I have a silver 2009 Mazda MX5 Miata that needs a new home. I am asking $13,500 or best offer.
The Basics:
- 2009 Mazda MX5 Miata Touring
- 2.0L inline 4, 6-speed manual transmission, rear LSD
- Liquid Silver Metallic exterior paint, black cloth interior
- Replacement black canvas top
- 53k miles
The previous owner had modified this car as a mild Street Touring Roadster (STR) autocross build. I wanted a quieter, softer riding street Miata, so I de-modded this car into something a little less extreme. Late last year, however, I found a Competition Yellow Miata and I couldn’t resist bringing it home. That yellow Miata now replaces this silver Miata as my “nice street Miata.”
Powertrain:
- Stock 2.0L motor with the updated forged crank that graced all 2009 and up NC Miatas
- Stock intake
- Good-Win-Racing catted header
- Good-Win-Racing midpipe
- Good-Win-Racing Super-Q dual exhaust
- Canned Versatuner tune
- Stock 6-speed manual transmission
- OEM rear LSD
The car does have a full exhaust system and a basic tune that should put down around 150 wheel horsepower. The most important thing for me was installing the Super-Q dual exhaust, as it turned the car from “too loud on the street” to “a slight bump in noise over a car with a completely stock exhaust and stock muffler.” Sorry, I’m an old man at this point; my track Miata is allowed to be loud but I didn’t want my weekend street Miata to be loud, haha.
If you want to prepare this particular Miata for SCCA’s Club Spec MX5 (CSX) class, you will need to go back to the stock header and midpipe. I do have those two items which were removed from my track Miata over a decade ago; they’re a bit crusty but you can have them if you insist on it.
Engine bay mods/maintenance:
- Oil change performed in April, 2025
- Replacement metal coolant expansion tank (though one mounting tab on the tank was bent when it was installed by the previous owner)
- Cobalt strut tower brace (though I can give you the OEM one if you need it, and you will need it if you’re preparing the car for CSX)
Suspension, wheel, and tire setup:
- Replacement Bilsteins with Flyin’ Miata lowering springs
- Aggressive alignment with maximum camber on the front axle
- Still on stock lower control arm bushings; you will need to add offset bushings if you’re preparing to CSX or C Street Touring (CST) rules
- Stock 17×7 wheels with Dunlop Direzza ZII tires
- Fenders are not rolled
Sorry, the car previously had a very aggressive coilover setup and I swapped it out for something much softer for street use. If you want to prepare this car for competition use, you will need to add your preferred (or rulebook-defined) flavor of suspension.
Body and exterior:
- Silver paint is in good condition
- Replacement front grille
- eBay stick-on rear trunk lid spoiler
- Replacement black canvas Robbins top
- Tint on the side windows
- LED headlamp bulbs (which really should be swapped back to halogens)
When I got the car, there was tint on the side windows and on the back window in the top. The original vinyl top was tearing, so I replaced the top with the aftermarket Robbins canvas top that was on my other Miata before I turned that car into a track car. This was the first time I had done a top replacement, so it’s not factory perfect, but it looks good enough and, most importantly, being canvas instead of vinyl means it’s a lot more durable, especially if you use the top in colder weather.
The replacement top did not have a tinted back window, so now the car only has tint on the side windows. Either remove the tint on the side windows (which is what I would do) or perhaps add tint to the back window.
I do have the trunk lid badge that was removed to make way for the eBay trunk lid spoiler. It’s definitely not a CarbonMiata piece, but it looks good enough from 15 feet, even if the fit and finish isn’t quite perfect. You can either keep the spoiler on the car or take it off and put the rear badge back on.
Interior:
- Cipher v2 steering wheel (this one has a very thick rim)
- RX8 variable speed intermittent wiper switch
- Sony Carplay/Android Auto enabled head unit with microphone for hands-free calling and a USB plug below the HVAC controls
- Stock shift lever with a stock shift knob, with the previous owner’s aftermarket shift knob included
- WeatherTech trunk liner
- Stock floormats in the passenger compartment
- Heavy wear on the driver side seat bolster
The most notable interior wear is on the drivers seat. If you’re going to be putting in a race seat, you may not care. Otherwise, it’s probably the biggest demerit that the car has.
The rest of the interior is in great shape. There’s no tearing on the shift boot or parking brake boot, the dashboard and dashboard trim hasn’t been abused, and the quality of life improvements with the new steering wheel and the variable speed wiper switch are very welcome.
Conclusion
This is a very nice driving car. In some respects, I’m an idiot for giving up a car this nice, and I wouldn’t be giving it up if it were Competition Yellow, haha.
The car is perfect as-is as a nice street driver with a little bit more oomph than a completely stock car. It’s exactly what I wanted in a fun street car.
If you’re interested in building to the SCCA rulebook for CSX or CST, then this car is a great starting point. It’s got the good motor with the good internals, and it has the LSD. I think it makes the most sense to build this car back up for Street Touring, as it already has the full exhaust installed and a basic tune, but you can build it up for Club Spec if you’re willing to go swap the header and midpipe. You might come out a bit ahead if you sell those after completing the swap.
If you want to install an aftermarket roll bar, I do have a very early Hard Dog NC Miata roll bar that I removed off of the yellow Miata that you can simply take with you. I’m not a fan of this roll bar and wouldn’t personally recommend that you use it, but if “free” overrules all your objections, you can take the thing out of my garage.
I’m open to offers, so email me at jli@johnjayli.com and let’s talk.
