note to myself : next time, do an activity).

This is the first car that showed up. It was a ND with Rays 57Transcend 17×8.5 +40 Wheels. I loved the look of the color combo!

Then, we started posing. Nice way to show the color palette of the ND!

This was Andy’s car. One of the only Manual Transmission ND in Taiwan (read below for the reason). He’s also rocking the RK Design Rear Spoiler!

There were also 2 people who showed but it wasn’t for the meeting, just for maintenance… haha!

A beautiful white ND with Zeromotive Muffler Cutters:

And this VERY rare piece. It’s a ND “Gran Turismo” Edition. To get this very car, you need to order Gran Turismo (collector’s edition) and the car comes as a bonus. It’s probably the most expensive Gran Turismo Game EVER.

And a few more showed up!

Lastly, a few more people showed and this ND owner wanted a picture for the blog, so here we go:

Here are some pictures of where we hosted the event, it’s worth showing it off:

The reception looks like the one from a high end hotel :

As you can see, it’s just HUGE. All made of beautiful black marble as well as wood. It’s 2 stories high.

The showroom is SUPER neat.

They have a nice collection of old school Mazda magazines :

They even have a Skyactiv Engine on display

So, why is the Mazda dealership SO big and SO beautiful, you may ask?

Let’s do basic economics here.

A loft in downtown Taipei can cost you ~$500 USD per month (which is really low, in my opinion).

Cars are taxed HEAVILY. We’re talking 60% + tax.

A ND Miata (Soft Top) in Taipei cost you a small NT$1,320,000 ; that’s about USD$45,000

The RF cost NT$1,500,000 so about USD$51,000

Fun fact, ALL Mazda cars here have the Automatic Transmission (AT). People with Manual Transmission (MT) vehicles MT actually need to import their cars from overseas (the manual ones I saw came from Germany).

I still didn’t answer the question, though. Let’s just put it this way. Since the price of the vehicle is up to par with what a BMW or Mercedes-Benz would cost in USA, the dealership reflects the high price of the price people will pay for a car.

Here’s the waiting area, so you can work or just relax while your car is serviced:

You can see your car being worked on, if you don’t trust the mechanics:

When I did the photo shoot, they were doing a demo of camping gear for the new CX-5. I learned that you can actually camp on your car… neat.

They even offer you free coffee, and it’s not coming from a K-Cup machine!

It’s fair to say that this dealership is nicer than any of those I ever visited during my many times in Japan. I hope you enjoyed this read and understood a bit more about the scene in Taiwan! By the way, it was not a ND-only meeting. It just happens that there never were NA in Taiwan, they sold NB for a few years and it was not popular enough. They skipped the NC and when the ND was revealed, they started selling it back again!

 

The Road(Ster) Trip – Visit at R-Speed & drive South with new mods

I usually only do blog posts about cities & meets I organize, this one is a little different. I found out I kind of forgot to post some very nice upgrades that I did on my demo car (and some of them were temporary, you’ll read about it in the next blog posts…)!

***I’D LIKE TO APPOLOGIZE FOR HOW LATE I’M CREATING THIS BLOG POST, BUT I’M CATCHING UP WITH LIFE***

After I organized the Atlanta Meet, I went at my friend Joe’s shop (R-Speed) to have some work done on my car.

 

R-Speed

It’s one of the pioneer in the Miata tuning community. Everyone who works there knows a lot about Miatas and are very friendly (talk to Hector, you’ll see what I mean). They will solve ANY problem in term of mechanical work on all years Miatas, I couldn’t recommend them more. I went up there to install some small parts, but the main piece we had to do were the Odula ND Side Skirts! You can also see the very nice Rallybacker ND Low Ducktail Spoiler and Odula ND Rear Diffuser. Due to the reduction of clearance, we also raised the car height by about 5-10mm as otherwise the side steps were way too low.

 

For those who don’t know much about R-Speed, it’s a very cool shop specialized in Miatas, down the road near Atlanta.

 

You’ll always be able to find the spare part you’re looking for…

 

… or the spare car!

 

Another thing we did was to install some fresh Advan Center Caps onto my Advan RZ 17×8 Wheels. We also swapped my lug nuts for some very nice Project Kics Leggdura RL53 Lug Nuts.

As it had been one (very) long week, I decided to cool it off at my favorite spot in Atlanta : Monday Night Brewing and meet some Roadster Friends (unfortunately, camera died before I could take pictures of their cars).

 

And here are some different angles of the Odula ND Side Steps :

 

You can see it flows pretty well with the TK Style ND Front Lip :

 

Drive to the South

As I left Atlanta, I decided to take some pictures on the road as I believe the scenery was really nice and it was just another reason to take photos of my car. At one point, I drove by an abandoned Gulf gas station and couldn’t believe how beautiful it was… the sky and everything, so dark.

 

And then it was time to hit the road again…

 

I hope you enjoyed this picture-heavy blog post about some small changes on my car… will continue updating the Road(Ster) Trip posts as much as I can in the next weeks!

The Mazda Demo Cars & Race Cars from TAS 2018

Mazda always show some concept and new models of ND that they’ll introduce in the upcoming year at Tokyo Auto Salon. We had a glance at all of the new models!

Check this out!

Mazda :

The ND Red Top is a new special edition ND that comes with brown leather interior and a red (burgundy) soft top!

They also brought their ND Custom Style that comes with all possible Mazdaspeed accessories from the catalog!

 

And there were also many race cars from different racing teams/brands, here they are:

MZ Racing :

They came with their race-winning ND Global Cup Car!

 

Murakami :

They brought their ND Demo Car with ND Hardtop (that we’ll start accepting pre-orders soon… send us an email to be notified when available!) on 15” Rays TE37 Wheels and rocking their ND GT Wing.

 

Long Drive Racing :

Another vehicle in same class as Murakami’s (Super Taikyu) that also has the Murakami ND Hardtop, 16” Rays CE28N Wheels and Garage Vary GT Wing (the most effective GT Wing for ND that we know of).

Cabana

Cabana is one of the top 5 in Japan’s MX-5 ND Racing Class! It’s the same standard MX5 Global Cup Car with their touch of cool graphics.

 

Hope you enjoyed our last part of the coverage of Tokyo Auto Salon 2018! Don’t forget to Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive blog updates and new products releases related to your vehicle!

 

 

The ND Soft Top & 124 Demo Cars at TAS2018

The Soft Top ND are not the new thing at Tokyo Auto Salon 2018, this year was more popular with RF Demo Cars, however, we now start to see Fiat 124 Demo Cars!

Let’s start with some Soft Top ND MX5s~

R-Spec :

The vehicle didn’t change much from what was shown last year! The car still has the ND Half Front Bumper (and it seems they added LED lights into it). It’s also rocking some cool 17” Work Meister S1 Wheels.

The rear of the vehicle has their very cool ND Rear Spoiler With Camera that has a nice European look and double as a rear view camera!

They also released for this year a ND Blind Corner Camera that installs on the front fender to help with blind spots of the vehicle.

 

Exedy :

Exedy came up with a very nice Fiat 124 Abarth Demo Car that’s rocking some awesome graphics on it! The wheels are 16” Rays CE28N Wheels in special ND fitment.

The car had INGS+1 GT Wing and a few other interior bits that we were unfortunately not able to take picture of…

 

Bride :

Bride has completely changed the look of their ND compared to last year’s look. It’s still rocking 17” Work T5R Wheels and their new ND-specific Racing Seats, the Bride Mu-Len Seats.

The red interior trims are also a nice touch to match with the seats!

While being at Bride booth, we took time to take some photos of seats that will fit into the ND. The Bride Zieg-III Type-R and Bride A.I.R are both great fits. You can also see a glimpse at the Bride Histrix that’s awesome for NA or NB applications!

Bride also told us that the Bride Vios-III is a good choice for ND Roadster vehicles!

Those seats are such beauties, no wonder the high price tag, but totally worth it!

And here are some more shots about the Bride Mu-Len Special Edition Seats! These seats include the rails that are made for the ND!

 

Car Making RevYou

This is a shop we never heard of. They showed up at Tokyo Auto Salon with a nice ND Demo Car rocking the popular 17” Rays 57Transcend Wheels, but most importantly a very awesome ND Turbocharger Kit!

And here’s a closer look at their turbo kit! Everything is so beautiful when it’s new!

 

Hope you enjoyed our fourth part of the coverage of Tokyo Auto Salon 2018! More to come in the following days~ Don’t forget to Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive blog updates and new products releases related to your vehicle!

 

The MX-5 ND RF from TAS 2018

Here’s another post about Tokyo Auto Salon 2018! This one showcases the ND RF demo cars from Autoexe, Leg Sports & Odula!

The ND RF is the only available 2.0L engine MX-5 available in Japan. It was released almost 1 year after the soft top version, so it’s not as popular due to having most of the early adopters and purist buying the soft top version. Some manufacturers, though, saw a great opportunity to release parts for the worldwide 2.0L engine community! Let’s see…

Autoexe

Autoexe brought their very cool RF Demo Car. It shows their ND Original Front Bumper, beautiful Rays Gram Lights 57Xtreme 17” Wheels, their ND RF Rear Wing and their combo of ND Rear Diffuser & ND Dual-Center Muffler. Note that you can also notice their new ND 2-Piece Brake Discs.

As for their interior, it’s pretty simple, featuring their ND Steering Wheel and ND Round Shift Knob.

 

Odula

Odula brought a very cool & classy looking ND to the show! This ND features the new Rays Volk Racing  TE37 Saga 17” Wheels and their original ND Carbon Fiber Front Lip as well as ND Carbon Fiber Side Skirts. Let’s not forget their ND License Plate Intake!

For the interior, you can notice their original ND Steering Wheel and a preview of their new ND Carbon Look Scuff Plate Cover.

The shop owner insisted that we took a picture of the engine bay. Even though we can’t see much on the picture, it’s showing their new ND 2.0L Header, their ND High Flow Intake Elbow and their ND Coilovers. Hidden, under the valve cover, there are some aggressive ND 2.0L Camshafts that they are currently testing.

For the back of the vehicle, they showed a one-off (custom) ND Rear Wing with Carbon Fiber top piece! You can also look at their ND Rear Diffuser and ND Titanium-Tip Muffler System.

Here’s the last car in our list of ND RF at Japan’s most popular aftermarket parts show;

 

Leg Sports

Leg Sports showed up with a very clarry ND RF that’s equipped with their ND Front Lip, ND Side Steps, ND RF Rear Spoiler as well as the very new ND Rear Diffuser! You can also see their very awesome ND Titanium Exhaust System. If you look closely, you’ll also notice their ND Carbon Fiber Front Grille.

The interior shows their ND Original Floor Mats, their ND Armrest Cover as well as some Recaro Racing Seats.

The wheels on the shop car are Weds SA72R 17” Wheel! Looks awesome in there.

We hope you enjoyed our third part of the coverage of Tokyo Auto Salon 2018! More to come in the following days~ Don’t forget to Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive blog updates and new products releases related to your vehicle!

REV9 Autosport ND RF Demo Car (Project Classy)

When they unveiled the ND RF, my first saying was “oh man, why did I buy the soft top”… and the more I saw them, the more envious I was about that car. Mazda literally marketed the car as more of a refined  ND (for city driving?) rather than the open top sports car. That photoshoot from Mazda just made me want one so bad…

(Credit : Mazda Corporation of USA)

So, a few weeks ago, I decided to pull the trigger on a brand new 2017 ND RF and give back my ND Soft Top to the dealership. It was a pretty good decision if you ask me… and I’m proud to be able to unveil the car on my blog, with photos taken at the (almost?) same spot as Mazda did about a year ago!

I called this demo car The Project Classy, because it made so much sense. The color is beautiful and really makes the car look “high class”.  I’ve had the car just for 2 weeks, but I’ve made it up to my taste already and only a few mods will be done to it in the future. The goal is to make one perfect street car that almost looks like it came that way from factory.

Here is what I installed so far:

Rallybacker Low Type Ducktail Spoiler   

This is probably my favorite mild-wild ducktail spoiler for ND. When Rallybacker released it, I knew this one was the one I would run on my ND. It looks great on both the Soft Top and RF! It’s so neat looking that most people who don’t know much about the ND think it’s a factory option.

 

Odula Carbon Fiber Rear Diffuser

This is also a mild-wild modification. Everyone notices it, as it really gives the car one aggressive look to the rear end.

 

Integral Kobe N1 Spec Exhaust Type-US

This exhaust is not legal in Japan. It’s because it is *just* a little louder than what is allowed (and they reduce the allowed level every few years). It is literally the best sounding exhaust I ever saw for the ND and couldn’t be more pleased. It is silent on highway and when you open the throttle, it unleashes the awesome sound you’re looking for. The tip also has a very unique look which I like more and more. One (also) neat feature is the engraved Jet’s logo!

 

TK Style Carbon Fiber Front Lip

This is pretty  much the only front lip that I can run without bottoming up every 5 minute at my current ride height. I also love the fact that the carbon fiber merges so well with the Machine Grey paint color. It follows the lines of the car so well, it almost looks like it’s an OEM option! TK Style is not a replica, it’s the name of the company based in Japan…

 

So this was the first photoshoot & blog post of the new ND Classy Project Car. I hope you enjoyed… as I can’t stop staring at these J. I also just remembered that I forgot to post the ‘’before’’ pictures… another blog post will follow! I’ll also do another blog post for the interior as there are way too many pictures already! If you are in the USA and want to see it in person, follow my USA Road(Ster) Trip, maybe we’ll meet!

 

 

New aerodynamics and muffler for the ND Shop Car & Byebye

I always enjoyed seeing cars with nice front lips. With my current ride height, I needed to make sure I had a front lip that would allow me some clearance and was looking for a clean look.

I opted for a new front lip that just got released not long ago, the TK Style Carbon Fiber ND Front Lip. It installs over the OEM front diffusers and just required a bit of drilling at hidden bumper spots to fit. You can install it within 30 minutes and it looks amazing :

Many people think it’s the Mazdaspeed ND Front Lip, but it’s got a different shape and lays flat with a slight raise in the middle to provide with more clearance.

It completes the look of the front end pretty nicely.

And, as you can see, it follows the shape of the front bumper, too!

I also decided to install the Odula Carbon Fiber ND Rear Diffuser as I wanted a more aggressive look for the rear end of the vehicle.

This piece took about 10 minutes to install, it only requires drilling at 6 different points:

It’s pretty hard to take good pictures of it, due to the high contrast of the Ceramic Metallic light color.

Lastly, I installed a muffler from my friend at Integral Kobe : the Integral Kobe Type-US ND Exhaust. This is called Type-US because it’s aimed for the overseas market since it’s not legal in Japan (sound level). It’s not overly loud, and in my opinion, it’s just perfect.

Look at the quality of the product :

It has a very unusual angled tip but looks pretty cool once installed with the laser cut logo:

I do not have a sound clip yet, because when we tried to do it, we hit a nail on the road and got a flat tire. Now, we will be able to do a sound clip about it very soon, but we have to warn you, it sounds extremely good. A full review of the muffler will be done soon!

It was sad to do, but the ND Soft Top is now back to stock and for sale at our local dealership.

Here is one last picture in all its glory:

This will be the last blog post about our Soft Top ND Demo Car (Project Clubman) because the car is now retired (back to Mazda dealership) and we now are working on our new ND RF Project Car (Project Classy). More updates coming soon!

Compatibility table between MX-5 ND RF & Soft Top (1.5L vs 2.0L)

When the RF Edition (Power Retractable Hardtop) of the 2016+ ND MX-5 has been released, everyone was drooling about the look of the new car. After seeing the vehicle in person, we noticed that some parts would not fit between soft top edition and hardtop (RF) edition.

Here’s is a table that Autoexe built. It’s not technically for the compatibility between RF and Soft Top, but between the 1.5L and 2.0L to begin with. So, the table shows in yellow the products that are technically not fitting between 1.5L and 2.0L and in red they are definitely not fitting between the MX-5 RF and the MX-5 Soft Top.

So, here is the table :

RF vs Soft Top

As you can see, in red highlight, so far, the only item that we noticed that does not fit the RF and Soft Top so far is the Rear Spoilers because the trunk has a slightly different shape. The other item that is not on this list that does not fir the RF would be the Roll Bars or Roll Cages because of the top mechanism.

1.5L vs 2.0L

The items that are not compatible between both engines are the Ram Air Intake, Intake Suction Kit, Ignition Coil Cover, Flywheel, Clutch Line and LSD. Please note that also, certain Front Strut Bars are not compatible between 1.5L and 2.0L.

If you are not sure in the compatibility of a product, please don’t hesitate to ask us at info@rev9autosport.com. We always can verify for you, but our website is always up to date.