The Mazda Miata has long been considered one of the purest driving sports cars one can buy, thanks largely to its light weight and nimble handling. However, one thing that Miata isn’t known for is producing a ton of power, as historically speaking, its four-cylinder engines don’t have much to offer in that regard. While many Mazda Miata owners choose to modify their existing powerplants, others have instead swapped V8s in them – including a few from The Blue Oval – and that’s also true of this 1999 Mazda Miata that’s currently up for grabs at Cars & Bids.
On the outside, there are a few clues that this is no ordinary, stock Mazda Miata, including the big roll bar protruding from the inside, as well as its 15-inch 949 Racing 6UL wheels that are wrapped with a set of 225/45R15 Hankook Ventus R-S3 tires. Inside the cabin, the only deviations from stock are the aforementioned roll bar and aftermarket gauges housed in the center stack, however.
Peek behind the wheels, and one will find a set of Wilwood brakes at the front and rear, aftermarket springs, a Racing Beat front sway bar, and welded-in frame connectors, which provide larger clues that there’s something amiss underneath the hood. That’s certainly the case, because there, one will find a carbureted Ford 5.0L V8 that’s been punched out to displace 5.4 liters and stuffed with all kinds of go-fast goodies.
That list includes an Eagle crank and connecting rods, ARP hardware, Mahle pistons, a Comp Cams camshaft, AirFlow Research heads, an Edelbrock RPM manifold, a Holley 650cfm carb, and ceramic-coated headers, to name just a few upgrades. The result is a dyno-proven 500 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, which flows to the wheels via a Tremec T5 five-speed manual gearbox and 3.27 gears – a potent combo for such a lightweight car, indeed.
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Comments
Would have to do a double take if i heard that thing drive past
There is a company called Monster Miata that has been doing V8 conversions for the past 35 years.
Why would you waste your time with an old carbed 5.0 instead of a coyote? This guy is an Idiot.
Please tell us what cars you built, so we can judge yours harshly too
Well anyway, It could’ve been built 15 years ago for all we know.
Plus, coyotes have only been out for about 10 years. Also that old pushrod 5.0l fits in the engine bay really well, I’m thinking the overhead cam coyote would be quite a bit of a struggle to cram in there. And terrible to work on.
im suprised any v8 fit in there. a dohc coyote is prolly wider than an entire miata and would need a dedicated ecm to run not to mention trans
He’s not judging the car he’s just insulting the guy who built it. Too bad there is room for this kind of comments on this site.
Well you don’t have to call the man an idiot you bit what he wanted