A few weeks ago, Scott drove to a giant Mazda Miata gathering at the infamous Laguna Seca race track. As he pulled his car up and parked, an older gentlemen came up to his car. Scott over heard the older gentlemen say to a fellow companion: “Oh, this car must be here for the car show!” Little did that man know just how wrong he was. He’s probably never seen this “hair-dressers” car so done up so insanely!
Even if other fellow petrol heads saw this car passing on the road, it would break necks. This car looks like a beast, because well, it is! It was created by Scott for one purpose: to decimate lap times. Having the car looking amazing was just a very nice bonus. I have to admit that it’s been a long time since I’ve met someone with a
car with just so much JDM love since the whole JDM-everything trend has
faded off into the distance. Scott knows what is quality, so he’ll go where
quality parts are made for these little cars: the rice motherland that is Japan.
Let’s pop the hood and examine just how not-normal this Mazda Miata is. The first thing you notice is the four Maruha Motors 45mm individual throttle bodies. The next thing you notice is that its just the motor in the engine bay, everything else was removed for the sake of performance: air conditioning, cruise control, and whatever other creature comforts the car originally had. The stock 1.8L head was replaced with a port and polished one from a 1999 Miata. The bottom end was kept untouched other a Maruha Oil pan baffle.
That
amazing heat colored header is a Maruha VP header. An extra two horses
were added (again, I kid) with the beautifully made Nakajima oil cap!
Stock lifters were replaced with a much more competent set of Mazdaspeed competition lifters. The cams and cam gears were replaced for a set from Maruha. A sweet carbon fiber Maruha cam cover packages all that up to dress up the engine bay. The motor is all managed by a Freedom standalone ECU.
There is a giant sprinkling of Maruha love all over the engine bay! Maruha Motors is a Japanese tuning company that caters to the Mazda Miata/Roadster market.
The also drive train was beefed up with an ACT Heavy duty clutch, Toda, Chromoly Flywheel, Kaaz 1.5 way LSD, and a Maruha 4.875 final drive.
You just can’t help but notice the giant Rotora 3D GT wing when looking at the car from the outside.
The ridiculousness of the wing is accented even more by super tall custom stands and custom mounts.
The exterior styling of the car was kept relatively simple. The only additions is a Garage Vary lip, a set of Jubride fender flares….
… Garage Vary canards, a custom front splitter with APR splitter rods, and a custom under tray.
A set of Garage Vary rear tail lights replaces the stock set. The rear bumper was cut for extra aggressiveness!
A bit more JDM love.
As you’ve already noticed by now, Scott really does love Maruha Motors!
This is how you go to the track with an extra set of wheels and tires when you don’t have a trailer! The set of wheels mounted on the car currently is a set of 15×8 +5 and 15×8 -15 Enkei Bigend Barrels wrapped with a serious set of 195/50/15 Toyo T1Rs. The Enkei’s are his daily driving wheels. Yeah, you heard me correctly. Scott drives this insane rice-mobile on a daily basis! He drives on the track with a set of 15×8.5 -6 and 15×9 -15 Work Meister S1’s on a set of even more serious 225/45/15 Toyo R888s!
A set of Tein Flex keeps things comfortable for daily driving while having the ability to turn up the heat at the track with the click of a dial!
Some impressive Tetris skills are required to fit four wheels with tires into the passenger seat of a tiny Mazda Miata!
Surprisingly, the interior was not stripped. The car still retains its original carpet! The only additions to the interior was the Boss Frog dual hoop roll bar, Bride Zeta 3 bucket seats with Crow harnesses. Greddy SMI gauges were mounted on the dash. The NEVER LIFT vinyl sticker on the gauge cluster is something Scott abides by quite religiously. You can’t throw a force induction roadster around a corner and apply the never lift policy and hope the car will stick!
Scott was kind enough to send me a few photos of his car on the track at Laguna Seca.
The car just looks fantastic going down the infamous corkscrew.
Scott’s never-lift philosophy makes sense when you’re on the track. With a seriously cooked up naturally aspirated, why would you not want to drive the car wide open? Hearing those trumpets sing is a delight in its self!
No matter which angle from which you look at the car, the giant wing dominates your field of view. It’s just amazing, isn’t it? The Nevada license plate refers to Scott’s previous Miata: it was painted flat orange and had a set of white TE37s. Naturally, Tic Tac is the only name you can give a car that is shaped and colored like a piece of candy.
The overall aesthetic appeal of this car is brilliant –just brilliant.
With how the aftermarket is now, its just so easy to get any part you wish for any car. But it takes vision to be able to take all the parts you want and make them all work together in one complete package. Scott’s Roadster is just ridiculous. Any sane-minded person would just scoff at this car….
But to any gear head, petrol head, automotive enthusiast, or tuner, and knowing about the full orchestra that lies just beneath the hood, we would love to be able to get behind the wheel and well, never lift.
O hark the herald angels sing….
-Linhbergh