Cam's Garage

March 13, 2024 From August 14, 2023 to February 28, 2024, my 2006 Mazda Miata went down due to a blown clutch and underwent an full rebuild from the ground-up including a new powertrain, suspension, and TONS of supporting modifications (for the full list of parts, see my prior post here ). Without further ado, here is my review of my cammed 2.5L Miata... Powertrain The first question everyone asks (and was the first one I asked too) is "what does a 2.5L Miata feel like?" I think the best way to think about the car is OEM+ (Original Equipment Manufacturer). The power band feels linear, but has more power in every area.  Here are a couple of dyno graphs to help better visualize this: This is a stock 2014 Mazda Miata with a Versa-Tune Stage 1 Tune (same as what I was running prior to the engine swap. The power output was respectable at: Quick recap of the numbers above: 147 horsepower @ 7,000 RPM's 129 foot/pounds (ft/lbs) of torque @ 5,100 RPM's Now here is a 2.5L swap ...

This is Part 2 of the Miata's 2.5L build series. For a link to Part 1, please click here  to read about my NC Miata's over the years, the road to get to the 2.5L swap, and the clutch failure that actually led me to this point. For context on more of the 2.5L swap in general, please see this post linked here . I am going to start this by stating this post is not intended to be defamatory towards the professional shop that performed the work on my NC Miata. That said, I will be honest in articulating the issues associated with the shop that I selected to do the work on my NC Miata both during and after the service was completed. On August 14, 2023, the clutch in my Miata died and I decided that it was time for a 2.5L swap. To quickly recap, the 2.0L engine (referred to with an MZR  engine code) is an iteration of Ford's Duratec engine lineup that included a 2.0L (the engine in my Miata), 2.3L, and a 2.5L. Each of these engines share the same dimensions, computers, and engine ...

February 23, 2024 For context on the NC Miata, please check out my prior blog post of " Why I love the "Ugly Duckling" of the Miata World . In this article I break down much of the background for my love of the NC Miata and provide background for some of what is mentioned in detail below. In 2017, I was 22 years-old and driving around Tuscaloosa, AL (I attended University of Alabama). I drove past a beautiful red NC Miata in a parking lot. I had my then-roommate (Jake from the Cannonball Run series) in the car with me and we decided to stop just to admire it. Come to find out that 2011 Miata was actually for sale and only had 19,000 miles from the original owner... Well, I made the questionable decision as a soon graduating fifth-year senior with student loans and no job to purchase that Miata (I did negotiate the price a bit prior to purchasing). The car was owned by a 90-year old gentleman who had put 19,000 miles it since new. The Miata was Sport trim level with a 5-...