Review: V8 Mazda MX-5 Miata! - The Modern Shelby Cobra

what's up everybody this is a V8 powered Miata officially called the Miata SS and it's done by a company called Sarasota Super Sport performance who kindly met up with me uh and provided this vehicle for me to review for you guys today so about this whole package so it's an LS swap Miata uh it was the program that was originally done by flying Miata if you're familiar with them and then it was taken over by Sarasota Super Sport performance and and they were the ones that finished the job here for this ND V8 Miata Swap and so uh it's a very extensive kit I'll get into all the details of it here it's a very very impressive package just the amount of stuff that's gone into this is is really impressive and mind-blowing just a V8 Miata a car that even with the swap weighs less than 3,000 lb yet has almost 500 horsepower at the crank should be a good time uh so I'm looking forward to driving this one uh but you know as far as the styling here for it you know he really want to make this basically you know if a Mazda engineer was able to have some kind of pet project and just go crazy that's kind of what he wanted so it's really an oem kind of appearance thing very polished you no crazy wings or you know hoods or anything like that it looks if you if you didn't hear it uh you would think it's just a regular Miata most likely I mean you do have some nice Wheels here on it you have the little front lip the arrow kit here you also see there's a nice little duct tail uh spoiler there on the back uh with the whole actual trunk Li there it's integrated in looks really nice especially here with the RF versions uh but this package by the way is of course available with a soft top as well if you'd like and I also love the center exit exhaust there in the back there little rear diffuser that exhaust by the has an active exhaust there's so many cool things we'll cover as we drive this vehicle but you know from the outside as long as the car is off it is a complete sleeper no one really even know you have a V8 under the hood here or you know half the performance this thing has the interior of the Miata SS will largely depend on the donor vehicle because you do have to supply the donor car for the conversion so you know as far as interior colors and niceties like this with the cloth seats but they do add a few nice little touches here with this uh upgrade package uh for the Miata so you have this uh leather wrapped wheel that's a little bit thicker here at the uh 10 and two notches flat bottom has the Alanta wrapping on the top and the bottom and is a really nice beefier feel for the Mi aut wheel I love these retro gauges you said they're inspired by the GT40 gauges and I love the little you know trim rings and just the Retro font and also like you the Alcantara shift Boot and E braake boot with the red stitching which is a nice touch and you also will see a uh unique shift knob here as well as a short shifter so a little bit of a different appearance than a regular Miata but outside of that it's going to be you know the same as any other Miata here and uh you know again the sky's the limit as far as aftermarket stuff you want to do to these uh to make it even more special but some really nice touches here they've included all right so start up and go for a drive you just have the regular Miata key of course here but uh nice heavy clutch P definitely heavier than a regular uh ND Miata clutch pedal but anyway just hit the end of start button and is to life and this one has the optional hot cam which gives you even more of the loopier feel than what you're going to have with the low profile cam you can get on these as well all right so setting off here in the Miata SS so first things you'll notice about it there's so much to take in cuz obviously everything is basically different outside of the seating position honestly so uh you know you have first off uh hydraulic uh power steering which is actually a rack from the fifth gen Camaro so that's honestly the first thing I'm feeling is just you know it doesn't feel like Miata steering and that's good I mean you know Miata steering's pretty good as far as electric power steering goes in the NDS but you know having hydraulic in this uh is something you don't get in any modern car these days and that alone is just something to savor but of course the dominating thing is going to be this V8 engine it's the LS3 6.2 L V8 engine and uh like I said this one has the hot cam to make it uh even a little bit more aggressive with the setup there but you know it's really nice and smooth so I mean we also have a f mode active exhaust here on this and so like this is the second loudest setting where if you're below 25% throttle it's nice and quiet you know you hear a little bit there but not much but then the second you give it just a little bit of gas it opens up and sounds really good uh the other things you'll notice immediately is that this also has a fifth gen tremx six-speed uh manual transmission from the fifth gen Camaro there all new parts by the way for this build nothing is a used thing fifth gen Camaros for anyone who's unfamiliar it's been a while since I've even driven a fifth gen Camaro I mean it's a heavier shifter it's nice and nachy though with those Trex and this one having the short shifter makes it even extra notchy there um and we even have you know little Corners here I'm not driving quick or anything but what I'm really impressed with too this has uh Fox dampers and uh some ibox Springs and it's this whole package that actually was uh developed for this car in particular and uh they're adjustable dampers there's also adjustable sway bars that are in their middle setting currently um but the ride is also really nice and smooth you know there isn't any kind of crazy drop on this car you know it's pretty close to stock ride height here it's just a nice smooth driver here and uh honestly whenever you're just cruising here you know off throttle or light throttle you really don't even feel like it's anything wildly different um so it's it is very watch like OEM Plus in a lot of ways and I really appreciate that cuz you know there's all kinds of crazy project cars and things that are undrivable and just you know crazy this is a really polished kit you can tell it from just the very first time you set off here it's it's all very nice and smooth again it's just the adjustment period of I'm in a Miata yet I have heavier clutch than you know what you usually have in a Miata heavier shifter heavier steering and all that as well but I mean just I get so much more feedback it just it feels really really good here and um also tires are reasonable size we only have 235 wide tires that's about as wide as you can go without doing anything drastic to the body work and uh is so far you know doing a really good job here you know you have nice decent sidewalls so that also helps out with the ride you know with these 17-in wheels they resisted the urge to do some giant wheels and you have a nice light flywheel honestly for something like this so right matching my down for the first time there it's even the throttle you know jumped up even quicker than I was expecting so really I mean the whole vehicle is so so responsive to your inputs and uh just feels like it's just ready to just take off and just and it sounds like that as well and we have traffic but we have a little tunnel here and how can you resist a tunnel with this thing so here we go and that was half thr AO by the way wasn't even anything crazy all right but I'm going to turn down onto this back road here and roll into it here and see how it does okay oh man wow woo that is a rush so if you weren't able to tell there you have no trash control no stability control with this swap which means you really got to use your brain cuz again two 35 wide tires with this much power and especially this much torque by the way it's 436 horsepower at the wheels 438 LBT of torque um and so I mean you know around 500 horsepower at the cranker close to it and man oh man it is it's a lot you know for again the short wheelbase of the Miata is really the thing that you know is I guess in your mind the whole time because you know it means that it's a little more Twitchy than something else that's you know got an LS motor in it um you know it's not going to be as button down as like a fifth gen Camaro with this same motor but it does a really good job putting the power down we actually have the uh 391 uh limited sub TI in the rear from a Camaro ZL1 the fifth gen and then again we have some nice soft tires here these Falcons to you know give you as much grip as as you can really get from a street tire and so I mean but it's you can feel it it's dancing around but it's you know it it was Progressive you know it could have been Snappy or it could have been scary but instead it kind of gave me a little bit of a warning like okay you know you're approaching the limits of grip here um you know so that uh it's not going to immediately bite back harshly um and we will have a bunch of great Corners coming up here we can try out but I also I'm going to put the exhaust in its loud mode just cuz who doesn't want to hear V8 sounds in a V8 Miata video right so going to turn this on and you get that nice bural there all the time if you want active exhaust is the best thing ever this one is a five mode active exhaust by the way but oh yeah and I I just I love all the driver inputs it's it's hard to imagine you know a Miata getting better from a driver input standpoint but you know with the steering and just the quicker you know more precise throttle and everything it is absolutely just better in all the ways now as far as the braking goes to P all this stuff down to a stop even though this vehicle by the way curb weight is just under 3,000 lb it's like 2990 or so um so I mean a decent weight gain over you know a 2500 lb RF or something like that but again so much more power so much more performance uh but anyway so to slow that down we have more than enough brakes there the willwood uh big brake kit here that's got six piston rotors in the front four pistons in the rear and uh plenty of braking power for a little car like this should be great for track driving I mean this is primarily built as a street vehicle but you know you have more than enough braking power there for for track sessions and and uh you know this thing is is very Stout you know the cooling and all that everything's been gone through it was a meticulous process takes 180 hours to build one of these they do only do about six a year currently um so I mean it's definitely a labor of love and it's something they they really you know pour their heart and soul into this and it's awesome you know that they continued on this project flying we ought to started here but uh going to go into some tighter Corners here I this motor's so torky you really don't even need to downshift but just to get some higher rev sounds and man this is this is so exciting and I mean even on this very Road I've driven some very exciting cars before I've driven a Ferrari 458 Spider like some really special stuff and you know they're fun and you know make great sounds and do do all kinds of other awesome stuff I've driven all kinds of wild stuff on these roads but um this is definitely a experience unlike any other and it's it's very safe to say that I mean there's very few V8 swap Miatas in general in the world and then ND ones um that are as well you know sorted out as this one is um it's uh it's quite the package and I mean you know it's also impressive you know the ride quality I mean these roads are pretty smooth even though we got a lot of elevation change and stuff you know but they're nice smooth roads but you know what I'm noticing is you know the ride like I mentioned earlier is so nice and smooth but you also don't have the role that you have with Miatas typically um so you know beest they kind of engineered that in deliberately right cuz it's lower limits it's a slower car and they want you to be able to have that fun um but with this you know it's just so flat point and shoot and um you know it does grip well like you know I can apply gas out of the corner and not immediately go sideways I when before I drove this car I wasn't sure if that was going to be a guarantee but is so it's you know obviously again you got to use your brain but like I'm kind of impressed at you know just again how polished this feels you know I've driven plenty of project cars and and you know really wild stuff before but this really does feel you know I think like what the owner intended to you know set out to do with this package is to make it an oem plus kind of thing almost in some ways and I hope that someday a mosda engineer gets to drive one of these because it would be a revelation I think for them uh just so much fun obviously something you can't do OEM unfortunately these days it's just you know it's it's a very very tough business for anything with a p8 and a manual and a convertible to be totally honest let alone you know something like this but um it's it is it's fantastic but you know what we're coming up some nice straight roads let's do some more accelerations rolling into it again W man and the nose lifts up too even though we have a nice you know firm suspension I mean the nose lifts up you get that drama of the body motion as well and oh man and that sound in this little package is just hilarious man and yeah these brakes feel really good too in addition to just being strong brakes they have really good feel they bite right towards the top of the pedal which is you know you want that instant response but there's enough forgiveness there that they're not going to like you know make you bash your head off the steering wheel the second you hit the brakes they give you you some nice progression in them so everything is just so nicely tuned in this car and we got a wall here we got to got to get some sounds next the wall oh I can listen to that all day yes this is a real Rush unlike any other especially at its price tax that's one of the last you know kind of bullet points here to mention is the pricing of this probably the big elephant in the room the big question you might all be wondering so you do have to provide your own donor car but uh beyond that the package is $75,000 and for an upgrade thing or something that might sound like a lot at the surface but whenever you you know again not only just is it the engine but it's you know the transmission the LSD you know the power steering you know all these things and then doing it well and not just tossing a V8 in and calling it a day it's a really comprehensive package and and you know say you get a a donor car for 25 Grand or even a little bit less um you know for $100,000 or right under that what else are you going to get that's this wild I mean there's plenty of fun stuff of course but what other stuff this wild can you truly get at that price tag these days I mean everything's ballooning in price and um you know 100 Grand buys you a nice uh decent you know Cayman GTS or something like that this is a lot more thrilling uh again not for everyone and again very rare very limited these aren't going to be easy to get you know but uh if you uh if you're someone who's okay to have the patience to wait and get one of these and you're okay with the price tag this and this little package oh man yeah it is one of a kind and I mean it's also just you know having something that has this handbuilt quality to it just something different you unique you're just going to stand out at only $100,000 you're going to stand out from all the other stuff at the car shows the second you pop the hood the second you start this thing up you're going to be the star of the show uh you know how many people have ever seen or even heard of a V8 Miata and then you know you take it for a ride I mean it would be a mind-blowing experience so it's um you know I think it's a bargain honestly and I'm not just saying that because you know I'm having a ton of fun here but just truly look at what you can get for $100,000 in the market and compare it to this you know even like the awesome vet co6 you get these days I love that last fall I drove it and one of the best cars I've ever driven but there's no manual there you know you have a lot more of a safety net it's still extreme it's still fun and I mean an amazing car which also by the way is way more than $100,000 but you know that the manual that you know no nannies no nothing it's it's it's really um just again a special experience and um something that you can't easily replicate at any price point to be totally honest and so um yeah I mean you know I could go on all day about how fun this thing is but I mean bottom line is uh you know it's it's really well done it's a fantastic package and um you know I will say you know as far as the metic character especially if you're used to like n2s with a higher revving nature I mean this motor you know red lines at 65 6600 RPM you know it looks here so you know it's it's going to give you a different character there but I mean how can you argue with this V8 though I mean even if it doesn't rev to the Moon you know it's uh still just just so so fun and I think it's still just give you a lot of that Miata fun of the nice small nature the uh you know playfulness just in a different way on you know steroids really but it's it's so much more thrilling because again you have to drive it which is getting more and more rare in these Modern Times And um you know I'm sure you know some people would probably like to have you know the nannies and all the assistants and all that kind of stuff but I kind of like that that stuff was lost in this transition because I think that it actually makes the car more visceral more engaging more thrilling as a result and um yeah this thing is fantastic and really the only caveat here of this is that this package technically isn't carp certified so if you live in a carp State you know you need to do emissions or we need kind of stuff that can be a little tricky there's ways to you know work around that you know don't let that be a deal breaker but just be forewarned you know it's a little bit more of a hoop to jump through than just you know taking this down to your local DMV and and registering it and you know getting it inspection stickers if you live in a place like PA here which is a carb State and you know has to always every year check your tailpipe and all that that's the only thing uh that you know is going to be a little bit of a hoop to jump through but other than that I mean and that is the only one that you know is the only thing you have to worry about and even that is well worth doing for the fun of this car which again is something you can't get anywhere else from anything else but anyway so if you are curious about these you want to learn more I'll leave the link in the description or you can just Google Sarasota Super Sport performance and uh they'd be more than happy to uh get you on the weight list for one of these if it's something that you're interested in uh but anyway huge thanks once again again to them for letting me drive this very very special amazing car and uh yeah it's it is swerving in the back end it's really though it's since it's so precise with the throttle you can really finesse it so well I feel like this car would be really rewarding on track as a result because you can it's just it picks up on your input so so well again better than most modern cars do um and so anyway but uh yeah I can go on all day about how amazing this thing is but I think you get the gist here and uh so yeah thank you all very much for watching let me know your thoughts on this V8 Miata in the comments below and yeah I'll see you guys in the next one please leave a like And subscribe to keep these videos coming take care

Channel: Matt Maran Motoring

Views: 652,524

Keywords: matt maran motoring, subaruwrxfan, v8 miata, v8 miata review, v8 mx5, v8 mx5 review, miata v8, miata v8 review, mx5 v8, mx5 v8 review, sarasota super sport performance, miata ss, mx5 ss, miata ss review, mx5 ss review, mazda miata, mazda mx5, mazda mx5 miata

Id: eD9v16L194M

Length: 18min 48sec (1128 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2024