Would You Pay Corvette Money For An LS3 Powered Mazda Miata?
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American muscle and Japanese import fans have historically butted heads, but at Palisade, Colorado-based tuner Flyin’ Miata, there’s something for both types of car enthusiasts to enjoy.
Flyin’ Miata specializes in General Motors LS-swapped Mazda Miatas. The company can drop a GM LS V8 in NA, NB or NC Miatas and more recently turned its attention toward the ND-generation of the small two-door roadster.
Now one of the company’s customers is selling one of the first LS V8-swapped ND Miatas it ever built through online auction site Bring-A-Trailer. This car is packing a 525 horsepower Lingenfelter-built 6.2-liter LS3 V8 under its hood, which is paired with a Tremec T56 manual transmission (found in a variety of GM vehicles, including the fifth-generation Camaro) and a GM limited-slip differential.
As you can probably tell, Flyin’ Miata didn’t just drop in a big 6.2-liter V8 and call it a day. This is a fairly comprehensive build, with the customer also ordering Fox Racing coilovers, thicker front and rear sway bars, Wilwood brakes, Advanti wheels shod in Bridgestone RE-71R tires and an aftermarket exhaust.
The company calls its GM LS V8-swapped ND Miata ‘Habu’ after a small, venomous snake native to Japan. This is fitting, as Flyin’ Miata’s creations looks ready to bite anyone who dares to disrespect its massive power to weight ratio and mighty short wheelbase.
Bidding on this clean, well-executed Habu sits at $51,000 with just one day left in the auction, as of this writing. That’s certainly not cheap, but it’s only travelled 2,000 miles and you’d probably be the only V8 Miata at your local Cars and Coffee.
Would you pay Corvette money for a V8 Miata? Check out the listing at this link for additional information and photos of the car and let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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Source/Photos: Bring-A-Trailer/Flyin’ Miata
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No but Shoppers would probably gladly spend that on a Cadillac Roadster that GM can offset costs on a Miata priced Chevrolet version.
Hell no. I’ve never understood the appeal of the Miata. They have more body roll than a jet ski in water.
I would not, no. I would never buy a Miata though, normal sized men can’t even fit in them.
I’m a normal size man, have a LS3 in my 2000 Miata NB, very, very small body roll, I’ve run against Lambos, Aston Martin, MB all have more roll than mine (and I can keep up to/beat them). 414 rwhp, 408 lb-ft of torque, 25 mpg city, up to 34 mpg hwy, AND I built it myself. Couldn’t be happier! FM guys do great work. Small company with big gifts! They helped me with my build (technical support) and I drove the car in the Newfoundland Targe 2013. Finished as best car in the Fast Tour (show off class ?). I can’t help but smile every time I get in it. Almost 90,000 miles since swap.
Not my cup of tea, but that company has a rep for doing high-quality work, and I appreciate the craftsmanship involved. IIRC, they also sell components to those who want to undertake the (complicated) swap themselves. There’s a lot more involved than just pulling the stock engine/trans and dropping in the LS; just about everything from front to back has to be replaced and/or modified to handle the physically-much- larger engine and transmission and the vastly increased horsepower.