From the C/D Archives: PFS Mazda Miata SC Tested

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Balls! There, we said it!

From the March 1995 Concern of Car and Driver

Okay, class, in honor of Congressman Newt Gingrich’;s thunderous ascension to the leading of Washington’;s compost pile, let’;s toss up a bold gender stereotype that only months ago we would have politely suppressed: males do not have the very same sort of feelings for a Miata that they have for a Porsche 911.

Now, let’;s lob a verbal bomb or 2: let’;s say that the Porsche is wicked, the Miata is cute. Let’;s say the Porsche is Richard Gere, the Miata is Richard Simmons. Hell, let’;s repeat what our own Pat Bedard mentioned of the Miata at its coming-out celebration in 1990: “It’;s so cute, it makes you want to pat it on the butt.”

Do not get us incorrect. A fundamental 911 Carrera coupe charges $ 63,433, while a Miata ragtop runs $ 17,940. Sixty percent of the 21,500 Miatas sold final year had been purchased by men. It must come as no surprise that if you supplied all these male Miata buyers a nasty, sneering 911 for the identical dough, well, the motoring landscape would appear decidedly diverse.

What if there was a Miata that price as considerably as the Porsche—would that provide the wherewithal to transform it from adorable to savage? The beastly auto pictured here says yes. This 185-hp supercharged roadster is a one particular-of-a-sort show vehicle constructed by Peter Farrell, the New Zealand racer now based in Virginia. Farrell builds and sells specially modified 360-hp RX-7s for the street (C/D, February 1994) and runs factory-supported teams in the IMSA Bridgestone Supercar and Firestone Fire-hawk Endurance series. Farrell said this purple Miata—which price him about $ 60,000 to construct, not like any perform toward emissions certification—serves as his bid for a commission from Mazda to generate a bevy of the hot rods.

About the show automobile: Farrell hired Craig Neff, a custom fabricator recognized very best for his Cad-zilla street rod that has appeared in ZZ Best rock videos. Neff took 3 weeks to hand-kind the Miata’;s metal fenders and rocker panels after eyeballing a drawing. Farrell says, “I wanted some thing that didn’;t look like an aftermarket Miata.” A reduce fiberglass front finish with enough area for an intercooler turns the Miata smile into a snarl. The fenders bulge with sinewy curves and stretch the width of the car from 65.9 inches to 71.9, 3 inches wider than a Porsche 911. The stock Miata’;s pop-up headlights were replaced with flush-mounted units created from Camaro low beams and BMW M3 high beams.

All of this detail work contributed to the show car’;s higher price. Production versions, which Farrell hopes will sell for about $ 30,000 apiece, will forgo the pricey custom function. For example, the metal bodywork will be mass-developed in Taiwan, and less-expensive sealed-beam lights will take the spot of the custom ellipsoidal units. Paint will also be restricted to the Miata’;s variety of 5 hues.

Adding a Roots-sort supercharger (restricted to 5 pounds of boost) and an intercooler magnified output from 128 hp to 185, according to Farrell. Sixty comes in 6.9 seconds, the quarter-mile is tripped at 15.4 seconds, and leading speed is a drag-limited 130 mph. In comparison, a stock Miata with the “R Package” (C/D, October 1994) is 1.3 seconds slower to 60, 1. second slower in the quarter, and drag limited to 119 mph. According to our calculations, those numbers would put the Farrell car’;s output at about 155 horsepower.

The stock 1.8-liter engine has had no other operate carried out to it, says Farrell. A higher-ratio RX-7 rear gearset makes the PFS Miata SC much more sprightly off the line and much better able to withstand the greater engine output. To increase engine breathing, a larger-capacity stainless-steel exhaust method was added, plus a Dynomax Ultraflow muffler. This combination produces a blend of roar and purr that lets bystanders know this is not a dainty convertible.

Anything, we really feel, is usually offered up to enhance other aspects of the aftermarket Miatas we’;ve driven. In this case, it really is the stock car’;s compliant ride. Farrell’;s auto has a lot more rattles and shakes, transferred by shorter, stiffer springs and shocks. These pieces combine to produce significantly higher cornering limits—and a lot of toss-around fun. The rear finish pops out on command from the throttle, but there is sufficient warning in the form of just plain racket to let you know what is going on with the wheels all the time.

At 100 mph, the Farrell show vehicle tracks far better than the AutoThority BMW 3-series semi-racer we drove in July 1994. The blown Miata wanders more than an M3, even so, so it’;s not a excellent compromise of wide tires and tracking stability. The achieve here is racer-like 1.00-g lateral grip on our 300-foot skidpad. That is a single of the highest final results we’;ve observed in current tests, exceeded only by the diminutive Caterham Super 7 and the exotic Ferrari F40. Also impressive is the Farrell Miata’;s 152-foot stops from 70 mph, yet another advantage of the sticky Yokohama 008Rs.

Mazda donated the car and some help for the project, but it hasn’;t yet decided regardless of whether to offer you the PFS Miata SC as one of its personal merchandise. If Mazda decides against the project, Farrell says he’;ll sell copies of the vehicle himself.

Mazda has a hard decision, since onlookers either enjoy or hate this artery-purple Miata. (Farrell says he may possibly make the production version look much more tame, with smaller sized fenders and wheels.) Adding to the polarized reactions to the auto is a almost incomprehensible double-DIN Pioneer compact-disc and cassette player with a graphic show so complicated that only correct toy bugs could like it. It even consists of a wireless remote for channel surfers.

What do we think? The PFS Miata SC is a Enormous Toy. The concept of a ferocious Miata is appealing. And contemplating that other adults routinely commit $ 1500 for a fly rod, or $ 800 for a set of front shocks for a mountain bicycle, it nearly tends to make a $ 60,000 Miata sound affordable.

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From the C/D Archives: PFS Mazda Miata SC Tested