Ah, how this feature absolutely hit close to home.

I had a 2000 NB2 once and long story short, it was the overall best car that I’ve ever owned to date. It was so fun to drive. Periodt. I miss it. I truly miss it. Seeing Chi’s NB1 really brought me back to my miata ownership days. Nostalgic.

I met Chi at the most recent Spocom Hawaii show. As timing would have had it, he ended up rolling in the same time as I did and I immediately took notice of its new paint, which, was difficult to capture on camera. It looks black, but its a dark brown with a yellow/gold flake/pearl.

Prior to this he owned a 2016-ish gen WRX and went to a miata platform. Some would call it foolish going “backwards” but fun-factor is hard to replace.

As story goes, Chi shipped this car over from another island, as finding these has been getting more difficult nowadays, not to mention the “street-tax” that’s been imposed on them.

There were mods done on the car that just kept reminding me of my old car. This single diagonal roll bar is one of them

What obviously stands out the most are the Gram Lights in “Mach Yellow.” They supplement the darkbrown/gold flake paint extremely well.

Check the baller lugs too from Rays.

If the outside was a slight, it’s the inside where it can count too. Chi graciously let me drive it back to the first spot.

That did it for me…

Right off the bat I wanna mention the CAE short shifter.

Holy !@#$.

Probably the notchy-est, precise, and ergonomically feeling shifter I’ve felt in a really long time. Prolly the first thing I’d do on a Miata if I ever got one again… but it does come at a price. Literally. The shifters are expensive.

Car was also fitted with some Revlimiter gauges. I’ve gotten custom gauges from him before in my NB and quality is top notch. Might not be some people’s cup of tea… but it adds a real tasteful interior mod.

A mod that I ended up not getting around to were these vents. I think they come off a Jeep or an Eclipse. Way more efficient as you can close vents that are not used.

It was again a pleasure and honor to be able to shoot and drive this. This Miata definitely stirred something in me… maybe getting another one of my own in the future.

Till next time RiceFans!

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Chi’s 1999 Mazda Miata

Exterior

• Custom Paint
• Gram Lights 57DR 2324 Wheel
  • 15×8 / Offset +28 / 4×100 (Mach Yellow) w/ 195/45/15 Tires
• Black Rays Volk Racing Formula Lug Nuts (FN-II)
• rev9 Hyper Street ll Coilovers
• P2M Rear Upper Control Arms
• Front Extended Lower Ball Joint
• Rack Spacers/Risers
• OEM Front Lip, Side Skirt
• Clear LED Side Marker Lights
• LED License Plate Lights
• Fenders Rolled

Interior:

• CAE Short Shifter
• Black Momo Montecarlo 320mm Steering Wheel
• Daikei Steering Wheel Hub
• Revlimiter 10AE Gauges
• Aftermarket AC vents
• Sparco Sprint Bucket Seats
• Chikara Wave Floor Mats
• Custom Suede Door Panels
• Custom Relocated Window Switches
• Short Console
• Roll Bar
• Pioneer DMH-1500NEX Head Unit
• Alpine SBR-S8-4 8” Subwoofer
• Rockford Prime R500X1D Amplifier
• JBL Speakers
• JL Tweeters

Performance:

• Megan Racing Muffler Exhaust
• Racing Beat Headers
• Intake
• FM Aluminum Coolant Overflow Tank
• 1.8L Torsen 4.1 LSD Differential Swap
• SuperPro Polyurethane Differential Bushing